exact meaning of the cnt_players from the holdem_cache table

[Yuhuru]

Hi,
I'm in doubt of how to interpret the cnt_players from table holdem_cache. Does it equal
a) to the number of players who were dealt into the hand (as in table holdem_hand_summary), or
b) to the number of players who are still at cards at some moment in the middle of the hand at which PT3 registers an event e.g. "donk on the river" (against cnt_players-1 opponents)?
I expect second option, but would like to know it for sure.
Thx

[kraada]

It's the number of players who were dealt into the hand - that value is used for filtering by Player Ranges (see the Hud Options tab in the Configure --> Configure Hud window).

[Yuhuru]

And, as I understand, the meaning (b) can't be derived from existing database values without re-parsing hand histories. This feature looks so useful for me, that I think of doing some coding to get it. But before start spending time I'd like to be sure that the feature (b) isn't going to emerge suddenly in near future releases of PT software and database. Has anybody competent opinion about possibility of this?

[WhiteRider]

You can tell the number of players at the start of each street using "holdem_hand_summary.cnt_players_f" for the flop, or _t or _r for the turn or river, but you can't tell the number of players active in the middle of a street. At the point of a bet, though, no-one will have folded since the start of that street (usually).

[Yuhuru]

Yes, cnt_players_f or _t or _r works perfect before the point of a bet (usually, , those funny folds are rather rare), but thereafter it doesn't always do alas.