Keeping Good Notes

A veteran player I know say's that the key to making money on poker sites is to keep good notes on people. I have tried to keep notes on people but for the life of me I don't know what to write other than "this guy sucks" or "this guy is a prick" which doesn't help much.

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Just good enough to think I am good enough.

Well, I just reviewed the notes I've made on some players. Let's see.

'Idiot', 'Moron', 'Dickhead', 'I wonder if she REALLY looks like that'....

No, sorry, I'm not much help either. I have never made any notes of true value (ahhhhh.....maybe one reason, aside from my playing, that others notes on me start with "oboy, he's here!") It's about the only subject there hasn't been a book written on. Creative juices flowing anyone?

Good notes are key especially if you are multitabling as they can take some of the strain of getting good reads on people. It is important though to write more than 'good player' or 'fish'

1 - Allways try and give description if possible ie 'called all in at 10/15 blinds livel with KQ when not pot committed'

2 - Always Date and time the note :
a - (people DO get better... what someone did 6 months ago when they were just learning may not be what they do 6 months down the line)
b - some people (me included) have 1 day a month as a fun blow out day where for example I will play EVERY hand in the 1st 2 levels of a sng and try and hit. If you see one of those games and take notes on it and rely on them for the rest of the month then you will get in trouble!

3 - Always list the level that the note was taken at. (What someone did in a $5 sng when they were starting out will be way different than when you meet them in a $200 sng months later!)

4 - Always try and get multiple examples before you rely on it. Seeing a realy bad play on 1 hand is not enough. The person may be tired / drunk etc so try and see at least 2 or 3 examples at different times of the day

An play solid poker

Good luck all

UKGazz

Hey UK!

Thanks for the tips! Seriously, those are some excellent tips that I plan on using.

The only one I'm curious about is the 'blowout day'. You really limit that to one day?!? Gosh, I need to adopt a new style. Maybe I can keep my account longer. :-\



Thanks again!

IMHO, taking good notes is one of the most important things a good player can do in online poker, probably even more important than the cards you play. At the lower level buy-ins, many people don't pay attention to much at all other than their own cards, much less try to take notes on them, so I have no doubt the practice of doing so creates a huge advantage.

One of the best recommendations for taking notes can be found here: http://teamfu.freeshell.org/player_notes.html

I've made a few refinements to this system, but I think it's an excellent base to start from. Of particular importance is the playing style, what cards are they preflop raising with, and what cards do they "train" to showdown. Do they bet their draws? Do they slowplay trips with a flush draw showing? Any understanding of Gap concept? How often do they defend their blinds? I see lots of people who hold onto any ace, such as A7, A6... cold calling preflop raises regardless of position or pot odds. When I open up their notes and see p:a6*, a7*, a2(utg) generally I can come to the conclusion that they watch too much WPT. Folding your tptk against these guys is almost always -EV. Complimentary to that is the group who overvalues their pocket pairs. It's fun to see them go up against the "invincible acerag" group.

I'll often hear that poker is a boring game when you're playing tight and folding 85% of the time. That's a tell.... If i hear that, I can't help but smile... because it most likely means that person is not paying attention to what's happening when they're not in a hand, and they're definitely not taking good notes. If by chance you do know that someone IS taking notes on you, then mix it up a little bit,... the best players I know have a gigantic "??" written on them. Although, I'll usually write "tricky" if I see someone take that approach. Do not write tricky simply because someone slowplays their aces or their set.

The nice thing about having a consistent notes system is the ability to share with other players. I recommend abbreviating, but not overly doing so. If you find someone that takes good notes, it will save you a lot of time.... better to stand on the shoulders of giants, right?

Thanks for the website. Played a couple of $10 SnG's and tried it out. Have a feeling it will work out well in the long run. My game always goes down when I try new things,(no money) but being a pool player, I know to expect that. Had a note on a fellow who went all in on pocket fives. A few hands later I had JJ, he raised the blind one bet, I just called. 10 was the highest card on the board, he was betting into it, so I put him on a 10 with a good kicker. After I was all in, he showed pocket tens. Had to put "tricky" in his notes. At least this type of education is cheaper than college.
Good Luck on the tables.
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Always remember that you are unique, just like everybody else.

I agree that keeping notes is VERY important. Scotty mentioned taking notes if you are the type that folds a lots of hands, great point. Just because you are not involved in a hand doesn't mean you don't have to pay attention. I try to figure out what a players might be holding based on their bets, etc.

Most of my notes describe what players either called or raised with preflop. That's a pretty good general indication of how good a player is in my opinion. Of course, how they play the hand afterwards counts too, but as an example, so many players I see play A-x - in early position no less - that that to me indicates they are basically not that good. Now I am talking about low limit games like 2/4 where you aren't really going to bluff anyone out with a bet or raise before the flop.

I see so many players at the 2/4 limit playing hands that just get them in trouble, like the above mentioned A-x. Playing Q-T under the gun for example. Raising with A-T or K-J after a couple of callers. Reraising with 8-8, stuff like that.

I also see a lot of players that refuse to get off A-K if nothing falls. Specially if they are going against the blinds who are betting after rags fall, etc. Or players that will consistently bet with nothing if they are 1 on 1 with position. More than once I have referred to my notes about a player during a hand and either stayed, called or raised based on those notes.

Basically if I make notes about a player they are notes about why they might not be all that good. If I see a player that I know and I don't have notes on him, generally that means he knows the game. I might indicate if he slowplayed a hand well, or didn't bet with a decent hand on the river, knowing that anyone calling or raising had him beat. Stuff like that.

Before the advent of online poker, think about what most poker books would say about improving your game. Most friendly face to face games involved the same people, and knowing their style was paramount to becoming a winner. So taking notes is really just a way to have some knowledge of the many, many different people you will run into online. If you have no idea of a player's style, that just makes it harder to be a winner. If you can keep details about hundreds of other players in your head, that's great, otherwise I think it's very imprtant to take notes.