Keeping Notes of Players

Hey Everyone,

I think one of the key components of playing online poker is being able to keep track of players and by taking notes you can do just that.

why is it important?

Well in the future if you bump into that same player again you will know how he plays, whether he is an aggressive or passive player.

You can categorize them as: FISH, MOUSE, CALLING STATION, WARNING, SHARK, BOMB, MANIAC.

And along with this catalog you and add a description of how they play... as well as a color to keep track of them a lot faster, such as RED for BOMBS, and MANIACS... and GREEN for FISH, and MOUSES.

after you have placed notes on a lot of player... it will also help when looking for a ring game table to sit down at. if you see a lot of BOMBs and MANIACS, You might want to stay away from those tables, and play against easier to beat opponents.

Good Luck at the Tables

i completely agree that keeping notes on opponents will really help you win cause you will know how your opponents play and if they bluff always or if they are the kind of tight players.

Oh, I put those in there, too. Also racist, flamer, troll, and many, many more or less unprintable adjectives. If it is bad enough that I report them to the site, I make a note of that and the date.

I always make a note of the more fishy players, as they are good to look for.
The tighter players and aggressive players get noted as well as any that refuse to fold

Here is a link to a great old thread about note taking on players.

definitely keeping notes on players is a good idea and also will step up your game,if your in a league its a great idea, the only thing is notes on players gives you a sense of knowing the other player beware of labeling players cause you'll be caught off guard if you misread a player

And here is a link to a thread about notes which is currently running:
Player Notes at Full Tilt

I use the colors as notes - can be seen in the player list. Red for Sandbaggers and yellow for crazy all-in addicts. It is one of the few things you can do at the online table besides bet.

I always keep notes and just hope that the poker site staff do not have access to them!!! Thats where I do my venting....

With as many opponents as there are on the internet, I think it is kind of dumb not to utilize notes. I use notes for just about every single player that I play against, just because you never know when the next time you are going to play that person, so that is quite a bit different from your average home game, where you are playing the same people week after week. Online, if you use well written notes, you could be right where you left off with them 5 months down the road(granted their style hasn't changed too much).
I recommend using notes to anyone playing online poker.

ya for sure i also keep notes on everplayer that i deal with but mostly on the players that will play bad cards in bad table position and stuff like AnyStd/Kckr in early or on raise or no fold low pkt vs overs lol or i pur Mega donkey no fold trashpicker lol cause these are the money players are the money that keeps your bankroll growing and stuff and also bad beat you .i think it helps you read a player if you have too make hard decision vs them later in the game

I try not to abuse people in chat, so I have no problem using derogatory terms in my notes field that they will never see. Of course, I have distinct differentiation in my mind between, say, a Lagtard and a Fishtard.

I suggest that you base your notes on things related to betting patterns and stay away from emtional statements.

If your point in taking notes is to give you an advantage over your opponents, then make the notes based on facts. When I open my notes I don't need to be reminded that a fish sucked out 4 times in a row and now earns my dubious title of him being a fish. What I really need to know is the reason I now call him a fish, and how he bet when I gave hime taht title.

I suggest keeping notes that pertain the speed of bet, the type of bet (i.e. check, fold, 3 bet.....) and the amount of the bet based on the blinds along with the hands they show. Betting patterns are the best indicators to what your opponent has in the hand you are playing now, but only if you can clearly identify what happened. Try to adjust your opponent's ranges according to the hands they show and you might have a better idea of how to play the hand you have now.

Awsome note takeing advice in the link Steveg1976 posted. Im gonna be switching my note takeing style. Im going to make a template like that in a text doc. and then when I go to play, copy/paste the template, then all I have to do is add the details as I learn them.
Also, I started adding the date to my notes. Old notes might not be as reliable as newer ones due to style changes. Ya never know when a fish/donk might find CC and start playing better.


The link below explains how to transfer your notes from one computer to another. I started backing them up once a week or so.
Player Notes at Full Tilt

I use Poker Crusher before I get on a table. You can buy it for a monthly access fee or,being the cheap ass I am, I just keep pokercrusher.com open in my browser. I just click over to the site and enter their name and it tells you if they're a shark, bomb,maniac, etc. If you buy it it'll tell you much more but I get a general idea of who I'm playing. I just put a note on them and move to the next one.

Poker Crusher is prohibited on Poker Stars, and could result in your account being terminated. I'm assuming that's it's banned on Full Tilt as well, but I'm not positive.

I find it very hard to keep the emotion out of my notes...but besides some not so nice words I put things like "preflop cowboy" or 'atm". I also like to colour code...if I use red for a player it means that I do not want to sit at the same table as him/her.

If a player really donks me with arb cards, then I specify the hand in the notes but other than that, I understand whats happening in my notes so I'm ok with them at this stage.

What does bother me a bit is that I feel that I am being negatively influenced by my notes. Our local site is very small and therefore I know most of the players so when it comes to a tourney and I am seated at a table with a player that irritates me, I can actually feel my brain cells flipping over! It affects my play negatively and if anyone has any advice on "switching off" in this scenario - short of bashing my head until I get amnesia - then I would greatly appreciate it.....

I use colors and notes
red orange for the player who beat me in final table
+ information on the manner of playing them
serious, aggressive, passive

for the donk i have no time to spend they leave games before it become serious

Definitely need the notes and the colors help me also to keep track of the long list of players I run in to. Any advantage I can get with past info is good info.

I keep notes on players and color code them , sometimes I'll just color code them and get a note on them when we cross paths again, dating notes is also good to do some players do advance their playin and styles. I like to use Bluffs pokerdb to further checkout players.

I started making notes awhile back and was surprised when they really helped me in a game. I was playing HU at the final table in a private game against someone I had notes on and it paid off. I haven't used the different colors to tell right off if what kind of player they are but will start doing so, that will really make it all come together.

not a bad idea to add the date, as a lot of us are reading and learning, so a fish can grow into a shark.

what about holdem indicator.is'nt it banned by poker sites?i agree with take notes.but you have to extend a system of taking notes.and i think software like holdem indicator can help a lot.

Huds like Hold'em Manager and Hold'em Indicator are usually allowed because they force you to at least watch the table to gather your own stats. This is usually allowed because you MUST be at the table to get the stats.

There are other 'illegal' websites and Huds that allow you to input someone's screen name and get instant stats saved from multiple users. You can get thousands of hands worth of stats without ever having played a single hand against them or even being at their table. Thus, giving the user an unfair advantage.

When in doubt write the customer service and ask for yourself before you use the program, especially if you plan to pay for the service. The idea is to keep things on a fair keel.