Advice needed on taking notes?

Well been playing online, just freerolls right now for about a month. Really just trying to learn different aspects of the holdem game.

Now I fell it is time to do my homework and start trying to play smart, as opposed to "use the force luke" type play. I read a little way through some intresing past threads and wonder if you guys can help me on note taking?

What I would like to know is what do you write in there and how much information do you put in? Detailed or short?

Anyway thanks in advance.

P.s. dont know why there is a question mark in the title, its late and im tired!!!

Notes thread you might find helpful.

well taking notes on other players sometimes is rediculous because you may not see them again ecspecially in tournaments but if you see people over and over again in ring games(cash) then you may want to take some notes......usualy just put in their easily remembered things like....aggressive...or a rock...or a fish easy things that you could remember easily......on the other hand there is always poker tracker....where i know people to have just watch as many tables as possible to record their data and eventually poker tracker tells you all their stats and tendencies!

Thanks guys some good advice here and on the link, I think I will start off easy just put some reoccuring players styles down (lag, tag, etc).

Everyone should who reads this should follow that link some great articles there.

Here's something you can do to better understand your game as well as that of your opponents (not unnecessarily a particular opponent): Go through the HH for an entire session (in your case a freeroll) and analyze every hand. Figure out why people made the plays they did. Take notes about each player as you go and see if their later plays are consistent with your notes. See if you can put players on a range of hands for every hand played. Do this for every hand you have the HH for, not just the ones you played. When you come to a hand that you played don't make assumptions based on what you remember (an older game might work better for this reason) and see if there were things you could have done differently.

It's time consuming but it really works and will help you to better understand why some play the way they do. You'll also become better at putting people on a range of hands during play and maybe even identify a few gaps in your own play.

You use 'use the force luke' type play. YOUR A FRIKKIN JEDI!!!! why would you want to play poker and make notes when you could be saving the universe and playing with a lightsaber

Here is some of my notes ( it works well for me )

Donk ( most used)

calling station

Good

tight

fish

loose calling range


I keep it short since I not have the time to take much notes when I play among 10 tables at once.

I lost count the amount of times I wrote donk in my notes today. Unfortunately they're all having a party poker at my expense

Unfortunately Billy i have no tracker as I cannot afford one right now.

Switch these are not the droids you are looking for, you can go, go about you buisness. (hey im im a sci fi geek )

Seriously thanks guys already started to implement some of the advice given.

i dont label players in my notes. i usually describe a hand or two they played and from that i get a good idea about their style.

an example from today:
limped 88 MP(middle position) 6max, HU(head up) with BB. checked down.

from that short description its safe to say this player is weak tight, probly rarely bluffs, if he raises preflop its probly AK or JJ+. should probly always bet this guy head up and stay out of his way the few times he puts in a raise or calls. he probly calls hands most ppl would raise with.

just saying donk, or tight, or lag is too general... they're are many ways to play lag, and many more ways to be a donk.

notes are best used at small sites or high games where you will run into the same players day in and day out. if you play quarter games on pokerstars or tilt notes are probly a waste of time you wont see too many guys on a regular basis.

Things like if they will defend their blinds or not, how people play from the blinds is important. Good info to know when it's folded to you on the button and you're considering a raise, say.

Also how often people limp into pots. That's usually the first note I make about any given player.

Basically any weird action or tendency I see a player do I write it down. And eventually you can deduce and figure out what it means. It's hard to keep tabs on every player, especially when tables keep switching. I guess I'm thinking more tournament and sitngo poker here, not so much ring.

You can also mock people in the notes you make as well. To keep things amusing. Something like 'probably listens to Yanni' or therealike. Not that there's anything wrong with Yanni, if there are any fans out there.

If you notice any betting patterns, or a particular style - aggressive, passive.

Limping or big raise with top hands? Always raising from the button, things like that.

Do they overbet or bet wimpy post flop.

I do see the same people once in a while and a note can help if I know they are true value or bluffy.

It will take a while before you see a lot of these players over and over. I've kept notes for almost 2 years on Stars and a few are just now starting to appear again.

It's time consuming and can be game distracting, so I use my own shorthand and abbreviations, along with the game and date (mo/yr) that way I also have a time frame when I see the notes again.

I don't make any notation about it being a FR when that applies, but do note what the game is if it's cash. I have noticed there is not a lot of cross-over players. When I see a cash player note, it's in the ring games or buy-in tourney and very seldom ever see them in a FR.

With any of these large poker sites, you won't be seeing that many very often. Another note I do keep is if I've played in a forum tourney with them so I might recognize them in a regular non-forum game.

Last suggestion - you might want to start your FR notes after the first hour. Keeping track in the early freeforalls is useless, IMO.

GL on the flat screen felt.

Lol----Maybe you should be more carefull writing it, ore was it just bad luck?

I also use the note Super Donk if a player really is playing sick..

I forgot to menchion that it is 2 Donk playing styles.....

Donk. Loose-aggressive- passiv

Super donk - Loose aggressive- aggressive ( my favorite)


You also have the tight players who are playing to aggressive, but they are harder to spot. Sometimes I am that sort of player.

It seems like a lot of people are focusing waaaaaaay too much on preflop patterns when they take notes. PokerAce HUD will take care of the preflop stats for you, so there really should not be a reason to write anything about that.

Stuff I find interesting:

* What will they do on the river in position with A4o, on a A-K-8-7-2 board? ("plays river passively in pos" or "value bets weak hands on river in pos")

* Have I seen them bluff? Some people don't bluff at all. If I have over, say, 300 hands on a player and I've no note on him bluffing, then chances are his turn raise is to be respected.

Stuff like that. For reference, here's a note I took on a player yesterday:

"Donks flop with air, bets turn UI, checks river UI but will bet river with any turned or rivered pair.
Compulsive slowplayer."

"compulsive slowplayer" is one of my favorite tags on people, because that's really what they are. They will bet any hand on the flop, except for their strong ones. It's hilarious to watch such a player cap preflop and then check behind in a 3-way pot when the board is Q-7-7, because his range is now down to AA and QQ, with QQ being more likely.

Anyway. When you include the read on the player above that he will even lead out with air, I basically had him down as "will bet with nothing, will check with something." It's pretty easy to beat a player like that, y'know?

What? LAG playing style is used by some of the most successful players in the world.

Oh, I forgot, tight-aggressive/passive is the winning style right?

Yes I can also win when I play tight- aggressiv / passiv. ( in cash game ,dont think it is good in tournies and sit and goes)

Please explain what you mean with LAG and I will see if it fits in my DONK categorie