What should I track?

I am an unemployed programmer, so I can't afford to go out and buy poker tracking software. But I can write something for myself. What I am putting together is an Access Database that I can have up while I'm playing. I play just MTT and SnG (stay away from ring games right now). So far, this is what I am keeping track of:

type of tourney (MTT or SNG)
site, tourney #
# players
start date/time, end date/time, duration played
buy in
position finished
profit

I then have a place for notes for Early, Middle, and Late to try and follow how my game is in the different stages of the tourney. I have another field for general notes. This may include other players (for a single table tourney) or anything else I want to put in there.

What other things should I be keeping track of? I am looking for things that I can look back on and read to try and improve my game. Suggestions?

I have also added # of players entered to my database.

I have used this for just a few SnGs now and I can't believe what a help it has been already. Not so much in the stuff I am tracking, but my notes on each phase of the tourney. It is really getting me to THINK about what I am doing instead of just playing. It is also making me stop to think about what tourneys I am entering, and how many tourneys I am playing. It has made me so much more aware of what I am doing, the players at the table, and how my play has been for each phase of the tourney.

So far, so good. I entered two $1 tourneys and came in 1st and 2nd. The notes I made for the 2nd tourney are interesting. I was distracted by other things at the beginning of the tourney and by the time I started paying attention to the game (had to record my early phase progress), I was 6th with just 6 left. I made the comment that I needed to get my focus back. After I wrote that comment, I started focusing and concentrating more on the game and took the chip lead with 6 players still left in the game. The player I noted as being the most skilled player at the table was the one ended up winning. We were heads up for quite awhile with the lead going back and forth.

It is sort of like a journal entry for each phase of the game, so it has made me so much more aware of what I am doing and how I am playing. It also gives me the opportunity to correct what it is I'm doing wrong before it's too late.

I like that you are doing your own thing with programming and keeping a database.

However, there are some tools out there that are free you can utilize and keep track of some of those things.

Sharkscope.com keeps track of all the SNGs that people play at a number of sites including Full Tilt and Poker Stars.

Essentially, you get 5 free searches per day, but can pay for more advanced searching options and more searches per day.

Also, Pokerstars and Full Tilt have the ability to keep notes on players within their software....utilize that.


In general, though, don't overload yourself with info while playing. Sngs, esp Turbos, are just a matter of playing really tight in the early stages, making a few blind steals from solid position during the middle stages, and push/fold in late stages when you start to get under 10 Big Blinds in chips.

MTTs are different depending on the structures, but that may be more of an arena where you would utilize your notes and thoughts.


Simply put....SNGs can be beat by playing the same way over and over again...while MTTs are more open to interpretation.



Thinking and engaging in each hand while you play is the first step toward success....it's a looooooooong road, but if you committ to focusing every time you play you are already ahead of the competition, especially at the micro stakes.

TBH just go out and buy HEM.

I realise that you have said you can't afford to, but if you cannot afford to buy HEM, can you really afford to play poker?

HEM / PT3 are basic poker tools, you need these tools. If you took up rock climbing, would you make your own rope? If you decided to take up fencing, would you fashion your own foil? So why is poker any different to any other hobby?

I'm sure I will eventually get HEM, especially if I start doing multiple table, but right now money is short and I have the time to put something together. I have never deposited in poker. I play on the money I have made in freerolls, so it is something I can afford to do. I also have the time right now to study and improve my game.

I understand you need the tools, but a programmer, probably one who played poker, wrote HEM. It has been added to, and tweaked from the original version I am sure, but there was a need for a tool, and a programmer filled that need.

Also, just some food for thought, if you play a live game, and you are use to relying on HEM to give you information about your opponents, you may not be as aware of the other players and be able to read them as well. I think if you have to pay attention to the way the others are playing instead of relying on the software to tell you about your opponents, you develop a better understanding. Of course, with HEM telling you what kind of player that person is, it may help you to better recognize things that they do. So, I think there are probably benefits to both using the software, and not using the software.

So, back to my original question, is there anything else a "beginner" should be tracking? I'm looking for anything that would be important for improving my game.

joeaugie: I already use Sharkscope.com and I also use the notes feature on players at the different sites.

Some more food for thought, if you play in an online game without HEM and instead rely on your own observations, you may not be able to read players as well as they can read you. It is difficult to pay complete attention to all players when multitabling. It also allows you to more easily describe a situation when posting a hand on a web forum. Therefore by having quotable statistics, you can get better feedback on how you played a hand.

The argument you have put forward has come up before, It would hold some weight if you intended to play only a single table, but seeing as poker is a volume game and the single easiest way to increase you win-rate is to add tables, and the more tables you have, the less observant you will be (I have around 100 opponents at any time, it would be significantly more difficult to play against them without PT3 than if I had only 8 opponents to deal with, others will have around 200 opponents, but I find that's too many tables for my monitor).

I realise money may be tight right now, but I just feel that means that this may be the wrong time to take up a game that solely revolves around having a bankroll.