Taking Notes in Poker

I know that I can get a lot of help with this through the help of tracking software (poker office, etc). But I would like to know what type of notes you all take on your opponents.

One thing I have noticed is that I either take too detailed of notes and I can't fit it all, or I don't take enough notes to make a difference. I always try to include style of play, frequency of hands played, starting hand strength, and overall success of player. I'm just wondering if I am missing anything, or if there is a better way for me to collate all of this data without going over/under board.

-playing style (tight, loose, passive, aggressive)
-what he raises or reraises with, what he calls with
-how he plays big pocket pairs
-how aggressively/passively he plays draws
-how big of a bet will he call to chase a draw
-does he slowplay/does he check raise big hands or does he lead out
-does he vary his bets PF by the strength of his hand
-does he overvalue hands (top pair, over pair, etc)
-basically anything about him that i think will become handy in the future
-much more that i can't think of off the top of my head

Notes are VERY important in my book. Certain things are essential - like does he overvalue top pair - because you can, in certain situations trap him for all he's got just because you know a fact like that about him.
Say you call a raise with 55 from a guy who you know (from notes) that raises only with big hands like AK. Flop comes 5-A-9. Instead of playing it kind of softly as you would vs. a cautious player, you now know you can bet real hard and he'll pay you off because you know that he overvalues top pair top kicker (from your notes). Notes are really valuable IMO and should be added to every time you play.

I play mostly shorthanded limit hold 'em, so my answers may or may not be of relevance to you, but other than some of the things that Chuck mentions:

* How loosely does this player "peel" on the flop (e.g. pay one small bet to see the turn)? Some players fold if they don't have a piece of the flop, some players will call with any two on the flop. And I mean, any two. Since this ties directly into being able to read his hand with some certainty, I find this information highly useful. "peels flp w any 2" is a good note to have on someone, since I can happily valuebet my second pair again on the turn if I know this about someone.

* Big hands - how are they played? Specifically, AA/KK and AK are interesting to know about. Does he limp with AA and KK? Does he continuation bet with AK always? Etc.

* "thinks K-high has SD value", does he go to showdown with k-high, desperately hoping to snap off a bluff?

* "folded to a flop checkraise", when this happens, I don't actually know what hand he held, but since this is such a rare thing to happen, I at least know that he has something when he calls my checkraise.

... etc. Anything out of the ordinary, anything that I don't already know about the player from looking at his PT-stats. AK is important since it's a hand that is always played, and is more common than AA and KK combined - and if you can also find out if he plays AK differently from AA and KK preflop and flop, then you've really hit upon a potential goldmine of information.

Anything that you think will help you exploit that players weakness in the future.

I have Pokertracker and PAHUD running so that eliminates the need for most stat based notes.
So my notes consist of small things that will remind me why he made my buddy list in the first place: e.g. calls off large raises with bottom pair no kicker.

Poker.com has a clever way of taking notes. You can put an icon on a player to represent the kind of player they are. You can use a fish icon (weak player) and a shark icon (strong player) just to name a few.

In addition to what was mentioned above, I make a note on everyone at the final table in tournaments I play in. Rarely do you make it to the final table without some sort of skill, so something like this "Final table @ $20 MTT" That way if I run into them again early in another tourney I am aware they do know how to play.

when he draws, does he draw to the nut hand?

does he have the ability to fold when beaten?

I think it's also important to keep observing as most people form an opinion of a player and then keep it for the whole game. Watch out for gear shifters.

I also been writing more notes but its kind of hard when you play more then 1 table to watch most players. Do you guys only play 1 table and concentrate on the players there?

If you cannot find enough room on the sites software write your notes by hand on paper or open notepad or word. I usually abbreviate my notes and do not write a whole lot of them. Usually I just write about a player when I see something that bothers me or is very unusual. I have heard that some very good players take many notes while playing. Sometimes I do not find the time for notes as a lot of the play is very quick.

Nitram_80 said:

I also been writing more notes but its kind of hard when you play more then 1 table to watch most players. Do you guys only play 1 table and concentrate on the players there?

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Yes...I find it too hard to play 2 tables. If I play 2 tables, I am typically up on one and down on the other just because lack of concentration causes mental lapses and I call hands I wouldn't regularly call. Plus, I can focus more on how the people at my table are playing when I am only playing one game at a time.

AceZWylD said:

Yes...I find it too hard to play 2 tables. If I play 2 tables, I am typically up on one and down on the other just because lack of concentration causes mental lapses and I call hands I wouldn't regularly call. Plus, I can focus more on how the people at my table are playing when I am only playing one game at a time.

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Give it some time. I used to be the same way as you described. But I started playing a few different freeroll tournaments at once and now I can do 2 or 3 tables without much difficulty.

Okey, what kind of player, play style, what they bet on and so on. And how to bluff them. i mean, Example: Raise 3(4)xBB - 2 high cards (often)
Low cards on flop, bet around pot to get him to fold.

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this is what I do
I rate them 2 ways loose or tight 1 to 5 and are they passive or aggressive 1 to 5. I list other stuff like this. Just adding numbers as i go

fold big blind 3
re raises 21
check raises 12
bluffs 5
hands seen kqos,27os big blind, aa, k7s
with this you can get book on people quickly. I also right down other usefull notes like loves to play shorthanded with midrange hands or what ever i notice. Keep in mind you only want book on people you win on alot and better then avg. players. Or you will be writing alot of useless notes.

pokerhannes said:

Low cards on flop, bet around pot to get him to fold.

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Wow, Does that work?