How to label opponents

In this thread I'd like to read how most of you guys label the opponents and take notes on them. I mainly play freerolls, but sometimes also the lowest stakes games and I think only labelling them as "fish", "decent player", etc. is not good enough. Should I label them really generically and take specific notes or should I maybe label them in a way I already recognise their way of playing?

Hi Cinhos, well, the notes are the nuts, someone said,
I think is something basic but can help us a lot if we make effective use of them, and I think the way we take the notes or tag a player is a personal way.
I first identify the player with a color which indicates the type of player he is, a general idea, loose, tigh, etc, and his corresponding color.
Then I take a specific note of that player, an abbreviated summary that indicates any movement that has surprised me and of which I could take advantage of the next time I will play against that player or if I should to take care of him ...:
Example: "OR UTG 72os" (open raise at under the gun with 72 off suited) something short like that, and that could help me to play against him and identify his movement patterns.

Cheers

for my part I do not take notes on my opponents but I use the color panel to list them according to their level of play. my goal is to identify the players who make mistakes or who tend to bet or bluff with weak hands.

Cinhos_2000 said:

In this thread I'd like to read how most of you guys label the opponents and take notes on them. I mainly play freerolls, but sometimes also the lowest stakes games and I think only labelling them as "fish", "decent player", etc. is not good enough. Should I label them really generically and take specific notes or should I maybe label them in a way I already recognise their way of playing?

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I try to make this fun, so I do it more often, and so reading notes puts a smile on my face. Coming up with colorful ways to describe bad play is easy if you try. Remember you want to describe the mistakes they make and the more information you have on your opponents the better. This also helps me handle my tilt problem.

I use basic categories:
-Maniac
-Tight
-Calling Station

I make a short note for some weird plays , also I have a label for the Regulars , I play micro limits so I don't bother with more complex color labels for the last catecory.

If you play a bigger range of buy ins for example $11-$215 you should also divide the Regular players based on their average buy in (ABI) and if they are winning/losing players.

for frerrolls games in my opinion, you could semi bluff with your card that fell on the table, when the tournament has no value it is very risky to take bad because of blefs because the opponent really pays

Taking notes is a great art and labor! There are many videos on this topic on the Internet! The first thing to do is to set the date of the note ( because players change over time) and so on! For players of freerolls, notes are not required because they do not play seriously!

I normally just note specific actions players take that are weird to me, like "SB 5x 3b J8o" meaning the player 3bet 5 times the original open in the small blind with jack 8 off suit. This tells me that he's capable of 3betting light and stealing out of the SB with big sizes and marginal hands, which I can keep in mind next time I see him do the same action.

Cinhos_2000 said:

In this thread I'd like to read how most of you guys label the opponents and take notes on them. I mainly play freerolls, but sometimes also the lowest stakes games and I think only labelling them as "fish", "decent player", etc. is not good enough. Should I label them really generically and take specific notes or should I maybe label them in a way I already recognise their way of playing?

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I believe that when it comes to labeling your opponents, you should be as specific as possible so that when you meet him on other occasions, you will be able to understand what happened on the day you labeled him.

Notes- Always

I dont like third party software so I take a lot of notes. First I label tight aggressive TAG or loose LAG. Then some number as to the degree of tag or lag. I note, for example, if they play position hard, raise a lot. And I note how many times I’ve played them. More times means more accurate the notes.

Cinhos_2000 said:

In this thread I'd like to read how most of you guys label the opponents and take notes on them. I mainly play freerolls, but sometimes also the lowest stakes games and I think only labelling them as "fish", "decent player", etc. is not good enough. Should I label them really generically and take specific notes or should I maybe label them in a way I already recognise their way of playing?

Click to expand...

You are not required to make notes by any general rules. I use notes as I see fit.

labels that have meaning so you will know how to adjust: loose, tight, passive, aggressive, calling station, folding station, likes to slowplay, etc. etc.

Cinhos_2000 said:

In this thread I'd like to read how most of you guys label the opponents and take notes on them. I mainly play freerolls, but sometimes also the lowest stakes games and I think only labelling them as "fish", "decent player", etc. is not good enough. Should I label them really generically and take specific notes or should I maybe label them in a way I already recognise their way of playing?

Click to expand...

If you are a freeroll player, you should not worry about taking notes from the players, but if you are already starting to play in micro limits, start with the color panel, each player will be given a color according to their style of play examples:
- loose aggressive
- donkeys calling station
- maniacs
- loose liabilities post-flop
- thigh aggressive
- Conservative rocks
- Usual regulars
- Bluff Donkeys

Now when you are a regular of micro limits you can start with the notes to the players and that will help you to have a better reading about your opponents, the notes are: their game preflop, post-flop, up to where they pay, if they like to steal hands on the flop, if they like to bluff on the river, if they are aggressive preflop with good or bad cards, if they play 3 barrel they bet with nothing.

You should worry most of all about putting notes on the players that can complicate your hands more than all the bluff players or the donkeys, the regulars who play a little better, label them or mark them with colors so that you know how to differentiate them from the rest.

TAG - LAG - SAG (Stupid Aggressive).Anyway nothing matters but win

Except for the fish, that simply are fish, I always label players in more detailed, complex way, because their playstyles tend to have nuances.

Hi.
I did not make notes about players before, but with experience I have found that it is a very informative and useful tool. At the moment, I only notice opponents who play bingo and patient, disciplined players who are the most dangerous opponents.
Good luck.

Cinhos_2000 said:

In this thread I'd like to read how most of you guys label the opponents and take notes on them. I mainly play freerolls, but sometimes also the lowest stakes games and I think only labelling them as "fish", "decent player", etc. is not good enough. Should I label them really generically and take specific notes or should I maybe label them in a way I already recognise their way of playing?

Click to expand...

It's best to pick a system that works for you.
I like to have 1 label for good players and 1 label for bad players

From there I have 3 sub categories for the good and 3 sub categories for the bad as well


I have seen some people who had 20 different types of labels & for them it works. I've seen others who only have 2 types of labels. In my experience the simpler the system the better, because the brain is not overwhelmed with too much information that way.

That's been my experience, but your own personal experience will lead to you finding the best system for you. Hopefully these tips and these videos will help you out a little bit!

I use colors and tags to segregate players, with specific notes .
Yellows - I want to play them a lot
Green - I want to play them but nothing crazy
Red - stay away unless you have Premium hand, or can afford gamble
Purple - stay away unless premium or nuts -
Orange - GTO Exploits,
Example:

Fish/Newbie - Yellow - be careful bluffing, they will call
Regular/Loosing - Yellow
LPass - Loose/passive - will cal preflop a lot, usually never C-bet, and high C-Bet folds
LAG - Orange - make right decision preflop, and decide post-flop if willing to chase all streets, or get out
Similar/Break even - Green - similar skills.
Maniacs - Red - will call and bluff a lot, goin AI on the river - but even blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes - play them if you can afford it
TAG - Red - play them with premium - careful postop
Sharks - Purple - once in the hand, they will play to win - careful bluffing
Pro - Plays all types of games format and wins A LOT
Grinder - Orange - usually pays multicables, and don't have time to analyze each hand - will play GTO which might be exploitable with proper post-flops betting.

Of course these are just MY tags, and I change them one in a while. I also use sharks cope to see where the players stand (free version).

At the beginning, I'd start with two categories...good and bad. (Red and Green). I also used to have an orange category for Wild players. That is probably sufficient at first.

But as you get better and then require more finesse to your intel, you can broaden your categories. Watch the Evan Jarvis video further up the thread for a good breakdown. (Evan describes them in the context of barrelling).
...TLDR; (TLDW?)

NIT - super tight. Easy to push of a pot where they're losing. Though will call with top pair or better. (Jonathan Little hates these types for some reason).


TAG - Tight and Aggressive. (Where most of us should be aiming for). Aligning hand strength with position and putting pressure on opponents via betting.


LAG/WAG - Loose/Wide and Aggressive. Like TAG, but with less positional awareness and wider range. Still puts pressure on others with betting. Lots of bluffing from LAGs.


FISH - Typically play too many hands from too many positions in a passive manner. Are more likely to call than raise. Do not often CBet unless they've hit. A straightforward fish will often fold to a raise or CBet without a made hand, or overvalue their hands and often act as call-stations.


WEAK TIGHT - Always playing the cards and not the position/opponent. When you bet and they call (or 3Bet), they usually have a made hand. More checking and calling than betting and folding.


DONK - Donks can have quite high variance and are unpredictable. They will often bet into the villain who opened the pot (showing zero respect for the opener and their position). Donk's are capable of calling you down to the river over and over again. You may struggle to push them off a pot, so be careful, or make sure you've actually got a good hand before you start abusing them. (But in general, you should be careful and avoid too many pots with them as they can also hit big by the river, or put you all in when you thought you were just finding an agreeable pot size.)

One thing to note. be careful to not let all such labels get too stale. Its great to sit down at a table and realise you are playing with opponents which you have past reads on. However, this can work out poorly indeed if your assessment is stale or inaccurate. People will change and you will also get some labels wrong. So pay attention all the time and keep them current.

For example, if your HUD tells you their VPIP is 65%, and your label says TAG, then something is wrong (or their on one helluva roll).

I know lots of people have me labelled as a fish, and that is fine with me. I will often make sure I do a couple really stupid things early on in a game to give this image, and then set a trap. For example, when you're deep stacked, calling a river bet you know you shouldn't call. Or showing cards rather than mucking. Heck, I've got LOTS of fishy tools in my arsenal, because I didn't leave that label behind very long ago!

Hope this helps!

Cheers,
ObbleeXY


Wild

Note taking is one of the best additional tools offered by most poker sites. Using it to your advantage though remains highly personal. We can learn how to take notes and color labeling from experienced players and coaches, but in my opinion, the best use of the tool is the one we develop ourselves.

Online play I uses the color code system of green, orange, yellow and red. Then within the text I only take notes of plays that happen if they are not within their "range". For example, if a UTG player open raised with A4o (seen at showdown) I will put that in their notes as UTG RFI A4o. Normally if they are labeled green (passive fish) then I don't put anything on their notes as they do not understand the basic fundamentals.

This is why it is best to pay attention to show down hands.

RE: Usefulness of Player Notes

I have used making player notes quite a bit over the years, but generally found them to be only semi-useful when I needed to rely on them during a future situation, meaning many times they led me to making the wrong decision in a specific hand. Typically my notes related to a Big Unsuccessful Bluff, or Bluffing me out of a pot then Showing, Playing like a donk, Playing every hand, Raising too big, too frequently or being Big Chip Leader in a tournament.

The problem for me is that it is generally difficult to write a complete and accurate note based on one hand or one table experience (what type of game is it, relative chip stakes, position, board, etc) after all, I am still trying to play the game and pay attention. I totally take the blame myself for not making notes that are more complete and more likely to be useful in the future.

Having said that, even color coding as tight or aggressive or anywhere in between can be misleading depending on the type of game and relative chips stacks at the time of observation.

Bottom Line - I need to improve my player note taking with a vision of them being more useful when I need to look at them at some future point. The best way I can think of doing this is to make player notes based on my Post-Game hand-by-hand review, store them in a spreadsheet sorted by player name, and then the next time I see them in a game, copy and paste the note. Because this sounds like quite an arduous task, frequent combatants would be the priority. I believe, this would provide much more useful information when I need it. not perfect, but better than I have done in the past!

Best of Luck at The Tables All,

CheezeWiz

Personally, I only need one note-marker - red. It means fresh meat! May vegans forgive me)