Love notes for tourneys
Ever since i started this challenge of 0 to 1000 with no deposit or transfer on my experimental account its been tough.
Tough as in the field is a bit crazier in play at the micros but my biggest thing is notes. I spend a lot of time making notes and i so rarely see the players again. About the only ones i do see are the cc free rollers notes and very few at the .10/.25 cash table. Just seems like an unlimited amount of players at the micros. Does anybody else bother with notes?i sit for hours just watching making notes not even in the game. But im really starting to think its a waste of time.
This must be one of the biggest difference in cash vs tourney play. I play almost exclusively tourneys and I can state as fact I see the same players in nearly every micro event. Freerolls are stacked full of 'regulars' and they play pretty much the same every event. Higher buy-in events (1-3 dollar buyin) also have a regular field and those players do not vary there play styles. Some freeroll players DO change up how they play when playing buy-in events - and those tendencies are very easy to spot and are added to the notes I take. Yes at the micros the fields are large and constantly shuffling, but when I see the same player(s) playing very stereotypical lines (nit/tag/lag/maniac) I create a note - and these notes are NOT a waste of time.
The great thing about note taking is being able to list tendencies and patterns, and
tells, what a HUD does not provide, beyond statistical actions from position. HUDs I'm sure do help but I do not use one and prefer notes to keep the game - similar to playing live.
Stop wasting your time taking notes for hours... Work at McDonalds instead for 5 hours and then buy a HUD software that will take notes on everyone you play against automatically...
Another problemwith notes on micro stakes is that they can also hurt you, cause many players there do not have a balanced strategy. A player can easily play like a maniac on 1 day and then like a rock the next... Make sure you add dates to your notes and see if a player consistently shows the same patterns to not be misguided by notes you took on someone in only 1 session
The reason you state why notes are a problem because players at micros do not have a balanced strategy - is EXACTLY why taking notes is very helpful - in my opinion.
If a player is playing a balanced strategy a note on that player would be useless. If the player overbets pot on the river (as a balanced strategy) when he arrives at the river with a
bluff, 2 pair, the nuts, or a missed draw - any note on that player would not be helpful.
Adding a note on that same player only betting 1/4 pot as a balanced strategy when holding the same
hands as listed above would not be of any use.
However playing against unbalanced players is exactly why notes are extremely helpful. When micro player X overbets on the flop - I know from past play he either hit top pair or is semi-
bluffing the draw, because his tendencies are not balanced and rarely change. When they do - I add it to the note - but keep the original note - because it is useful to know when a player get tilted. Players often revert to aggro tendencies when tilted.
I do agree that dates and play 'styles' are a very helpful addition to notes. Although most players at the micro level do not change from maniac to rock. Most maniacs can not play any other way - it's just luck if they get the cards or not. They are either busting with crap cards or building huge stacks on huge swings hitting the cards they 'hope' come. Even late in events when some maniacs have lucked into building a stack - they seldom tighten up and make the final table. Some good players at the micros can swing from tag to lag and those players are usually the ones that I end up with in the money near the final table.
HUDs are good to help define your opponents and to analyze your play. Notes help fine tune the HUD stats. If you see someone open pushing 80bbs to win 1.5bbs it says a lot about the player.
This is pretty much a perfect statement.
Anecdotal recent related story.
1k gtd tourney on ACR, 10k starting stack, 12 min blinds 15 levels of late reg.
Final field size roughly 600.
I do not use a HUD - only take notes.
Pretty nitty play from the field to start off with. A lot of limping and fit or fold on flop.
I'd built up a top 15 chip stack by taking advantage of limpers and playing my strong hands aggressively - like normal.
Later on I had a similar sized stack arrive at the table - sitting in the BB when I was in the CO. My notes on this player told me he was a station in the blinds and would continue with any pair - even call down big bets with middle pair. Note also pointed out he showed tendencies to over bet semi-bluff lead river with these kind of hands.
That note worked out well for me, and within 5 orbits I had added his chips to my stack.
Mid-stage of the tourney I get a 'noted' LAG two seats to my right. The specific part of my note that was helpful on him was he would open ANY Ace 5x. So when I saw this I was able to continue with pretty much any two - and was able to hit the cards I had - knowing one of his cards was an Ace - and ended up adding his chips to my stack.
I was able to coast into the money without much effort because of these notes I had taken.
And ended up min-cashing (LOL) when an unknown solid player got my stack with quad 44s over my Aces up boat. ugh! NH