Effective Note Taking

Spike2120

Hi, I have always had trouble making notes on players during a session. This is not due to not noticing anything worthwhile but more how to write them down in an effective way that means I can use them at a later date.

Would anyone be willing to provide any tips they have got for effective note taking on players? I understand this maybe a bit vague however any help would be greatly appreciated, Thanks in advance.

sniper13

i use a very basic notes. ill search for players to see how much they are up or down note the amount of games played ave buyin and colour code accordingly, red for winning players green for people losing money eg if xxxx player is down £4k and played 3k games its safe to say they are not too good. If something stands out like i get trapped in a hand ill make a note of what happened. Very basic but it does help if you sit at a table knowing whos good and others who arnt. 

unknown_username

Hi Spike,

I use this shorthand.

3xbb rse w/ KJs on Btn, Cbets a Axx flop, checks rest 

A Button raising 3 times the bb , with KJs , who cbets a Axx flop, and checks all streets unimproved

c/sb w/ 52o ,no lmprs

for someone who completes the Sb with 52o , there are no limpers , so its SB v BB

Ive been thinking about keeping tabs of people who fold to steals, I dont know if I can be bothered though.

Something like:- 

fold to steal =1

If he does it again ill edit it to 11 and again 111, if he defends his blinds, Ill do say, a 3 or F

So , i might end up with 

Mic_the_reek

 NOTES

Folds to a steal=1111131F1

3 could be 3bets, F=flats the steal

Jac35

Date your notes. Players games can change

Record what format you're playing e.g. Cash/mtt

SR23

Good thread.

A couple of points to add. 

Context is king. As is how representative your notes are. 

Player A might 5b shove 85s after having his AA cracked aipf twice in an orbit and they may never do that again. Therefore "5b shoves 85s" might not be a reliable note. "Can tilt and spew," however, might be.

In a similar vein, Player B might call down with 3rd pair against Player C who is playing and barrelling a million percent of hands, but will have a much stronger calling down range against nit-reg Player D. 

Hands with you and villain are esp good. Have a think about what they think about you and how to exploit that.

Try not to clutter up the tiny note making boxes that they have on Sky with lots of swearwords describing your opponent after they cracked your AA with AK aipf on the FT bubble of the ME. 

jimb0d1

'Wazzock - dont fold 88+'

'Station. Dont ever bluff'

Most of mine are a variation of the 2

hhyftrftdr

Various 4 and 6 letter words are all you need.

HENDRIK62

I use a simple colour coding for dym games, these give me an idea of general playing style, I then have very short notes with date, game type.

Have lots of 4 letter adjectives, but as a rule these aren't very helpful :-)

HENDRIK62

For reference:

My colours are split into following categories:

stationy - likely to chase and call thinly

abc - face up 

passive - what it says on tin

unpredictable - tread carefully, play value strongly

strong - expect to be put in spots, avoid being OOP

poor - reserved for a few, with an accompanying note regarding tendencies

There are obviously a lot of crossovers and caveats, this is where a very brief reminder in notes will help, but overall the colours give you a quick and effective idea of how to approach a particular table 

Spike2120

Thanks all for these points, have been using them in my game recently hoping they will help overtime but we will see

Thanks again

dakotaskye

I love my own short hand for notes and the colours in grades for a quick reference
Blue -  is cool player i've played but not much info on them ??
Orange - Usually a donky fish loose aggressive stack off any two LAG
Red - Hot player good hands hard to play against TAG
Yellow - is timid tight player who easily folds ROCK bit fishy

an average note may include the date i played what hand they play and what position to give  an idea of how they play.

ie

2/17 TAG AA utg rs 3 x bb er (Feb 2017 Tight aggressive plays AA under the gun for 3 x big blind early round)

LAG DK FSH ne2 72o mp ez2tp ud slp xa
(Loose agressive donk fish any2 72o mid position, easy to trap UBERDONK slow play should work on him expect aggression)

TRK fc bb ck to rvr no re rs / AA sb 3 x bb rs (Timid rock will flat call big blind and check to river with no hand, no reraise unless he has the nuts obviously / AA on small blind bets 3 x big blind raise)

I may also use a bit of Shark Scope too ie SS+4K giving me an indication he is probbaly pretty good or SS-4K he's on a big loss.

...also i cut and paste any of their comments, if you can, that show how they play, there is never enough room though so you have to keep the note taking toight like a tiger.

Make up your own short hand it's easy once you get going and understand your own poker language. although sometimes i still come back to a players notes i've made and i have a wtf moment, and of course people change over time.

I dread to think what players have on me, probably... SS-10k LAG FSH 72o ai utg so UD fm sl
(Shark Scope -£10,000 loose aggresive fish, plays 72 off all in under the gun, stack off uberdonk, foul mouth, sore looser).