[rabman50]

Hi stoyvind

You didn’t mention if you play cash or tournaments. In cash you may see the same players often while in tournaments you may only see the same players occasionally. Either way, it is important to take notes on the players at your table. Pay attention to what they showdown. This will inform you of the range of hands they play. If they are opening T8s from the HJ then they are also opening T9s+. What about 87o? Figuring out the bottom of their opening range will tell you loads about their entire range. Off the felt you should do hand range exercises using your notes. Sky has a 66 days of hand reading on his YouTube channel. It is an excellent tutorial on how to do hand reading exercises.

Your goals should be actionable and measurable things that can lead to your ultimate goal.

Examples:

1. Make a note on one hand for each hour of live poker played

2. Do five hand reading exercises each week

Accomplishing these goals will lead to more proficiency at hand reading.

Good luck on your hand reading journey!

[stoyvind]

Thanks

What is your experience with note taking while playing? Do you write them on your phone (if so, is it in a word document or other app)? How much detail do you include? There must be some sort of trade off between taking notes and paying attention to the game. How do you think about that?

[monkiesystem]

I use Google Keep on my smartphone to make my notes. I start the day with a new page of notes with a title. I enter a column of numbers 1 through 8 down the left side with a carriage return between each. This is where I keep my player notes. The number 1 is the player on my immediate left. 2 is the next player clockwise, and so on. If I see a showdown I try to note it for that player with relevant information, particularly if I disagree with what he did. If a player leaves I delete the notes for that seat, to make room for the next player who sits down.

If a particular player is a regular I try to get a name for them. If I don’t have their actual name I use the name of someone they remind me of or a comparison with something absurd. These notes on regs go into my after-action report (seen below).

Below my player notes I keep hand histories. I try to take down the hand history as soon as possible so I don’t forget details such as the suits of my hand and the board cards. I try get effective stack, seat positions, and the stage of the tournament.

I try to use mnemonics that make sense to me such as possible, instead of trying to type them out. If I don’t remember an exact card I use one that makes the hand similar to the one I just played. For example, I use “ep” instead of “early position.”

As soon as possible after the session or tournament is over, I compile an after-action report. In that I go over my hand histories and reg notes and retype them into another note page so they make sense. Have a separate page hand histories. Also have a separate page for reg notes.

I sometimes record intangibles such as how I felt that day into the page for the tournament or session I just played. Was I tired? Did I tilt? What kind of tilt? Did I get moved alot? Stuff like that.

Hope this helps.

[rabman50]

Keith’s method is very thorough. I do it a little differently. I list the seat positions as the position at the table. Otherwise I use a similar method for tracking players. At the beginning of each level of a tournament I will list the blinds and antes and my current chip stack:

100/200

20,000

200/400

22,000

I will make a note on significant hands between each of these entries. I use Microsoft One Note and HH Keyboard on my iPhone. You can find both of these in the App Store. Microsoft One Note automatically synchs with Microsoft Office on your computer. This makes it very easy to review when you return home. Here is an example of a hand history using the HH Keyboard:

Hero UTG2 raises 425 Q♠️Q♥️ 8 calls 2 calls Flop A♦️7♦️6♣️ 2 checks Hero 550 8 folds 2 calls Turn 3♦️ 2 checks Hero checks River 5♣️ 2 bets 1200 Hero calls 2 folds.

(8 calls and 2 calls are the positions at the table)

(2 was Mustapha Kanit)

That’s how I do it. As far as following the action and taking notes it gets easier the more you do it. Like Keith said, take the note as soon as you can to remember the details. It can get tough if you end up playing multiple hands in a row. Keep in mind that I don’t record every hand I play. For instance, if I’m in the BB and call a raise and fold to a c-bet I don’t record it as it is insignificant.

[monkiesystem]

Almost forgot to mention. You can actually practice note taking using a simulator like Advanced Poker Training. The bots are programmed to play like human players, so it’s a great environment for practicing taking notes as you would in a real game in a casino. We sell that here in Rec Poker.