Bloggers / Matthew Pitt / 11 December 2008 / 1 Comments

One of the most important skills a poker player will develop is the ability to take notes on their opponents. Poker is a game of incomplete information, where players have to make decisions based on betting patterns or tells and as a results, are often incorrect in their thinking and therefore make a mistake. In online poker, there is no need to make the same mistake twice.

Dan Harrington mentioned in his tournament strategy book series, 'Harrington On Hold'em' that he knows of players who have dozens of notebooks filled with notes they have written down during poker games and throughout the 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event, eventual winner Greg Raymer famously jotted down his observations on a notepad during breaks in the action.

Whilst taking notes at the casino can be cumbersome, online there is no excuse not to build up a portfolio of detailed notes on the opponents you face on a regular basis as there is a note taking facility built into the software. Although you will meet regulars in the micro-stakes, you will find as you move up in stakes, the number of players drops so it is far more likely you will face the same opponents time and time again. Ideally, it is the regulars that you will have notes on.

The first thing to make note of is their overall playing style, do they play a typical tight-aggressive (TAG) or loose-aggressive (LAG) game? Another important observation will be how the villain plays their draws. Do they call without the correct odds? Do they prefer to play their draws fast by raising to push out weak made hands? How often do they steal from the cutoff or on the button? All these are basic notes that will help you make a great lay down or make a heroic call if you are in a similar situation again.

Whenever a hand has been completed, have a quick look at the hand history and see if anything really stands out at you. Did the player play out the hand in a straight forward manner or did he make a delayed continuation bet holding an overpair on a dry board? Finally, you may want to add any information you notice about betting or timing tells, for example, do they make a certain sized bet with strong or weak holdings or do they always bet the flop and turn but give up on the river?

One of the most important aspects of note taking is to be prepared to change your notes if a player develops. You may note early in the session that he is LAG but it could simply be a good run of cards and he is really a rock. Having extra information is key but having incorrect information is worse than having none at all.

Related Readings

Strange list of player notes - Poker Web Watch
Top ten tips on winning at online poker - WSOPE
How to build a bankroll - Roland De Wolfe
Random? Moi? - Matt Broughton
Pud's Poker Progress - Matthew Pitt