Share some examples of your note-taking

[sledghammer]

I don't mean for these examples to be at all definitive, I just wanted to start this thread off with some of my most common and useful notes, in the hope that others will share theirs. Since I play mostly on paradise, where there is no pokerace, taking good notes is vital to success.

The vast majority of my notes deal with exploitable preflop play, since I pay the most attention to my tables in the late game (where preflop is often all there is). During those final few tables, where most players are solid, finding that one fish who made it through that constantly limps and folds to raises can be a great source of chips. So i have plenty of notes that look like this:

olf(open limp-fold) ep(position) 8x(size of stack in bbs)
olf utg 12x late game
olf co 22x to 6x allin (a 6bb stack pushes on his cut off limp, he folds with 22bb behind)

Some other common preflop notes that are valuable for resteals and such:
lrr (limp reraise) utg, ATs, 20x
or(open raise) co(cut off) 3x(3bb raise), fold to 8x btn push
or co 3x 77, callin 15x(called an all in from a 15bb stack with 77s), 22x(with 22bb stack)
loose pushbotter (self explanatory)

My postflop notes are pretty freeform. The most common note I have for postflop is probably:

small donk-fold (this indicates that after calling a raise preflop oop, he made a <1/2 pot donk bet and folded to a raise, a very exploitable "solid player" play)
1/2pot donk-fold
small donk-3bet (the opposite of the small donk-fold, this guys small donk equals strength or at least a strong draw. Bluff raising this guy's small donk is a mistake obviously.)

General player notes
donkey: occasional stupid bluffs, stupid call downs.
megadonkey: lots of stupid bluffs, limp reraises with crap, that sort of thing
calling station: self explanatory

I think that the depth and quantity of notes you take are an indication of your effort level as a poker player. The specifics of your notetaking also reflect what weaknesses in your opponents you concentrate on exploiting. I hope that this thread will be useful to myself and others in this regard.

PS: here is Heaven's notetaking guide which you should read.

[Pressure]

I take my notes in 1st person form, if I want to try to speculate on villain's reasoning.

e.g.

"I min check-raise flop with middle pair to define my hand strength"

"I'll bluff players who bet the same amount on turn as they did flop b/c small betting looks weak"

Maybe add a question mark if it's not a sure thing.

[THEOSU]

tl,dr. going off the subject though...


I have more than one note that says "this guy's a [censored] idiot."

[MasterE569]

I don't use notes anymore I just go with what I have observed through out play. I remember those players who know what they are doing and you tend to see them late in the game. Those times I did take notes I made them general describing play such as "Tag and steals blinds" or "Weak/tight and makes continuation bets". A lot of people would probably say I am making a mistake not taking notes, but I feel I have a grasp for how most play (aka donks of different natures). The top players are going to mix up there play and keep you on your toes so are notes really that great? Just my thoughts.

[sledghammer]

I don't really take notes on "good" players. Any time I see any obviously exploitable leak, I take a note. The notes become important in subsequent tourneys, when I don't recognize the player, but have notes on him. You are right though, having a grasp of how the varying types of donks play is crucial. And notes are more important on non-pokertracker sites.

[JSchnett]

[ QUOTE ]
I take my notes in 1st person form, if I want to try to speculate on villain's reasoning.

e.g.

"I min check-raise flop with middle pair to define my hand strength"

"I'll bluff players who bet the same amount on turn as they did flop b/c small betting looks weak"

Maybe add a question mark if it's not a sure thing.

[/ QUOTE ]

lol nice


i say "utg 4x with AA"

[bestcellar]

"F*ck this f*cking rivler"
"I'm going to f*cking kill him"
"unf*ckingbelievable"

[bestcellar]

wait those are just my notes on gobbo

[mornelth]

You should start your notes with "Once upon a time there was a poker player who...."

They are a lot nicer to read that way...

[hello newman]

"Donk"
"Super Donk"
"Add Him to Buddylist"