Record Keeping Categories for Live Play

[SFBAY23]

[feel free to move if this isn't the best forum]

I'm re-working my spreadsheets and tracking for LIVE cash game play, and wanted to see what fields/categories everyone feels are important to track:

- Location
- Date
- Day of week
- Session start time
- Game type
- Stake
- Hours played
- P/L

Anything you would add?

[fishyak]

What notes are you keeping about your opponents? I also rate my own play and my cards on a scale of 1 to 10. I can play well with lousy cards, or f up good cards. I have a catagory for the number of fish at my table. I rate the table selection from 1 to 10 as well. I also add notes about what I learn from a session or what I should watch in my next session about my play.

I track overall win/loss totals and add a column for expenses. I charge my bankroll $10 gas money for each round trip.

I try to review the spreadsheet before going to play the next live session.

[SFBAY23]

Good thoughts. For player notes, I just keep a seperate document. Might be good to correlate that with each session.

I'm doing my spreadsheets in Excel (I'm fairly advanced with it and it allows to have some extensive formulas/IF functions etc) I'm thinking though about creating a new tracking method in MS Access, for the purpose of being able to perform very detailed quiries.

[jively]

If you are also using this for tax purposes, I think you are supposed to have the table number where you played. I think some people mentioned that they keep track of how much they gave in tips, as they are not actually gambling losses.

If you change stakes during your "session," the IRS may see it as 2 different sessions, so you might want 2 entries.

-Tom

[droopy0021]

I certainly don't play for a living, but track for fun & to improve. For me I try to make brief notes afterwards about certain hands (especially w/ NL) that may have had a huge impact on my + or - finish. Did I overplay pocket pair? Did somebody (me) suckout? Was there a large pot won or lost and what happened with the hand?

Some findings I've had:
-almost always 1 or 2 hands that make/break the session
-when it's later and I get more tired, I tend to lose

I'm amazed by those (esp. trip reports) who can recount so many hands over a 3-4 day Vegas trip. Maybe it's the notes they take right after finishing that day? But so many can't count the vodka/redbull, coronas, or other drinks they've had I don't know how they can recall.

[JohnnyQuad]

You might want to look into a program called Statking. I have been using this program for the past 2 years. I love it. I track all my play and it in return gives me so much information. Even provides projections on how many hours I will play in the year and how much I will make. The program cost me $29.95 and is well worth every cent. Just do a search on google for Statking.

[SFBAY23]

[ QUOTE ]
You might want to look into a program called Statking. I have been using this program for the past 2 years...

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for the tip. It looks pretty cool at first glance... Saves some time from testing my MS Access tables etc.

[PokerFink]

My spreadsheet is pretty simple. Fist column is date. Second column is game, which combines location and game (ie 2/5nl at Venetian is "V 2/5 NL"), then hours and then profit/loss and then hourly win/rate.

Then to the right I have a SUMIF function that tallys totals for each game. Instead of getting totals for all 2/5nl games, I have a seperate total for Wynn 2/5nl, Venetian 2/5nl, etc. From there I can have totals for each seperate casino or for each seperate limit.

I'm considering making a column for running profit so I can make graphs to post in BBV.

[DeeMo]

[ QUOTE ]
Anything you would add?

[/ QUOTE ]

I like the idea of keeping track of BB win/loss in addition to $$ (read it in CP or Bluff can't remember which one). It will help you get a better read on your BB P/L per game or limit.