Making Notes

Making notes is probably one of the most undervalued skills in the online poker world. I believe that making notes is crucial for getting to know how your opponents play and crucial for developing a read.
In this article I will describe why making notes is important. Subsequently I will explain how I make notes and why I makes notes the way that I do. As many of my articles, I will give guidelines based on my experience and therefore they are by no means meant as universal or absolute guidelines. Moreover, I would like to hear comments and tips on how others are making notes and therefore I would like to invite everyone for a vivid forum discussion.

Why is making notes important

Making notes is relevant because it is crucial in developing a read. Nowadays, many players play with statistical software (e.g. Holdem Manager or Pokertracker 3). These programs are helpful and an added value without any doubt, but they don’t tell you the whole story about your opponent. First of all, statistical programs are more focused on preflop play than post flop play. Secondly, they don’t tell you what your opponents do in a particular spot or against a specific opponent. For instance, statistical programs don’t tell you whether a player is passive or aggressive with his draws or whether he tries to make moves on paired flops (e.g. JJ6). The software also don’t tell you whether a player front bets with a monster or with air.
I made a note once that a particular player, who had tight preflop stats, always goes crazy on paired flops. So each time I hit trips on the flop, I front bet the flop, after which he raised and I called him off till river. When I was in position I called him until the river.
Some players religiously front bet missed flops and check call or check raise hit flops. So whenever such a player front bets, you can pick up the pot most of the times with a raise. A player who is 24 tabling, in the hope of reaching Supernova Elite in December, and who isn’t making notes, will not become aware of these tendencies and will lose a lot of value in the long run.

What do you note

I make notes of almost everything I see a player doing. Things I do not note are the stuff that I can read from Holdem Manager (for instance, if someone is tight or loose). I note which hands players are 3betting, if they play their draws passive or aggressive, if they 1,2 or 3 barrel bluffs. I note if they bet their top pair or if they check call top pair etc. I even note a player’s buy in amount and when he posts a dead blind. Ergo, I note a lot. When I am making notes I don’t jump into conclusions. If for instance, a player calls 3 streets with 2nd pair, I write this down and don’t classify him as a calling station right away. When I see him doing this twice, I make a note: calling station? When he does it for the third time I delete the question mark. I think that typing an opponent too quickly, will lead to misreads and you should therefore be careful, before stereotyping a player.

When I note I take into account various situational variables. I note out of which position a player does something. Raising K9o utg in a full ring game is completely different from open raising K9o from the button. I also note against what kind of opponents players are making their plays. It is a big difference if someone is bluffing a tight player or bluffing a calling station.  I also always add the date to a note. I do this, because people can improve or change their style and I think that a note on a “maniac” is worth more when I noted it yesterday than when I noted it 4 years ago.

When I am noting I try to discover tendencies. Some players just do not bluff the river and some do it often. Some bet half pot when they bluff and bet the pot with monsters. Some players do it the other way around. There are players who try to trap with their big hand and others front bet their monsters.
When you note you will discover how your opponents are playing, you will start to making better reads on them and better plays against them, hence you will play more profitable. I play day in and day out against some opponent and I really wouldn’t have known that well without making notes.

 
Use Shorthand

A final recommendation is to use shorthand. Many of you are probably multitabling and then you don’t have the time to write whole sentences. I use shorthand and write for instance: or 44 3.5 bb on hj, calls b 3bet. This means: open raises 44 3,5 big blinds on hi-jack, calls button 3bet. If you develop a shorthand for yourself, you will save yourself a lot time.

I hope this article helped in convincing the relevance of notes and the way you are making notes. I think that the importance cannot be stressed enough. You can only own your opponents, if you know them.