Poker Note-Taking
Article Submitted by: Eduardo Solano

Thursday, 12 February 2009

There is no limit to the things poker players will do to improve their play at the table. They read countless books, buy expensive tracking software, spend hours observing professionals, and even undergo hypnosis to become better players. But not every poker improvement method has to revolve around spending money or using one's free time. In fact, there is one big thing you can do to improve that doesn't cost anything and is done right at the poker table - taking notes! Keeping notes is an excellent way to make observations of other players and can even help you improve over the long-term as well.

The obvious reason for taking poker notes

When a person hears about taking player notes at the table, their immediate thought is that this is done to keep track of others players' tendencies. And it doesn't matter whether you're online or playing live because taking notes is beneficial in both settings. If you're taking notes on people's tendencies, then you know who is a limper, who takes second rate cards to the river, and who plays like a rock. Notes are especially helpful in cash games where you'll see the same players in certain limits; having notes on them will keep you from straining to remember everyone's tendencies.

Long-term improvement

Besides helping you to profile players, taking notes can also aid in improving your play over the long-term. Jotting down notes on certain hands or poker revelations you have is very useful because you can pull these notes out at home to review them. And nobody remembers every thought they have while playing poker so notes are an excellent way to store this knowledge. By recording your observations, you're getting the maximum out of your table experience.

What to write down


There are really no set requirements on what should and shouldn't be written down since everyone thinks differently at the table. As mentioned before, player notes are a great way to profile cash game players so opponents' tendencies should be jotted down - especially when you play at the same place all of the time. Anytime you think you've suffer a bad beat it should be recorded so you can research this later to see if it truly was a bad beat. Original thoughts at the table must be recorded too since all the poker strategy in the world won't replace what's observed from personal experience.

Taking notes in live play

The one thing that will hold many people back from taking poker notes is that it looks dorky. It's obviously something better done online since other players won't be looking at you when you're taking notes. However, note taking can improve a person's play even more in live settings since there are more observations to be made. If you can get over the social aspect of taking notes at a poker table, then it will certainly help increase your bankroll - Gus Hansen is not ashamed of doing it, and neither should you.

Use consideration when taking notes

Not everyone at the table is going to be thrilled when you're taking notes; they all think you're writing things about them and it makes them self-conscious. So when taking notes in a live setting, don't look at opponents before writing things down, avoid advertising that you're keeping track of player tendencies, and bring a small notepad or dictaphone so you aren't tempted to take up table space with the notes.

Make sure to pay attention

One of the hardest things about taking poker notes is being able to pay attention while you're doing this. It's too easy to lose one's thoughts in the notes and fold out of turn in live play or lose precious decision making time in an online game. That's why it's a good idea to wait until the dealer is shuffling before you resume taking notes; this way there's nothing to observe and nobody will be waiting on you.

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