[Bob T.]

I just generally rember that player x sux, so most of the time I feel that my decisions will be better but I am not really alert to specifically which type of mistake I am looking to exploit from player x. Maybe that is the next level for me (among many other areas). But it sounds like something you really have to actively work on, I don't think you would pick up on this naturally- more like you need to train yourself to focus on this.

Find a translation and read 'The Book of Five Rings' by Miyaomoto Musashi, and maybe also 'The Art of War' by Sun Tsu. They are both strategy books which have simple and direct applications to just about any game that you might play.

Do you take lots of notes, or do you just do this everytime you sit down at the table and use it while you are there?

Yes, I like notes.

When I first started playing, I used pokerstat on Paradise Poker. One of the advantages of tracking software, is that you can take a comprehensive look at a player offline, and think about their style of play, and then think about what style of play might be effective against them. Then when you come up against a similar style player, as soon as you recognize them, you are prepared to play against them. The reason that I stopped using the tracking software, was that I usually recognized my opponents style before my software had collected enough data to confirm it for me.

Lately, I've been trying to learn the shorthanded game, so I decided that having a good record of my play would be very useful, so I decided to start using pokertracker. I've also moved from playing two tables to playing as many as four, so it is harder to pay attention to that many players, and the tracking software helps point out players that might need special attention.

Good luck,
play well,

Bob T.