The value of notes in SNGs

[blackaces13]

I've recently switched from playing ring games to SNGs and I don't have pokertracker nor do frequently encounter the same players as I play at the lowest limits.

My notes used to be fairly important to me and since I played only 1 table at a time I can usually get at least general reads on most players within a few minutes. But in SNGs it seems that notes may not be of as much value because the same player who may have been loose as a goose when the blinds were 10/15 and there were 10 players in may be the tightest one in the game around bubble time. And the converse of this may be true as well of a solid player.

Since players can and do change their style so drastically from one stage to the next is taking notes on a players even necessary if you've never played with them before. What I try to do now is just form a general interpretation of a player and adjust it as the SNG progrsses. I never actually write it in the players notes section anymore because I think it is so volitile and I don't want to read the note "loose" or "any 2" that I took on the 8th hand of the tourny if the guy has been tight as a clam ever since we reached level 4.

How do people here handle taking notes?

[VarlosZ]

I have a notation system that helps with problems like that. When I just see one descriptive play, I summarize it in the notes, and include things like "MP, ES" (Middle Position, Early Stages), just so I have some context when I see that player again.

Of course, if I see several descriptive plays -- or one truly awful play -- I'll go ahead and make a generalization as well (e.g. "loose/poor," "dumb aggression," or "too loose w/ draws").

[benfranklin]

I only have notes on a few hundred players, mostly from Party SnGs, and haven't come up against any of them a second time yet. But I find that making the notes helps me focus on the game, and gives me useful info late in the game. It often shows me things like a player was tight early and has loosened up now that half the table is gone (bad news, sign of a decent player). I keep written notes on a pad for about the first 3-4 rounds before entering them, to make sure that my impression that a particular player is loose or tight, passive or aggressive, is factual. Knowing for sure how someone was playing earlier makes it a lot easier to fold or call late in the game, rather than having to rely on a vague impression that this guy was tight-passive through the early rounds.

[ajizzle]

i take some notes on the maniacs during my SnG's, but seldomly do I ever see them again. Probably just the limits though, and the large base of players at those limits.

Ajizzle