An exercise in note taking

[flopwell]

db with 34s (defended blinds with 3-4 suited)
chkd fd (checked a flush draw on flop)
blf rver (stone bluff on river)

[shadow29]

45/2/0.1 0.3 2

duh.

[chaz64]

[ QUOTE ]

I put notes on accts all the time, trouble is, I never run into the people again, I play on empire.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, me too. I just love it when I make a note on someone, and right after that he disappears, to be replaced by yet another stanger (this is $1/$2). Anyone know if this is common at the higher limits as well?

[tor]

Defends BB w/ low suited conn.
Bluffs riv vs 1 on missed draw.

and I'm not sure about the last one
May not value bet.

[deception5]

[ QUOTE ]
To be honest I probably wouldn't make any note. Not because I'm lazy - I have a ton of notes on people even though on Party this is practically useless since I don't run into the same people very often (and even if I do I may not get involved in a hand with them or my note may not be applicable to a hand do play).

[/ QUOTE ]

Unless the villian leaves right away you will likely be playing a lot of hands against them.

[GrunchCan]

[ QUOTE ]
Defends BB w/ low suited conn.
Bluffs riv vs 1 on missed draw.

and I'm not sure about the last one
May not value bet.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not picking on you, but I noticed a similarity. I used to take notes like this too. I'd replay the hand in my mind or look at the hand history, notice the exact scenario that arose, and record specific oddities in the opponent's notes.

But I found after a while that my notes were so specific that they didn't really help much. For example, you don't need to know that the opponent will defent with a low suited 1-gapper. All you really need to know is that he defends thin. He might do this with all kinds of bad gambles, not just things that are just like low suited 1-gappers.

I really think that if people take notes like this, they are thinking in terms that are much too narrow becasue thier reads will be complex and restrictive. Try to think more in generalities, and find your opponents' thought patterns.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

I put notes on accts all the time, trouble is, I never run into the people again, I play on empire.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, me too. I just love it when I make a note on someone, and right after that he disappears, to be replaced by yet another stanger (this is $1/$2). Anyone know if this is common at the higher limits as well?

[/ QUOTE ]

At 2/4 people stick around for quite a while, and I have a hard time finding a table where I don't have a note on anyone

[PygmyHero]

[ QUOTE ]

Unless the villian leaves right away you will likely be playing a lot of hands against them.


[/ QUOTE ]
I'm all for note taking. My point was that I try to reserve judgement until I see a couple of hands (or at least more than one hand). In a typical session I probably don't make any notes until 30 minutes or so have elapsed. After that time I may have seen enough hands to have something to write that may be useful in a sort of preliminary way. But it is also not so long that I have forgotten some general characteristics of their play and even some specific hands and action sequences.

Of course, that is not to say that there aren't other viable note taking tactics. I think the important thing is that players be making an effort to take some notes. They might do a really bad job at first, and this may even affect their results negatively for a little while. But they will get better and develop their own note taking system. And I think that was really the key point from OP.

[deception5]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm all for note taking. My point was that I try to reserve judgement until I see a couple of hands (or at least more than one hand).

[/ QUOTE ]

Most micro players play in a very consistent manner. When he calls a raise from the big blind with 34s, it is extremely likely that he will call with a similar hand in the future. When he misses his draw on the river heads up and bets a scare card it is very likely that he will do it again.

[ QUOTE ]
In a typical session I probably don't make any notes until 30 minutes or so have elapsed. After that time I may have seen enough hands to have something to write that may be useful in a sort of preliminary way. But it is also not so long that I have forgotten some general characteristics of their play and even some specific hands and action sequences.

[/ QUOTE ]

As you play more tables at a time this will no longer be feasible. You can always refine your reads, changing your notes if you see the opponent play differently. Perhaps he was just playing that one hand differently because of some behavior he saw from you. Usually not though.

[MrWookie47]

"donkb R bluff whiff FD" is what my notes would read, translated:

Donkbet river as a bluff after he whiffed a flush draw.