Can someone help me take better notes

[car ramrod]

how many tables do you play?
do you watch tv, surf internet, etc. while you play?

[Reqtech]

[ QUOTE ]
how many tables do you play?
do you watch tv, surf internet, etc. while you play?

[/ QUOTE ]

3, yes, and yes.

[nomadtla]

I have a Wordpad document that is a blank slate that I copy and paste into everyone as soon as I sit down at a table with them.

It looks something like: (I'm at work so don't have the exact doc.)
[ QUOTE ]

Preflop: (this would be lag, tag, etc..)
Postflop: (same but how they play post)
HTP: (this stands for "how they play" and is my own assesment of if they are straight forward "ABC", or play only their hand "PTH", or vary their play to who's in the pot "Thinking")
CC: (here I put an x everytime I notice a coldcall, or the hand if they show it down)
BD: (x for every blind defense against a steal, or the hand if it makes SD)
SNG(s): (x for strong donkbets that was actually decent or a slowplay)
SNG(w): (x for weak donkbets, or bluff/garbage stop and go's)
RaiseF(s): (x - when they raise on the flop with an strong hand, I include free card plays, and value bet on draws here too)
RaiseF(w): (x - when they raise on the flop with garbage, bluff, etc...)
RaiseT(s): (same as flop notes for every street)
RaiseT(w):
RaiseR(s):
RaiseR(w):
Showdowns: (hole cards of showdowns)
General Notes: (all the other stuff like "CDW A hgh-3 Flsh", "LRR any pp")


[/ QUOTE ]

Obviously there are some players roaming around where this form is blank. Or where I haven't played them enough to have a full bead on what I rate them. But if they do a certain action like raise the turn (strong) and have never cc or raised a street (weak) it helps me get a bearing of what that turn raise means. This may not work for you but for me it helps organize things in their notes so I can look at them quick and add to them quickly as well.

[POKhER]

Heres some notes i took today as an example of my note taking(I also use hud, and i have cut my tables for 4@ 1/2 to 1@1/2).

But i increase it to 2x today and already my note taking is suffering!!!!

Firstly(Assume you all do this, but just incase):
Make sure in PAHUD you display Showdown information(Thats the flop in text and their hands - Very important).

ANyhow here is how i personally note take.

Example:
"1/2 @ 10max[i]
PFR:99CO,
LIMP: A4oMP2
*Bet F/T/R OESD HU - 67 89A5T(bet flop/turn/river of OESD heads up holding 67 on a 89A5T flop)
*Bet When Chkd2 HU J8 9A3TK"

Stakes - I dont want notes on .05/.10 guy playing 1/2... Play changes.

PFR: This is usually notes for the HIGH PFR'ers or the super low i.e. 15%+ or <4% - I want to know a few hands they PFR with, Of course this is gradually adjusted over time.

limp:As i said with PFR, i note down most of these limps and end up having maybe a list of 20 - 30 that i'll condense after i've finished playing/have few minutes spare. After i have say 20 - 30 i'll then summarise, So if i have "A4oMP, A2oEP, A9oCO, AToEP" i'll condense to "Ax" now if you automatically do this after a few hands he could be playing loose for the table so a wider range is needed IMO as these are my notes and i base reads on these!

*Notes get messy so examples are started with a star, they often lead onto other lines so i dont want to read the end of one note and begin to read the start of another. That will confuse the hell out of me when i have 5seconds to bet/Call/Fold/Raise.

I use examples as summarising "He bets scare cards HU on river" after you see him do it once can be very misleading. Actions are situation dependant so i want to see the situation/Actions shown/typed shorthanded. As i said above, if he bets river on a scare card 3 - 4 times i'll summarise and move this line to the top of my hand notes(Below: LIMP)

Notes used with PA+PT are effective, but i still think i need to work on note taking/Neatness/Shorthanded.

I'm beginning to use CD = Call down, CC=ColdCall, C/C=Check/Call and also "B" = bet, "BAS"= Bet All Streets Etc.

Sorry for lecture.

[tiltaholic]

[ QUOTE ]
You're 100% right. This is a laziness issue that I need to overcome.

[/ QUOTE ]

Reqtech- for what its worth i stopped doing this a long time ago and i really think it's hurting me now that i'm no longer at .5/1 and i see the same players all the time.

working on changing it too.

[trainslayer]

Glad to see everyone thinks your on the right track cause I pretty much do the same. Only thing I'd add is I like to note the date and limit also for future reference. I play full and 6max depending on table selection and don't want to transfer a read if it doesn't really apply. People change over time also so the date helps there.

[aargh57]

Jeez, I hope that player you're talking about isn't me. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

The thing that I'm having the most trouble is with taking notes on "good players". I think I'll try to do this more and you have some good examples here. I also have more trouble with these players (probably because they're good, duh) but that's just something that I have to keep working on. Thanks.

[aargh57]

Wow, these are really good notes. I don't think I could manage that but it probably does help. Are you able to keep up with this at more than one table. When I started on line I played at Pacific and they didn't support PT so I kept track on my own and this seems pretty similar. I only played one table though but I payed very close attention, partly because I was tracking the play of my opponents. I bet if you're dilligent with this form you play very well even if you don't necessarily use the form as a reference. What I mean is, you probably have a good idea of your opponents simply because you've been tracking him and may not even have to reference what you've written. Stay away from my table.

[milesdyson]

[ QUOTE ]

Example:
"1/2 @ 10max
PFR:99CO,
LIMP: A4oMP2
*Bet F/T/R OESD HU - 67 89A5T

[/ QUOTE ]
rofl

[tiltaholic]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Example:
"1/2 @ 10max
PFR:99CO,
LIMP: A4oMP2
*Bet F/T/R OESD HU - 67 89A5T

[/ QUOTE ]
rofl

[/ QUOTE ]

don't the cool kids say "lollerskates" ?

my notes, should i have them, typically say either

"2+2:<forumname>"
or
"BAD"