Note taking....??

[VictorHugo]

I kinda wanted some input on what one would consider good note taking in online sites...

a good structure, things that may be misleading, etc...

thanks

[illunious]

Haven't taken notes for at least a year, but I think this is a great guide.

[ttleistdci]

That's a pretty good guide.
Basically, just write something quick that you'll understand. A lot of times, I'll write something specific that a person did in a hand that was a little off like "Reraised in MP w/ A3o."

[DeuceKicker]

Basically, when I have no notes/stats on a player I record as much as possible. I want a feel of how loose they are pre-flop, and how aggressive they are pre- and post-flop. As I get stats, I only include things that deviate from their apparent playing style. (So a raise with AJs UTG may get a note for a super passive player, but no note for a maniac (then again, I'll note if he's one of those maniacs who gets 'tricky' by raising junk but limping good hands.))

As I gather stats and my 'read' becomes more solid, I'll dispense with most pre-flop decisions (no need to record that an 80%VPIP plays JT UG) but I'll still get as much info as possible about their post-flop aggression.

I note what hands players will cold-call pre-flop with, and from what positions.

Also note what people do NOT bet. Many people will not bet a flopped 2pr or set, so if they're betting and 3betting the flop, you can more easily put them on top pair top kicker. Similarly, note if they're checking a flopped set so they can pop it on the turn or river (and note which street) or if they never raise because they're passive.

Here is an example of the notes I got from two players, chosen at random, after a quick session the other day:

Guy1:
ug j5s QJ K2s
M1 76
cc a2 B. b gs fl vs GHW. r rv Ahi
So this guy will play J5s, QJ, and K2s UTG and 76(off) in MP. He cold-called with A2 from the button, then bet the gutshot on the flop. The pre-flop raiser, a maniac (GHW=Gus Hansen Wannabe=Maniac), did not 3bet. He then raised the river with Ace-high.

Guy 2:
R 87 CO J74ob
PR Q6s BB 2in
@pr R QT M1 QJxob. B/3b Tn J#

This guy raised the flop with 87 in the CO with a J74 on board. I didn't note how many opponents were in the hand, and if it looked like an isolation or pot-building raise, which I'd normally do. He also raised pre-flop with Q6s from the BB with 2 limpers. On another hand, after a pre-flop raise (@pr means after a PFR where he was not the PFR; @PR means after a PFR where he was the PFR) he raised the flop with a Q & J onboard. He bet and 3bet the turn when a second J hit.

Finally, don't get too tied to any reads from these notes. It takes many, many hands to be reasonably sure that a person does things as a rule rather than getting frisky one time. I have many notes on guys who raise with AQ UTG some times and don't raise other times. Maybe they had reasons for changing up, maybe they were paying more attention to table texture than my notes could reflect. Maybe they flipped a coin... who knows. But the fact that I have noted that they've done both prevents me from locking myself into a read that could cost me money.

[DeuceKicker]

Oops. Thanks for digging that up. It looks like the guide I read a long time ago, but lost the link to. I adopted much of the shorthand from it. (I especially liked TRN)

I ended up losing most of the rigid structure of that guide because by the time you fill in most of the "form" you've gathered enough stats to have a pretty good template summary of the player. At that point I just note deviations from the 'template'.