If you play a lot of the same opponents all the time it is a good idea to keep notes on their play style to give you an idea of what to expect and maybe give you some advantage.
These can be written or mental notes and I generally have mental notes on certain players that have caused me problems in the past and while I am on a table I am noting/reading every players style on that table continually.
For example some things I note:
Player is passive, folds to pressure, plays only pat hands, loose aggressive and lucky
Player slow plays high pairs, bluffs alot, flush fisher, over bets hands, bully, nit.
Player signals a hit on clock, waits for river before bet, calls everything.
Once you have notes on a player you can adjust your play style accordingly and honestly there are some players I know I will beat 90% of hands head to head based on just knowing their play style.
Keep in mind other people are also keeping notes on you so don’t let your play style become predictable.
So start keeping notes on players you play against alot and see if your game improves.
As this thread appears to be to help new players learn about making notes, I would like to point out that it is possible to make notes on players by using the Player Notes facility on every player’s profile. Once you have added the note you can use the drop down arrow beside your own avatar and click on Player Notes which will show the name of the player you have made notes on and also the date.
A very helpful and appreciated feature I might add…I can’t imagine keeping notes on everyone without it.
It even adds an icon on the players avatar at the table indicating you’ve made a note on them.
I like to separate my notes into preflop and postflop.
When a player shows down a hand, I will list it in their preflop notes and whether they limped or raised it. Over time you can build up a picture of what a person does preflop - for example do they only ever raise with big pairs and limp everything else? Are they mixing it up between the two? Do they always raise one size with one type of hand and a different size with another?
Postflop I will note down the line they took with a specific hand - for example if they bet with a flush draw, or made a large donk bet when they hit a straight on the river. Again over time you can get a picture of how they play specific hands.
Since you can’t use a HUD here, just make your own. Start with basic observations and keep refining it the more you see. In a very short period of time, you should have enough information on any opponent to work with. Keep track of hands you see them show down with and then deconstruct the hand back to preflop - this will let you know how wide they are limping, if they have any open raising range and how they value certain hand strengths. Make notes like “they will fire their missed draws” or “1 and done with c-bets” or “bets half pot pair, pot with 2+”.
Information is power. The person who has the most of it and who knows how to use it best has the advantage.
I’ll still suggest you include a date with your note if it doesn’t time stamp them. I’ve had 6 month old notes on a cash site that blew up in my face. I should have known that he must have gotten a lot better if he was still around.
Just remember that notes get less reliable with age.
Definitely a good point, SPG. Perhaps a very strange/stupid question, but has anybody reading here accidentally typed Player Notes into the chat while you were playing? I got a little busy with a few things while playing the other day and almost typed notes on a player right into the chat for everyone to see! Had to quickly stop when I realized it was the chat and not the notes section!
Yes!!! Been there, done that. A bit embarrassing
You’re lucky you noticed early and stopped. What I did was push enter and everyone saw it. I just apologized and said this was meant for my notes.
haha…yeah, I was lucky! Yeah, that would’ve been a bit embarrassing. Sounds like you handled it well. Then everyone at the table wonders who you were talking about and goes into the old “if you can’t spot the sucker at the table, then you are the sucker” mode! Unless it was a note respecting the player’s skill, of course. Some players likely knew for sure, or knew because the note described something recent or specific! Haha.
I don’t keep written notes either SPG but I do keep a mental log on certain players I play all the time. They have a consistent style that I can either take advantage of or has given me problems in he past.
Most of the time I can get a good read on all players style within 5-10 hands in a game enough to put them on a style.
It is true that players get better as they play more and their style will change and good players will intentionally change up their style to throw players off.
If I get into a bad run of hands I will change up and try a few quick bluffs or big pre-flop bet just to throw the table off or maybe slow play to the river on a huge hand and then go for the all in kill.
