This is something a player I was working with asked me to write about. Figured I would share it here as well.

When deciding on what online site to play on I base my decision on many different things. I look at how easy it is to deposit, how well the software runs, how many players are online, how well their support is, what kind of note taking system do they use, and many other options. I’m going to assume many of you stopped and wondered why I included anything about note taking in my list of requirements for a poker site. There are a few different reasons for including this, but those are my opinion so I won’t include them. There are a few things about note taking that I’m going to discuss though. There are thousands of reasons to take notes and only 2 not to. The thousands of reasons can be related to the money you can add to your bankroll from the notes you take. The two reasons not to take notes are laziness or lack of knowledge. Hopefully I will remove the lack of knowledge reason after you read this.

First off let’s talk about why to take notes. There are so many reasons that I can’t possibly list them all here, but I will touch on a few. Taking notes makes you pay attention to the action at the table and not the hundreds of other things you could watch while playing online poker. By watching those actions you can gain insight on what your opponents are trying to do, either successfully or unsuccessfully. By gaining this insight you can sometimes make calls or moves you wouldn’t make if you didn’t have that information. On top of the information gain, there is another strategic gain from taking notes. As you continue your career playing online poker you will see the same players over and over again. If you take notes on what players do at the table, you automatically have an idea of how they play from past experience. It’s not 100% fool proof, but you will have an idea of the cards they play from what position.

Now, what should you put in the notes. There are different ideas on this topic and all of them are correct. When I take notes I will use what I learn from watching the action and what is available from the hand histories tabs on most sites. Almost every site that allows you to play poker has some sort of hand history and most of them show you the mucked showdown cards, even if they were mucked on the table. With all of that information you can start to make some assumptions about the players at your table. I will post a hand and give you the notes I might take based on showdown information.
Here is the hand:
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ffcowboy76 [Kd Kh]
mpingel1981 folds
Ahighwin folds
ffcowboy76 raises to $2
Ransit folds
shaykee folds
mclovin2525 folds
fritz122 calls $1.75
TO_Lad folds
*** FLOP *** [9c As 5s]
fritz122 checks
ffcowboy76 bets $3
fritz122 calls $3
*** TURN *** [9c As 5s] [5h]
fritz122 has 15 seconds left to act
fritz122 checks
ffcowboy76 checks
*** RIVER *** [9c As 5s 5h] [4d]
fritz122 has 15 seconds left to act
fritz122 bets $4.50
ffcowboy76 calls $4.50
*** SHOW DOWN ***
fritz122 shows [9s Ts] two pair, Nines and Fives
ffcowboy76 shows [Kd Kh] two pair, Kings and Fives
ffcowboy76 wins the pot ($18.55) with two pair, Kings and Fives

I didn’t pick up a huge win, but I gained some insight on the player who went against me. First off, he called 4x the bb from the SB with 9/10s. I would put that statement into the notes section for that player on the site. It tells me that he doesn’t always make plays based on proper position. You really don’t want to take a mid suited connector in early position, especially to a preflop raise. On the flop he check calls with middle pair for a ¾ pot bet from the raiser. Now, I could have been making a continuation bet, but either way he is drawing for 5 outs against what he thinks I might have. On the turn we both check, partially because I was concerned about the A and a check raise coming from him. I think, after looking at it, I might have been able to take down the hand with a bet on the turn. My lack of strength on the turn gave him the impression he might be ahead, therefore he made the correct play by betting. On a side note, I made a mistake by not raising on the river for value, but I’m pretty sure at the time I was concerned about the A and him having something weak like AT. Now, my notes for that hand would look something like this. “called 4x bb from SB with 9/T suited. Called ¾ pot on flop with mid pair, might of though cont bet. When thinks ahead, willing to bet into a raiser.” That note gives me a general run down of what happened and what he did. I will do this almost everytime there is a raise and it goes to a showdown. If nothing else I will note what they raised/called with based on position. Those notes will help you start to place you opponents on hands when you make a raise and they call.

Other things that can be included can be things about what happens if the player takes a bad beat. If they go off the deep end because someone called with an inferior hand and beat them, take a note. That can tell you how emotional the player is. An emotional player can be very difficult to play against because some of their action is based on how they feel at that moment. If they feel invincible because of a big win against someone, you can slow play monsters against them and take down pots. If they feel really insecure at the table, they might push overly hard with just top pair and an average kicker. Another thing to note is if action at the table doesn’t make sense. If some one raises big preflop and then check/calls to the river would be a good person to go back and make a note on. Look at the history if you don’t see their hand at showdown and compare it to the board. Did they make a passive play with a monster or did they overplay a mid pocket pair to a board of overs. Take notes because there is a good chance that they will do it again.

I hope this advice helps you gain additional knowledge on how to take notes. Using notes to your advantage can be the difference between have a good night and a great night.