PokerWinners Take Note(s)
What sort of player notes to take online by Tom Murphy.
Notes are an integral part of online play and a great facility you should make extensive use of. Offline it might be considered rude if you reached over and slapped a Stick-It to someone's forehead that read "FISH!"
By the nature of online play you wont get a lot of time to write a thesis on someone's style of play so what sort of things should you look for and note? Well the first thing is that you should not make notes when you are angry. Notes like "BLOODY MORON WHO PLAYS 5,7o AND THEN MAKES A STRAIGHT AND CRACKS MY ACES!!" is not much help in the future. Also, you need to be calm and logical and review the hand before using it for notes. Did you raise it preflop with your aces? Did all the money go in before or after he made the straight?
Think of how you'll use your notes in the future, it's most likely you'll want to glance at them when making a decision. Don't try to get too advanced, keep it fairly straightforward. What level is this player in my opinion? Is he fish, shark, whale or baboon? Fish are just plain poor players who don't understand odds and don't want to. Sharks are the predators of the game avoid them as a professional courtesy. Whales have tons of money and so are immune to being hurt by their size, but you can make a good living from hanging around them and picking up their oversized bets. Players who often call to each other I name Baboons. You know when you put in a $5 raise and 6 players simply call it... they're baboons.
Once I have an idea of the type of players at the table, you need to note their different styles. Does this guy raise with flush/straight draws or only when he has a made hand? (That single point of information can save or make you a fortune). Does this guy like to bluff raise with 6,4o preflop and then represent any Ace that comes if he doesn't hit? Or does he only raise preflop with one of the top dozen hands? Does he limp with small pairs or make big raises to get heads up with someone. Is he bluff-happy or is he a rock?
We will go into further detail on the notes you should keep on your opposition in future weeks.