Making notes to improve your reads
Introduction
In this article
- How to write notes
- How to use them
- When you can trust reads
Why should I keep notes? The micro limits are full of fish and later on I can use Elephant. Live game players and tells can't compete with the statistics power of tracking software anyway!
Yet then why is it that I am unsure what to do, against these omnipresent fish-donks who raise IP on the flop, or after the fifth consecutive check-raise on the turn? "Call the first donkbet and then re-evaluate", is a good tip, as well as "Flop 3-bets IP generally indicate overcards", but surely there has to be some better way of dealing with these situations?
Your decisions in the online poker jungle are mostly mathematical decisions based on noted trends (aggression, showdown frequency, preflop ranges) displayed by your opponents. Elephant, or similar software such as PokerTracker and PokerAce, provides you with a lot of information that will help you to optimize your game against different players.
When multi-tabling, it is much harder to keep track of the individual flow of each table and you must therefore rely heavily on tracking software to act as your memory. But in order for such statistics to be accurate, you need a fairly large sample size, perhaps one of 10000+ hands, which you rarely have. So even if you have tracking software, without a large sample, you cannot play "infallibly".
Aside from this we have to take into consideration that nobody always plays the same, since such things as tilt, people trying to be tricky and plain old fishiness often come into play. So you may find yourself in irregular situations where you have tough decisions to make. Yet Elephant says you have already played over 500 hands against this player! Why is it then, that you still do not really know what to do?
The reason is quite simple: You have taken no notice of how they play. A calldown when a fish donks may be profitable, but how are you to react when you see such an action from a TAG?
In our online multi-tabling world, we label players according to certain criteria (fish, TAG, rock, maniac) and we use software such as Elephant and Pokertracker to fine tune our image of them. So we think, but this is only a rough idea of how they play, while we might be able to extract an extra 0.5-1BB/100 with the aid of notes made to save us from difficult situations, if we happen to run into the same opponents again.
Among the flood of all the players out there, who can remember details, except for against ones favorite opponents and arch-enemies?
When do you make notes?
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Whenever you think: "What?", "Not again?" or "WTF?", you should consider writing a note. Even if you don't see the showdown, you may wish to note the situation so that you can respond better should it arise again, whether it be an opponent cold calling on a ragged board, checking behind on the flop as the preflop aggressor or checkraising the turn. You've noticed that they played other than as expected. If you have not yet obtained complete information, you might get hold of it next time.
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If you see a hand at the showdown which you did not expect to see. Even if you were not involved in the hand, you should note it.
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Especially for TAGs: You should make a note when you see a line from an opponent which is not in his standard repertoire, and you wish to see if it is balanced with anything (e.g. c/c Flop, c/r Turn – does he play this line only with monsters or also draws from time to time, or perhaps even as a pure bluff? Does he play semi-bluffs only against one opponent or does he do it against several? Wth which hands does he raise the flop IP? Etc.)
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It is not always the case that you will have time while playing to make a note and will want to go back to it at the end of the session. Things you can do are:
- Make a short note by hand of the hand number so you can find it later in pokertracker.
- Have the hand send to you by e-mail, provided that your poker platform provides this option.
- Save the hand with Texas Grab'em.
How do you write notes?
No note is a bad note per se. On the micros you might write things like „Fish“, „Rock“, „TAG“ and „Maniac“. But how useful is a note such as „donked“ and „bluffed“, when you will later have completely forgotten the context? Of course, these provide you with some added information, and since poker is a game of limited information, you are grateful for every scrap you can get, but surely you can make these a little more detailed? You could at least note whether you don't yet know what he donks with, or whether he tends to do it with draws, air, or made hands.
How much does the note "c/r turn as a semi-bluff/bluff" really help? A little, but an important piece of information which you would not be able to determine if you refer to it later, is whether he makes this bluff only when a scare card has surfaced, lending him some additional fold equity.
We could write "Flop 3-bet IP as a free-card raise". But has he made this move in HU? A multi way pot? With a good draw, or with overcards? Or has he checked behind on the turn only because a scare card came an you misinterpreted the situation in the heat of battle?
It is clear that the information which you must pack into these notes can sometimes get quite out of control. A 20 word note, which appeared super accurate at the time of writing, may have you confused when trying to unscramble the information later and you end up deleting it in frustration.
There are, of course, some general notes you can write as a result of a number of previous observations and can be quite helpful. These include, for example: "weak vs (versus=against) c/r turn", "light cd (calldown) against flopraise IP", "cap any two", "Bluffraise blibat (in blindbattle) A high boards"
But these descriptions are not always sufficient. Many times you will want to be able to remember how the whole situation looked. How can we condense all the information effectively? An overview of all the proposed abbreviations can be found in the following handout: Playernotes - Overview
Note the opponents hand, should you happen to see a showdown, e.g. 97o or 9h7c, when the suits are of particular importance. Here you can use the following letters to represent the suits (h=hearts, c=clubs, s=spade, d=diamond), or whichever abbreviations are most natural for the suits in your language. You should use the same abbreviations throughout, however, to avoid any confusion.
Your exact hand is not important, but rather the range of hands your opponent is likely to set you on, should he do such a thing, and that is determined by your own preflop and postflop actions.
Next, note the preflop game, should it be relevant, for instance - that he has played the hand differently than expected? Did he not cap with AK? Did he coldcall 9c7h, or limped it from SB? How many players were in the hand? What was his/your position? Were you the pre-flop aggressor?
For example: pfr (Preflop): BB c(all), V (illain) SB cc (coldcall), BU cc, H(ero) CO-r(aise), L(imper) MP2. As you can see, you can use familiar abbreviations. It is important to use the same notational system throughout, however, so that your notes remain readable. This example has many players, but you should be able to quickly note down and interpret the situation:
Pfr: L MP2, H CO-r, BU-cc, V-SB-cc, BB-c
Here he calls cold in the SB with 9h7c. If you are using a modified blind structure it is helpful to note down the limit.
If many players are involved preflop, then you can use the following alternative:
u(nraised) (8) V-SB, H-BB
8 players limped, villain in in the SB and hero is the BB. The other players in the hand were not particularly important. Or:
r(aised) (7) H-CO-r, V-BU-cc
7 players saw the flop, you raised and the BU cold called. Only the play of hero and the BU are crucial, so we do not note the other positions.
Next, we note the board texture. You will be accustomed to this notation if you have ever viewed a hand history without a converter. As with the opponents hand, you can abbreviate the suits of the cards at the end. Should you have forgotten a particular card which was of importance to the situation, you could use a place-filler letter so that you can fill it in at the end of the session e.g. k. If the card is a rag, or is otherwise unimportant, you could mark it with an x. Write the cards in the order they arrive, that is, flop, turn, then river.
e.g. Ts8h3sKsx – On the flop the opponent would have an OESD with 9h7c. On the turn comes a K (a scarecard), and the river is a blank.
Naturally we include the postflop action. The notes up to now are only half the work, since we need to know how he played the hand. You will recognize the various shortcuts we use from the forums. e.g. b, c/r, b/f etc. We can extend these arbitrarily, e.g. c/r/f – he check-raised, then folded to a 3-bet. If you are not sure what he would have done in a situation had you made a bet instead of a check, you could write c/? – you checked behind and can not know what he would have done had you bet from this hand alone.
If only one street is of significance, you can write F(lop), T(urn) or and R (iver) an. Otherwise, write the whole line down.
b/c (5), b (HU), b
On the flop, he donks and you raise as the preflop aggressor. All fold and you end up heads up. We already have the important information that he donked in a multiway pot. You know from the preflop game note that there were 5 people on the flop, but it's easier to read if you keep the overview written here as well.
Since you have written „HU“ in brackets on the turn, this means we have raised and the others all folded. You would otherwise note who saw the turn and what position they were in, if they were of importance. It is important to note, of those that see the turn, if they are a maniac or a passive player, if known. So you could write: b/c (5), b (HU-MP2-C(allingstation) or R(ock).
You can read from this, for instance, whether he attempts to hopelessly bluff a calling station, or whether he might be raising purely because a rock is involved and he believes he has increased fold equity.
When in the actual hand, you must decide what is best to do, however, instead of simply focusing on working out his line. He donks again with a K on the turn. You must now decide whether you think he has the K, or perhaps two-pair, any pair, the flush, a draw or a pure bluff. You clearly decide to call, otherwise the note for the turn would have been b/c, b/f, or b/3-b, or have a question mark at the end, so that we can try and fill in his line at a later time.
You see here that he donked with only an OESD and no spade. On a super scary board, however, you will often abandon a hand such as AJ without any spade. He therefore probably knows (but not necessarily) that he is likely to have fold equity against some better hands. Perhaps he would donk here with any cards, but we do not yet have this information. You call and see a rag on the river.
He bets the river. Naturally, you can only be HU here, otherwise you would write the number of players in brackets. You call, see his busted flush draw and decide in the future to see a showdown more lightly when he donks. This does not mean, of course, that you calldown every time with A high on every board - he could always have the flush. You must still carefully read the board, but you can drop tough folds from your repertoire against him.
The note now looks like this:
9h7c pfr: L-MP2, H-CO-r, BU-cc, V-SB-cc, BB c; Ts8h3sKsx ; b/c(5), b (2), b
alternatively: 9h7c r (5) H-CO-r, V-SB-cc; Ts8h3sKsx ; b/c(5), b(HU), b
You have now stored all the information from this hand in a very concise form. If you pay attention to only storing the really relevant information, you can save a lot of work.
When to read your notes
Whenever you sit down at a table and your software indicates that you have notes on players, you should read them immediately. Also, when you are in a hand with someone and are not sure of the right decision. Should you open the note and find that it doesn't help you, you've probably found a good opportunity too make more notes.
The system proposed in this article requires a little practice, since you will need to be able to interpret your notes in a short amount of time within a game. After making and reading some notes, its just a matter of time before you will immediately know what to do.
To begin with, you can write the full meaning of the abbreviations in brackets to help if you are having trouble reading them quickly enough, for example „draw“, „lp (low pair)“, „tp (top pair)“ etc.
How much can you trust your notes?
Your notes can make your poker life easier, but you must re-examine them to keep them reliable. Perhaps the opponent has since balanced his strange line, or was on tilt at the time and will not use it again. Nevertheless, many opponents are reluctant to break away from their strategy and will keep making the same moves given the same hands.
If your opponent always plays c/r on the flop with his draws and c/r on the turn is always a value line, you can find easy folds or call-downs. The same is true of donks. When he always donks draws, and plays c/c with pairs, or vice-versa, you have easy decisions.
You should always be on the alert, however, that stronger opponents will modify their game. You should not overestimate this, though, since only strong poker players possess the ability to recognize weaknesses in their plays and to be aware of their changing table image.
Conclusion
This article does not provide any strict rules on when you should write notes. It does , however, provide you with a system and nomenclature which can be found on the handout: the handout. Exactly how you write your notes is left up to you. It is important that you can write and read them quickly. Notes are not an end in themselves. They are a means of aiding you in making future decisions which are more profitable than you would otherwise have made.
Reading and filtering the information will not be a problem after a bit of practice. In order to aid you, some sample hands and accompanying notes will follow.
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Exercises
Here are some situations, together with a note of each and you are to decide how to use the information.
3/6 Fixed-Limit Hold'em (3 handed)
Preflop: Hero is BB with K
, 9
BU folds, SB raises, Hero calls.
Flop: (4.00 SB) 6
, A, 3 (2 players)
SB bets, Hero calls.
Turn: (3.00 BB) 5
(2 players)
SB bets, Hero calls.
River: (5.00 BB) 3 (2 players)
SB bets, Hero calls.
Final Pot: 7.00 BB
Results follow:
SB shows [ Qc, 2c ] a pair of Threes
Hero shows [ Kd, 9c ] a pair of Threes
Hero wins $41 USD with a pair of Threes with King kicker.
Note: Qc2c SB-r H BB; 6hAd3h5s3s; b b b
Interpretation: Villain continues to fire barrels with anything from the SB, even if he has virtually no FE against better hands on the river.
15/30 Fixed-Limit Hold'em (4 handed)
Preflop: Hero is Button with 3, A.
UTG calls, Hero raises, SB 3-bets, 1 fold, UTG calls, Hero calls.
Flop: (10 SB)
3, A, 5
(3 players) SB bets, UTG folds, Hero calls.
Turn: (6 BB) 9 (2 players)
SB bets, Hero raises, SB 3-bets, Hero caps, SB calls.
River: (14 BB) 2
(2 players) SB bets, Hero calls.
Final Pot: 16 BB
Results:
Hero has 3s Ah (two pair, aces and threes).
SB has Jd Kd (high card, ace).
Outcome: Hero wins 16 BB.
Note: KdJd 3bet pfr Ad5d392, b (3) b/3-bet (H-cap) (2) b
Interpretation: It is a large pot. You are third to act on the flop. What is not crucial, but you notice nevertheless: The preflop positions and exact preflop action. Villain is out of position and is the third to enter the pot, in which hero probably tried to isolate a fish, so villain came over the top.
What is crucial in this hand is: After Hero and Villain see the turn, he 3-bets (for the second time) in a large pot with his flushdraw. The fact that Hero caps does not intimidate him and he donks-bluffs the river. Hero responds only with a call, since no further action was described.
15/30 Fixed-Limit Hold'em (4 handed)
Preflop: Hero is SB with A K
1 fold, Button raises, Hero 3-bets, 1 fold, Button caps, Hero calls.
Flop: (9 SB) 8 T Q (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets, Hero calls.
Turn: (5.50 BB) K (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets, Hero raises, Button 3-bets, Hero calls.
River: (11.50 BB) 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks.
Final Pot: 11.50 BB
Results:
Hero has Ad Kh (two pair, kings and eights).
Button doesn't show.
Outcome: Hero wins 11.50 BB.
Note: K7s pfr cap BU vs H-SB, 8TQK8 b b/3b cb
Interpretation: He caps K7s preflop. This is certainly important information. After Hero's checkraise on the turn, he 3-bets for a free showdown against what might perhaps be a semi-bluff, but that will be unclear until the river.
30/60 Fixed-Limit Hold'em (4 handed)
Preflop: Hero is Button with 9 T
1 fold, Hero raises, 1 fold, BB calls.
Flop: (4.50 SB) K Q 7
(2 players) BB bets, Hero calls.
Turn: (3.25 BB) T(2 players)
BB bets, Hero calls.
River: (5.25 BB) 7 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.
Final Pot: 5.25 BB
Results:
BB has Ad 6h (one pair, sevens).
Hero has 9d Th (two pair, tens and sevens).
Outcome: Hero wins 5.25 BB.
Note: A6 BB-c, H-BU-r, KQ7T7 b b c/ ?
Interpretation: Villain defends his BB with A6 in the BB, donks this board and bets again on the turn after just a call from Hero. He checks the river and Hero also checks, so it is unclear whether he would have played c/c or c/f. He makes these donks with Ax, a hand which has showdown value, but has not hit. You therefore regard his donks with little respect and will be more careful should he play c/r for instance.
Known players:
Position:hands/vp$ip/pfr/af/wts/ats/foldbb/w$sd
SB: 99/44/16/0.6/29/31/21/33
BB: 843/51/25/1.0/40/62/15/50
MP3: Hero CO: 122/16/7/0.8/15/65/27/67
BU: 158/27/9/0.5/30/71/38/50
30/60 Fixed-Limit Hold'em (5 handed)
Preflop: Hero is MP3 with 6, 6
Hero raises, 3 folds, BB calls.
Flop: (4.50 SB) 3, 3, 5 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets, BB calls.
Turn: (3.25 BB) 9 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets, BB raises, Hero calls.
River: (7.25 BB) 8 (2 players)
BB bets, Hero calls.
Final Pot: 9.25 BB
Results:
BB shows [ 2c, 2s ] two pairs, Threes and Twos
Hero shows [ 6c, 6d ] two pairs, Sixes and Threes
Hero wins $553 USD with two pairs, Sixes and Threes.
Note: 22 BB-c H-MP3-r, 33h59h8h c/c c/r b
Interpretation: On this board, which lies outside of Hero's hand range, villain decides to play, c/c flop, c/r turn, perhaps in order to balance his monster line. He could also get a flushdraw to fold on the turn. You must continue to observe with which hands he uses this line, and in no case will you be able to find an easy fold.
Known players:
Position:hands/vp$ip/pfr/af/wts/ats/foldbb/w$sd
MP2: 434/49/24/1.0/40/75/12/48
BU: Hero
BB: 1908/35/14/0.6/43/63/12/56
SB: 396/31/12/0.6/35/72/24/50
CO: 68/43/18/0.6/19/64/17/33
MP3:68/41/32/4.4/44/40/27/42
15/30 Fixed-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)
Preflop: Hero is BU with J, A
3 folds, Hero raises, SB folds, BB calls.
Flop: (4.67 SB) 8, 7, 7 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets, BB raises, Hero calls.
Turn: (4.33 BB) Q (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.
River: (4.33 BB) K (2 players)
BB bets, Hero calls.
Final Pot: 6.33 BB
Results:
Hero shows [ Jc, Ad ] a pair of Sevens
BB shows [ 7d, 5d ] three of a kind, Sevens
BB wins $187 USD with three of a kind, Sevens.
Note: 75s 877QK c/r c b
Interpretation: The precise preflop play is not important here. This is standard for a blind-defense situation. Should there be a preflop 3-bet, or if the pot is multiway, then it should be noted.
It is important to note that he first plays c/r on the flop, and then tries to play c/r on the turn, hoping that Hero will have hit the Q and bet, or even bluff. After the check behind he bets out on the river, rather than try another c/r. In the future, you must try to determine if he plays this line often, or if it was just an experiment, and in any case you should not blindly bet should he checkraise the flop and then check the turn.
Known players:
Position: hands/vp$ip/pfr/af/wts/ats/foldbb/w$sd
CO: 647/45/24/1.3/44/54/16/46 BU: 656/32/20/1.6/41/57/16/57
BB: 1523/38/13/0.5/39/53/16/53 MP2: 198/41/20/1.1/38/71/28/59
MP3: 179/27/20/3.9/41/73/22/61
SB: Hero
10/20 Fixed-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)
Preflop: Hero is SB with A, J
3 folds, BU raises, Hero 3-bets, BB folds, BU calls.
Flop: (7.00 SB) 8, 8, 7 (2 players)
Hero bets, BU raises, Hero calls.
Turn: (5.50 BB) 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, BU bets, Hero calls.
River: (7.50 BB) J (2 players)
Hero bets, BU calls.
Final Pot: 9.50 BB
Results:
BU shows [ 4s, Ad ] three of a kind, Eights
Hero shows [ Ac, Jc ] a full house, Eights full of Jacks
Hero wins $187 USD with a full house, Eights full of Jacks.
Note: H-SB-3b, V-BU-r, 8878J r b call
Interpretation: Hero 3-bets in the SB preflop against a raise from the BU. On the flop, Villain raises IP and bets the turn. He simply calls Hero's riverdonk.
Villain's raise in position here is not a monster with which he wants to induce action. Neither does he do it with a draw to get a free card, but rather only with A high. He calls Hero's riverdonk, therefore you do not know whether he would check behind or bluff (value bet?). Whether he wanted to represent a monster or whether he thinks he is ahead you do not know. In any case you note that you should not give him too much credit for flop raises in position in the future.