I have been reading the pages and pages of Verneer's awesome "moving up through uNL" thread when i came across this post by Mark89er which has really struck a chord with me:

"Play fewer tables, make READS, then make lighter calldown, more valuebets and more bluffs based on them.

For every player, ask yourself:
-how does he play his air
-how does he play his draws
-how does he play his monsters
-how does he play is good hands
-how does he play his 2nd pairs
-all the above questions for specifc board types
-anything more you can think off you get the idea

Every time you learn anything based on a hand you played or watched (check HHs from medium-big sized pots you weren't involved in, especially when they went to showdown), take a note on villain and write down what you learned from that hand. By that I mean, answer one of the questions. Don't write down he bet 89 on the turn after checking flop on T852. That's not what you learned from the hand, that's just a fact. Write: potcontrols flop with 2nd pair. That's what you learned from it. You get the idea. Take TONS of notes like that. Then make reads!

Less than 1% of you who think you're making reads and taking good notes are actually doing this"


I know i am terrible at making notes, they end up in a recount of the hand history rather than what i actually learned so when re-reading the notes i take I end up having to interpret villains tendencies every time from my inadequate notes. Using Mark89er's excellent advice, can you expand on it to give further hints and tips, maybe with a few examples on how to take the best, most concise and meaningful notes to help strengthen our game?

(mods forgive me if this should be in the strategy section rather than the uNL, i habitually lurk here and i figure that at the micros is where I and others here may benefit best from any advice given)

Got this from a training vid. Its good enough for me. You can add or leave stuff obv.
I just copy paste this and make the note.

3Bets :
4Bets :
Sqz :
Cbets :
Donks :
Straightdraws :
Flushdraws :
Limps :
Flop :
Turn :
River :
Peeled :
Other Notes :

(Grindcore's Thin Red Line video maybe ep 3)

no other input? would have thought this was an interesting topic for discussion.

I'm starting to color code my notes based on the type of player I'm running into.

Makes for easier decisions if I need to mash the time button on a thinking player...or lol value town a fishy.

Last I checked, even without huds (which i do use a hud) all sites allow for note color coding, up to 6(7?)

If I join a table that has a low-ish VPIP or low-ish % players/flop, I sometimes just play extremely tight for awhile to see who the fish are, who the "okay" players are, and who the "sharks" are.

But otherwise, for micro-stakes, I really don't find note-taking valuable. Usually, the actions speak for themselves.

I use hem notes for things like : dnk-fld low flop.
And when I see a strange hand I often just copy paste the whole hand to FTP or AP playernotes

the best notes to take are those that are unconventional to what you would expect that particular villain to do (i.e. if an aggro villain raises pre and c/f KKQr flop). once you realize the nuances that differentiate their playstyle from yours, just note those differences and start exploiting.

I disagree. I think it's much better to write down only the action on a significant hand, whether they took an odd line or it's the first time you've seen them play tpwk, the nuts, or in a 3bet pot. That way, you're not making assumptions or jumping to conclusions until you see more showdowns and understand them better. What you think of as "pot control" may be another thought process entirely.

Also, I make sure to mention the type of player against whom the noted hand took place, eg. "against a fish/tag/lag"

I colour-code my villains based on their approximate player types (reg/fish/aggro/nit and a special colour for players who are loose pre and tight post).

Betsizing reads are really useful. Watch the pots you're not in and check the size of the PFR's flop cbet. Whenever you notice a discrepancy between bluffing and value betting, mark it down. You can checkraise (or raise) any two cards against certain players when you realise their cbet is weak and take down the pot.

Try to get a read on whether or not they play draws aggressively or passively. Some loose fish will minbet draws every street even if they miss, some will minbet until they hit and some will minbet and then give up on the river. Some will go super-aggro with big draws on the turn. Some will check/call and bomb the river when they hit and some will bomb the river as a bluff.

Look for tendencies and take notes. Go over your sessions and check your histories of villains that you have a lot of hands on. Look up hands that went to showdown and work backwards from there.

"sucks"
"can smd"
"slowroll this dude next time u can"
"this POS can kiss my ****ing ass"

let me know if u want more...ive started color coding them as well

huh, it was grindcore that made that quote, i copy and pasted it
but i have to admit its awesome stuff

Ok, imma be serious here, you're at unl, there are far too many bad regulars to be taking notes, just play solid poker and try to move up to the stakes where note taking actually becomes more important.

Yes, notes will increase you're winrate, but think about this, does the small profit from taking notes really outweigh increasing the number of tables at micro stakes while just playing solid poker? I really don't think so... But, I guess I'm more concerned about the monies over getting better, etc, so I'm probably wrong here, regardless, im going to stick to being lazy and multi tabling instead of decreasing the amount of tables + taking notes.

When I'm playing, I'll note weird lines villain takes. When I put a similar note again, then I can make a generalization and a read. You definitely want to see how he plays strong hands and how he plays draws. A lot of people don't vary their play.

I also like to try to color code them in the client when I have a strong idea of their general play, so you can pick them out of the lobby/when you first sit down. But put full notes in HEM/PT so they're there if you switch comps.

I disagree. Make good habits now and start paying attention.

You're probably right, although I think at micro stakes you should be more concerned with plugging leaks + figuring out how to play very solid poker, and one of the best ways to find leaks is to play a lot of hands + review review review imo.