In the last few posts that I have read, question of note taking came up fairly often.

I myself take notes, but I am not sure if I do it right in terms of what kind of information I am writing down and how often I do it.
I haven’t been taking notes too often and too thoroughly in the past since the turnover of players at the limits I have been playing at was too high. Now that I have moved up limits, I think I should put more in work taking notes.

I would love to hear from experienced winning online players what kind of notes do they take on players and maybe see some examples even.

Thanks.

Well, which do you want notes from: the experienced ol players or the winning ones? jk

Unlike most ol players in this forum, I don't use my HUD when playing (I stopped doing so when the old PT2 stopped working). As a result, I am much more dependent on my notes and am pretty prolific in taking them.

When I am playing with an unknown, my initial notes are specific. E.g., open limped otb, didn't bet whiffed flop in blind steal, cc utg open with KTo from hj, etc. These notes then generally tell me about patterns of play, especially pf play.

As time goes on, I'll have other notes such as "frequently bets when checked to" (good player to set up for c/rs when you're oop); semi-bluff raises the turn with mediocre draws; triple barrel bluffs in steals; or capable of bluff raising the river, etc.

I use many abbreviations in my notes as well. ol = open limp, ovl = overlimp and, of course, most of the abbreviations you see here on 2p2 regarding position and type of player (e.g., otb, utg, TAG, LP, etc.)

Also, I color code certain players, especially bad, loose, passive, cold calling or maniacal players.

I'm sure others will add to this.

I like to note plays that I deem odd as it will give you a better idea of the edges of your opponent's range, especially if it's something that I wouldn't consider to be normal for their HUD stats. One of the mistakes some players make is assuming that others play like them and not considering how different styles affect ranges.

Examples:

* players with very passive stats who will bluff the river when checked to
* players who like to donk -- note what types of hands they'll donk with. Some do it with draws, some do it exclusively with top pair+, some do it with air. If you have trouble with donkers, it's because you don't know what it means when they donk.
* players with really low PFR, note if a raise doesn't necessarily mean a premium hand.
* players who like to donk the turn -- again, noting what types of hands they do this with.
* if they show up with a draw at showdown, note how they played it.
* cold calling ranges -- will give you some idea of what you're up against and hands whose probability you can reduce when they 3-bet.
* how many/which streets do they bet with unimproved overcards, and is it board dependent?

Any time I see something that I perceive to be out of the ordinary, or possibly exploitable, I note it. If I see someone make what I perceive to be an expert slow play, I will note them as having done that, and keep an eye on them. Generally, if I don't have a note on someone, it means I haven't run into anything out of the ordinary, with them, or haven't gathered enough of a sample to think anything about their play. Things like "flatted raise from SB with AKo, donked Ace flop, etc." or "limp called 99, donked flopped set", "tried to blow me off a set with nada when board ran out runner runner 4 flush" are common.

I agree with all the things posted so far. Especially making notes that will help you put a player on a range of hands. Like: "he cc 3 bets pf from btn with K9s. or he rr a utg pf r with A8s from co - donkt with bottom pair or donkt with fd or oesd on the flop etc..."

However, one thing no one has metioned yet is making a note about multi tabling. I like to know who is play 8 -12 tables at once. I think it limits their ability to follow the table dynamic. They are making quick decisions and only playing premium hands.

I have a lot of notes that simply say "playing at least 10 tables" I may add something like - "alaways c-bets flop after opening pf - checks turn if he missed and got called"

You can assume that these players are playing ABC TAG poker and you want to play against them when you are very strong or when you can use their multi tabling to exploit them. It is often very easy to steal the blinds from these players bc they don't want to play marginal hands oop.

I know you posted in the small stakes forum, but go to the micro stakes limit forum, click on the library, and check out the posts on notes. They are very good.

Interesting… I guess not many people are interested in the subject, but I feel like this is something that can help you improve your win rate if you pay enough attention.

Here is a sample of my notes at lower limits. Like I said, I have not been taking much of them, just general:
- Folds BB often to steal
- 3-bet with KJs
- Called raise from BB w 25o, did not raise straight
- Weak, bluffs
- Likes to bluff, but folds afterwards fairly often
- Re-raised w/J7s
- weak, called raise and 3-bet with 27s from BB (My favorite, at 3/6, my set lost to a 27s runner runner flush)
- looks weak
- looks weak, plays too much, calls too often in early position pre-flop
- KTo UTG limp
- Makes plays from time to time. Bluffed with nothing at big pot. Looks like a solid player though.
- Raises from UTG w/ 44
I went over some of my notes in PT3, and I was a little surprised with 2 things. On one side I have not been taking much notes. On the other side I was surprised to see that I have played less then 100 hands with most of my opponents at 1/2 and 2/4 limits. Does it make any sense taking notes on them in this case? (it was kind of funny to see that I have two notes on a player that I played only 2 hands with

Good point!