I like to start with the basics.

Go with preflop... does this guy raise a lot? limp a lot? call a lot? fold a lot? look at their position when they do these actions, then you can get an idea of their vpip

Then go on to postflop... does this guy cbet a lot? call a lot of flops? raise flops a lot? call turns? raise turns? folds? etc. again, look at position and board texture and see what reasonable hand they have. This will give you an idea of how loose/tight/aggro they are postflop

The key is looking at showdown hands. This is where you can sum up all the little reads you have together into more solid reads. Does this guy check down with top pair? did he miss an easy value bet? did he check back a busted draw when he can rep a scare card? did he rep a scare card? these reads help you determine how showdownish they are, and you can now start exploiting once you have these more solid reads...

example: you see a guy raise a ton preflop.. but only in position.. so you know he's positionally aware and his late position raising range is wide.. so now you can try to play against a weaker range postflop or determine how he plays to 3bets (if he calls/folds/4b) etc.

on the flop.. this guy cbets a relatively harmless board.. like K74r.. well you know his range is wide, you can probably c/r him off his hand or float and take it away later..

let's say you float and fire out at an 8 turn.. he calls you.. now you know he has "something"

river you fire one more barrel with your air and he calls you.. showing down 86s.. now you know his LP raising range is wide and he calls down bets lightly.. so in the future.. value bet the crap out of this guy and don't bluff him (do semi-bluff if you have a lot of equity)

that's just one way of getting a certain read on a player.. as you play more you'll get a better feel for all this.. it kind of just "magically" happens one day as you play.. you'll start noticing you're getting all these "reads" and "feel" how the other players play without even trying too hard

I know, its embarrassing saying anything positive about Phil Hellmuth, but his book was one of the first poker books I read (before the poker boom) when I decided to "get serious" and he does have some good stuff in there. And like it or not, the man does have 11 bracelets and deserves some respect.

But, you're TheBestEver. You dont need reads.

Don't feel too bad. I read that book too. Looking back on it now (and of course comparing it to other poker books) it's hilarious how obvious a lot of it seems and it's really weird how sparse the actual NLHE content is.

I haven't read the whole thread, so I don't know if others are mentioning this but over the past few weeks I have been keeping notes on how players played their hands on my phone. I am the type of person who remembers things better if I write it down, even if I don't ever read it again. It forces me to pay attention more and I think I have gotten a lot better with my reads because of it. I've noticed a lot more information people give off with regard to bet sizing, donking strategies, how people play strong hands, if they semibluff, etc...

Me i just use my head i memorize the players tendencies/actions it only takes me about 10 mins a player to figure out most style if its an unknown. All u have to do is focus on 1 player at a time study them then move on to the next, watching how they react, bet size etc. It really takes practice to learn. But i never take physical notes on players, only mental notes.

but i do type in hand histories or cashin, time in /out, etc info into my phone.

GL