i have been a lurker on this board for a couple years now and like to think im a somewhat experienced uNL online player. i have been using pokertracker for over year and am still amazed at the information it can be used for and think it is an indispensable tool. over the pasty several months i have decided to take my play a little more seriously, specifically when i play live (at the casino or the tracks). i was just looking for some advice from some of the more serious players on what kind of records i should try to keep for live play. i think dates, limits, buy in, time played, #of hands (est), $won/lost, and any specific notes on difficult hands or the session in general would be a good place to start. any thoughts?

also thanks for the years of wisdom from everyone who contributes to this board!

I use *************.com. Pretty basic, but enough, and available anywhere you have internet so no forgetting your "log" at home.

You already mentioned some of these, but just to confirm:

Date
Hours played
Stake played
Game
Location
BI
Win/loss
Mood
Notes
Hourly rate session
Hourly rate total

Keep your BI and win/loss in seperate columns. This way you know how much you were in for etc.

Keep your hours played and hours breaked seperate. Calculate your hourly rate upon your total hours there (so break and play together).

Mood is an interesting one, but it will help you reflect on how you were feeling that day and you may see a trend in win/loss depending on your mood.

Make sure you calculate your hourly rate for both the session and total amount of time you played. The more accurate your time is kept the more accurate your rate will reflect... duh

IF you have an iPhone or iPod that can access the app store download Poker Journal by Michael Golden... pure effin gold! You wont have to do shiz but hit some buttons. It even keeps track of your break/play time

Kurt or anyone else - i just signed up for check your bets.

Is there any benefit to being picky about location? I mean, if i play 2/5 at one place and 2/5 at another, there's no effing difference in terms of what im trying to keep track of, and things like if the game is softer or harder is something i can remember and dont need to track really.

or am i missing something?

Well, for me I've got a "home room" where I put in most of my play, so knowing how I do against those regs as compared to other local rooms or Vegas trips was worthwhile. YMMV

Thanks for the link Kurt, just signed up.

I think for location I'm just going to separate by stakes. 1/2, 2/5, etc.

I gotcha.

I'm just trying to think 6-8 months out if i will be wondering "oh, how did i fare at that hard 2/5 game at card club x vs the softer ones at the borgata" and then i think i might simply be concerned w/ just a properly recorded win rate, but i dont want to be blinded by an inability for proper foresight.

im still going to separate by stakes, but i only play 1/2 at a club in my home town and its still has a higher % of better players than some 2/5 games in a.c.

meh, i'll see what 6-8 months brings, if it proves otherwise, i'll change it up and have more specific entries.

Thanks Kurt for the link btw. Much appreciated.

I've been using Poker-Tracking.com and it's great for what i need: keeps track of all the stats you mentioned. Check it out

I keep track the old fashioned way. I made a 'daily session sheet' that I fill out every time I play poker (manually) complete with all the normal stuff plus things like vehicle driven, km driven, tips or session fees, waiting time, actual table time, a scale from one to 10 ranking my play and a space for comments, an list of goals for my next session and other random things I like to track.

I then do a quarterly report where I figure out hourly rates, win rates, expenses and all the other averages (wait time, fuel, km driven, etc.) It's important to track your table hourly and actual hourly and to analyze where your profits are coming from and where you're bleeding money. I only figure out total profits and hourly every three months because I don't want those numbers to dictate how I play. It's sort of like the online player that hits the cashier button every 10 minutes, it's not conducive to good play.

Also I have another sheet I fill out every time I make a withdrawal and the reasons why I made it.

Finally I keep a section in my binder containing notes about players and situations.

My 'book' gets awfully thick so I 'file' my daily session sheets every three months (in a duo-tang) but keep them readily available.

I only recently started a free account at *************.com so I could have one of those fancy graphs that Ace and FoldnDark keep posting (but the tracking isn't detailed enough for me.)

I should keep all this **** in an excel database but when I started tracking my play I had no idea how to build one (actually still don't) and no idea how to build the query questions and what have you.

The biggest piece of advice I can offer is that whatever you do to keep your stats, fill out your form, sheet, w/e immediately (and I mean immediately.)

GL @ the tables

I forgot to mention that I also fill out a 'bookkeeping/study sheet' every time I put in some work on my game of any consequence. I don't actually track every time I check 2p2 on my BB (like now) but if I sit and read, go over my notes on players and situations, spend an hour or more online reviewing hands and strategy sites I make an entry. My records aren't as detailed as my 'daily session sheets' but track things like date, time, what I did, if I learned anything, etc. They say on ur way up u should put in one hour of study for every four hours of table time but since I'm a 'live' donk I keep a ratio of more like 6-1. When u play 30 hours a week and add five hours of study and seven to 10 hours of travel and waiting time and then deduct expenses (like fuel, books, etc.) U can see how it effects ur 'actual' hourly rate.

Have you tried Stat King? I think thats a pretty good spreadsheet/tracking program. I think it costs like $25, but whats a quarter ya know?

That big piece of advice he is giving is huge. If you dont do it immeadiately you will end up failing. Dont wait until you wake up to fill in your graph, or w/e else. You will fail if you wait. Trust me... been there done that. I am so happy the iPhone had an app or I would of been lost.

jfc.

i would do this if i was a high stakes baller and i had some kind of personal assistant.

otherwise, this is way too much work for a lazy bastard like myself.

but i wish i had the motivation to do something like this.

If I had a personal assistant I would get them to build me a database for all this ****.

It actually isn't all that much work. After I made the 'sheets' in word it only takes 5-10 minutes to fill out after a session. The withdrawal slips make me a little more responsible with my money and the quarterly reports take an hour of my time four times a year (as I play under 20 sessions a month.) If I get to a place where I'm making 'baller' money I like to think I'll have a good system in place for my PA to take over and hopefully improve on.

Wow, you're really going to be ballin' when you have your own Patrik Antonius!

If you have an IPOD the most recent issue of Bluff has an article on a several apps available for trakcing your live play, if you have a blackberry, "Poker Life Line/Poker Life Line lite" are apps available.

Tracking Software for Blackberry

Free Version

Anybody use these?

^^^^^^ my antiquated system (it's actually a little old and could be updated but it has served me well)

Any good App for the Droid?

^^^ Bump

Recently I dl'd PokerAgent for the 'droid. Tons of stuff I'll never most likely utilize. But it appears to be more than adequate so far.

Poker Agent Description:

Poker Agent has some unique user interface elements, for a complete understanding watch the introduction video. http://nuancesys.trickel.com/intro-to-poker-agent
Poker Agent DOES NOT support small screens or extra large screens (tablets).
If you experience any problems please give me a chance to resolve it before you give the application a poor rating. You can email me at nuancesys@trickel.com

Features
- Session tracking and reporting
- Player tracking
- Player and Session Notes
- Break Timer
- Automated Backups
- Automated location determination (using wifi and gps)
- Hand History (player and session based)
- Flop and Turn equity calculations
- Flop, Turn, and River combinatorial calculations
- Post session email
- International Currency Support
- Post flop player's statistics
- Setting the game type at each table
- Tracking Win/Loss per table
- Allow win/loss to be updated multiple times per session
- Expense tracking at the table level (tips, transportation, rake, etc).
- Money borrowed and loaned
- Tournament support

Planned features include the following:

- Hand History entry will also get additional statistical tools including range selection and calculation (Poker Stove light).
- Poker Calculator
- Hand History reporting
- Player Types
- Bankroll tracking (starting amount, removal for expenses, etc).
- Some tracking of pre-flop statistic via a quick entry screen Recently changed in this version:
- Fixed a force close issue when it is on the session list for a long time
- Improved the flow on player maintenance screen.
- Fixed a bug with the chart.
- Fixed a bug with the 30 Day group in the session list.
- Fixed a bug on the hand recording screen that was sometimes including seat 10 even though 10 handed was off.