Message Board : keeping track of regular opponents (live, tiny stakes)

Jan -

Your instinct here is certainly corect.  Also as you’ve noted you also won’t be able to track everything.  The key is to start somewhere, you’ll improve your technique over time.  I use a spreadsheet to record my wins/losses for sessions.  I keep a seperate column for key hands, and a separate spreadsheet to note player tendencies.  When I started doing this it improved my game dramatically… the big pots it helps you drag in will reinforce your desire to continue tracking your sessions.

- HJ

I would also suggest keeping notes on yourself.  This might even be more helpful, and prevent your opponents from nailing you down to certain moves, in the same way that you are trying to do with them.  Did you vary your play?  Are you playing the same hands/position the same every time?  Also, when you lose an important hand, do a post mortem.  What happened…why?  Could you have played it different with a different result?  Should you have?

besides figuring out what to look for is then remembering it.

i program calculators (not computers) as part of my job and
am about half way thru a program that cues (beeps) Poker
Tracker like stats thru earbuds during live B&M play.

it took a while of delicate questions at my local casinos to
ascertain that electronically recorded notes were ok as long
as 1) they could not be transmitted to others and 2) the calc-
ulator does not “make decisions”- it can only cue stat ranges.

even tho within the rules i hide the calculator (hp-50g- more
like a pocket computer) under my pant leg with some of the
keys raised so i know where i am on the keyboard. at first i was recording %100 of the action including bet amounts and common cards but that was too consuming. now i only key in player action-
fold, call, raise etc. without amounts or cards.

when finished the program will covertly beep me cues as i enter
the action. for example its preflop and as a player raises and i
press the raise key i will get a beep that will give me his past range of PFR- % of preflop play he raises. so he raises %10 to
%15 (tight) and the flop is 5-7-9.. he does not have 6-8 in the hole.

of course any good player would know that but its about the quantity of that type info i can have also in many other subtle
areas.

you asked what info you should look for and note down. take a cue from Poker Tracker on the internet and observe how many hands a player will put voluntary money in the pot preflop, how often do they raise preflop and how aggressive (raises compared to calls) are they postflop. the computer whiz guys figure this “trinity” is the most valuable.

tobori

besides figuring out what to look for is then remembering it.

i program calculators (not computers) as part of my job and
am about half way thru a program that cues (beeps) Poker
Tracker like stats thru earbuds during live B&M play.

it took a while of delicate questions at my local casinos to
ascertain that electronically recorded notes were ok as long
as 1) they could not be transmitted to others and 2) the calc-
ulator does not “make decisions”- it can only cue stat ranges.

even tho within the rules i hide the calculator (hp-50g- more
like a pocket computer) under my pant leg with some of the
keys raised so i know where i am on the keyboard. at first i was recording %100 of the action including bet amounts and common cards but that was too consuming. now i only key in player action-
fold, call, raise etc. without amounts or cards.

when finished the program will covertly beep me cues as i enter
the action. for example its preflop and as a player raises and i
press the raise key i will get a beep that will give me his past range of PFR- % of preflop play he raises. so he raises %10 to
%15 (tight) and the flop is 5-7-9.. he does not have 6-8 in the hole.

of course any good player would know that but its about the quantity of that type info i can have also in many other subtle
areas.

you asked what info you should look for and note down. take a cue from Poker Tracker on the internet and observe how many hands a player will put voluntary money in the pot preflop, how often do they raise preflop and how aggressive (raises compared to calls) are they postflop. the computer whiz guys figure this “trinity” is the most valuable.

tobori

MrAmbiguous said:

tob im just getting an image of you being dragged into the back of some card room after being found with your “note taker”under your leg getting “silenced” repeating after yourself …”its only a calculator”..lol and them not giving a shit…do you hide it from the dealers and floorman or other players???…or all???

i hide it from dealers and players- management in the 2 card
rooms i play in are aware. as i said it took a while to find out
(by questionning) that what i was doing broke no rules or laws.

the answers i got were from “the top dog” in each room and they
assured me they passed the word to their floor personel. i don’t
know if they told the dealers.

you still have to play your own poker- just like with PT or PO on the net. but for the stats programmed you have “total recall”.

i thot originally that the enterring of data would consume so much “mind” i would be distracted but find the opposite is true- especially just enterring fold, call , raise etc. (without ammounts).
data entry becomes automatic and i find i watch the physical action closer- instead of trying to remember is this guy loose…how loose etc. i am “beeped” the answers to those stats and i can look closer for movement tells.

i’m keeping it fairly simple and am recording/calculating the following; VPIP, PFR, PFA ( the standard “trinity”) along with 3 more- WTSD , cont bet %, and finally a cue indicating if and how
much they are positionally aware.

by the way the days of back room beatings are long gone. i’ve
seen a recent add for soon to come movie “bringing down the house” about BJ card counting MIT students. they showed the cliche smacking but no such violence existed in the supposedly true book. out in the parking lot is another story but i’ve had my calculator on a hundred times without being outed and have the correct type of permit to protect myself outside the casino.

tobori