Advanced Poker Advice: Online Poker Note-Taking

"Write something, even if it's just a suicide note." - Gore Vidal

Sept. 25, 2007

By Smith Collins
Bodog Nation Contributing Writer

There are constantly major disputes about the differences between live and online poker as well as differing views as to which one is easier to beat. One subject that stands out in these arguments as an enormous advantage for the online player is note-taking.

In a casino, you are forced to remember everything about everyone straight from memory, but online, with just a right-click on their name, you can write informative notes about your opponents for future reference. The real question is, what should you be writing to extract maximum value from this privilege? Below are some key note-taking strategies that I use when playing to help me in the midst of tough situations where the correct action isn't easy to figure out unless you have special information:

1. Pay close attention to betting sizes

Whenever there is a showdown there is always something to be noted, the most important being how the people in the hands alter the sizes of their bets in relation to the pot. In my experience, most humans are creatures of habit and belong to one of two schools of thought: They feel they should either bet very small with good hands to get value out of them, or bet their strong hands very hard to avoid losing to bad luck.

For example, if you see a showdown and you notice someone else has bet less than half the pot on all three streets with a full house, you can probably deduce that when that person is betting the full amount of the pot or above, they are possibly on a draw or very weak. A major opportunity for these notes to come in handy is during a continuation bet on the flop from your opponent when you have to put them on a hand, and if their bet sizes give away the strength of their hand, then it is much easier to play against them.   

2. Watch for betting patterns

If you completely ignore the size of the bets being made and you have too many other things going on while you are playing, you can at least write notes focusing on the betting patterns that are coming from each player at your table. For example, most people will give up after their flop bet is called, because they read in a book somewhere that you should take stabs at pots and then give up when called. Other players keep firing away on future streets with the idea that aggression is the key to winning at poker.

Another example would be to watch how someone reacts after the flop is bet and the turn is checked, because a lot of value can be extracted on the river by checking to players who like to bluff once they have missed their draws. Once you know how the players react in multiple situations, you can manipulate them to do whatever you want while having no certain "style" of your own for them to fight back at.

3. Monitor the speed of your opponents' actions for timing tells

A common question that people ask pertaining to online poker is, "How are you supposed to tell what cards someone has through a computer screen?" This is a very interesting question because there is no real way to know what someone has, but if you watch very closely for timing, sometimes people will give their hand away.

Jose Severino (currently No. 1 on the Bodog Yearly Tournament Leader Board) takes on Smith Collins (currently No. 2 on the Bodog Yearly Tournament Leader Board) in a heads-up match at a Bodog party.

One extremely common example is when someone instantly shoves all-in on the river, which is notoriously weak. Once you begin to call these bets more often, you begin to see that they are often weak bluffs from people trying to portray strength with missed draws or total air.

For an alternate example, say you raise it up pre-flop and someone calls you, but once the flop comes they use their entire time bank before checking. In my experience, this is just a last-resort intimidation technique that usually lets you know that they are weak. These same players will check quickly on the flop with a big hand in hopes that you will bet without thinking.

4. Try to detect any repetition of these tells

Once you move up in buy-ins, you will probably run into players who already use everything I just mentioned above. These tricky types of players will try to transform their own game to intentionally imitate those tells just to fool you into putting wrong information into your notes. These players might check-raise all-in on the flop with a flush draw and then do it the next hand with a made hand just to throw you off. If you know who these players are before you play a hand with them, you can be one step ahead of their mind game and completely fool them. However, if you see a player check-raising all-in on the flop with a flush four times in a row, it is fairly safe to say they do not know anyone is paying attention to them. Keeping note of the frequency that someone has given off a certain tell will help you to see the difference between someone who is a weak player with bad habits and someone who is a solid player just trying to mix it up.

Adopting these four note-taking strategies into your game will not only skyrocket you to the next level, but will help you focus deeper on your poker tournaments once you have notes on most of the players that are regulars on your site. I cannot begin to estimate how much of my profits have come just from writing down these little pieces of useful information that everyone gives away, and I hope everyone who reads this can now say the same.

TOP PHOTO: Smith Collins enjoying the company of two Bodog Girls at a Bodog event during the 2007 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.