Taking notes & classifying players

[TheHaversham]

This is just how I do it, I'm sure it won't be for everyone. It relies heavily on OPR, so therefore is designed around MTT's, as opposed to SnG's and Ring games. It will works well for me, but originally was used pre-Black Friday for Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars...for smaller sites, and for the newer, smaller fields, there are obviously a few minor tweaks needed, but this is good starting point.

I don't always start right away, simply because in some tourneys you're going to be bouncing from tbl to tbl quickly. But, the beauty is that when you get used to what you're looking for, you can get your whole table coded quickly. Also keep in mind that micro stakes have such a variance that getting solid stats requires quite a high amount of games played (preferably >3000).

The system involves looking players up on OPR, noting their winnings, profit, and ROI, copying and pasting the MTT Avg Finish chart, and noting any specific hands that raise flags.

Notetaking & Color Coding

Color

Red - This is for solid, winning players
ABI..........Winnings..........ROI
$100+........$30k+............40%
$26+..........$10k+............50%
$5-$25........$5k+.............50%
<$5 N/A

Orange - This covers new accounts with <100 tourneys, and is sub-coded according to ABI
Dark Orange - ABI >$50
Light Orange-ABI <$50

Yellow - This is for break-even players (ROI +/-5%)

Green - Winning players who for some reason are not already RED

Blue - Fish
Light Blue - Superfish (MTT Avg Finish E+EM=25% or higher)
Dark Blue - Losing but capable

Pink - Hidden players - there is usually a reason a player would hide stats, so they are commonly either VERY good, or VERY bad.

***Always put more stock in MTT Avg Finish...copy & paste the chart from OPR.***
-Note: Players who focus primarily on SnG's will have a skewed chart,
so if noticed, pay attention to E+EM bust %.
A decent chart for $10ish ABI:
Early ................5% (10%)
Early/Middle .....10-12% (20%)
Middle ................40% (40%)
Middle/Late ....24-27% (20%)
Late ................13-15% (10%)

After I've color-coded a player, and copied their chart, I will note any specific hands below that...when I do, I always include buy-in and chart position (E, EM, M, ML, L) for that hand.

Here is an example:

RowJimmy on Carbon Poker will be our guinea pig.
Player has an ABI of only $3.22, so he will not be a red player. But with $6k in prizes ($1689 profit) and a 38% ROI across 1365 games, he is still a winning player, so we color his player box GREEN.
Then, in the notes, we copy his MTT Avg Finish chart:

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Early 17% (10%)
Early/Middle 21% (20%)
Middle 32% (40%)
Middle/Late 17% (20%)
Late 12% (10%)

$5 E: called off 75% of stack OOP with naked flush draw, after limp-calling pre, betting flop.

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The bottom note would indicate a hand that stood out to me. I noted the buy-in followed by where we were in the tourney (E=Early).

From his chart we can see he is busting out E and EM (early and early/middle) WAY too often (not uncommon for a $3 ABI, however). This shows he is likely willing to take risks early in a tournament (again, not uncommon in $3 games).

I would take notice if I was sitting with RowJimmy in a $20 buy-in or higher, as this is clearly not where he usually plays on Carbon.

And there you have it. I should also note that this system, besides primarily covering MTT's, works for 180's and what-not, as long as you are focusing more on the finish chart. Similarly, it is based on NLHE, is still good for games like O & O8, but breaks down somewhat for mixed/stud games due to the generally low availability of games across multiple buy-ins. (If you like HORSE, for example, and your ABI is >$50, you'll still likely play the $10 and sometimes $5 HORSE tourneys, because there just aren't many to choose from.)

I also sometimes copy/paste the bottom line of the Poker Statistics chart for a player above the MTT finish, like this:

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$6,083 $1,689 38% $3.22 1047 9% 156/1365 11%
Early 17% (10%)
Early/Middle 21% (20%)
Middle 32% (40%)
Middle/Late 17% (20%)
Late 12% (10%)

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It's quick, it's easy, and I can go back in later and change colors or whatever when I get time.

The nice part is that in the games and times I play, it doesn't take long to get a good percentage of my regular opponents coded, so sometimes when I sit in one of my regular tourneys, my table is almost done already.