Archive for July, 2009
Poker And Keeping Records Part5
17. Cocktail waitress tips. This can also be a big expense for some people. These tips come out of the stack of poker chips that you have in front of you, so write them down.
18. Narrative remarks. This section is for anything you want to say about the game that can't be reduced to numbers, or for remarks expanding upon and explaining any of the above entries. I use it as a diarylike entry so that I can give each poker playing session it's own unique characteristics. After reading everything I have on a session, I'm able to remember playing that session, even if it was several years ago.
19. Tournament results. Poker tournaments are very different from regular ring games. These records should be kept totally separate from non-tournament notes. Be sure to record all the same information as in your regular games, but keep it in a separate ledger or file.
How often you take notes is up to you. I would say that the best guideline is: write it down before you forget it. Some people take notes and update them every time they get the dealer button. That's about once every twenty minutes. Some players take notes while the dealer is being replaced by a new dealer. That's exactly once every thirty minutes. Most players wait until after their playing session is over and then take their notes when they get home, either the same day or the next day. Do whatever works for you.
I recommend that you carry a pen and a small writing tablet with you at all times. There are poker rooms that don't allow electronic devices to be used at the table. This includes pocket calculators, voice recorders and palm-sized electronic notepads.
Personally, I carry a small, state-of-the-art digital voice recorder that I step away from the table to use when the dealers are changing. I know another player who sets up a laptop computer on an unused hold 'em table nearby, so he can update his notes every hour or so. Incidentally, this player is far superior to me in skill, so, while you're taking a note from me, maybe I should take a note from him. Couldn't hurt.
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Poker And Keeping Records Part4
The items listed above should be the bare minimum of your records. How much more information you want to collect is practically unlimited and, of course, up to you. Theoretically, the more information you have with which to make decisions, the better your decisions should be. A few more items that might help you are:
12. Who else is at the table? If you have a few known rocks, or a few habitually bad players in the game, then you know that your results may not truly be representative of an average session for you. Making a note of that will make you feel better, especially if you had a loss that session.
13. Type of table. Was it a very loose table, or was it full of no-action rocks? You might want to create a rating system that you understand to help you quantify this quality. You could rate the table on a scale from 1 to 10 with 1 being the tightest table in the world, 5 being average, and 10 being the loosest game you've ever seen. Use whatever works for you.
14. How well did you play? Understand that this is not related to how much you actually won or lost. It has to do only with how well you played the game. Did you do your best? Did you go on tilt? How disciplined were you?
15. Secondary expenses. If you're going to have a hobby, you might as well know how much it's really costing you. Does it cost you anything to get to the game? Bus fare? Road tolls? If you play in the Chicago area, highway or bridge tolls might be a regular expense. Valet parking? Do you want to count these costs as poker related expenses? Maybe you'd like to keep track of them anyway, without counting them as expenses or losses.
16. Dealer tokes. You'd be amazed at how much this can add up to if you give it a little thought. If you play forty hours a week, dealer tips could be as much as $8,000 per year, depending on your style of play and what kind of tipper you are. Whatever they add up to, I strongly recommend that you keep track of them. Apart from being a losing player, they're the single biggest drain on your overall bottom line.
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