Talking with several internet players lately reminded me of a subject that is important to playing online poker, but is also one that many players over look. At a live table in a casino you have your memory to rely on as to how other players played certain hands in certain situations. But, online you are given an incredible tool and that is the ability to takes notes on a player. Those notes follow that player so that if you meet up with him at another table later in the tournament or at a table 6 months down the line, you will be able to see what you wrote down about that player. This is extremely valuable information that should not be over looked.

First, taking notes keeps you head in the game and your level of concentration high. I don't know about you, but I have a tendency to play poker, answer email, check out ebay, talk on the phone, watch a ball game on tv and eat a snack all at the same time. If I force myself to take notes, it keeps my mind from wandering making it much tougher for me to become distracted and miss something. You never know when something will become relevant later on.

Second, the notes you take must be easy to decifer later on and they must mean something. For example: "this guy is a jack-ass" doesnt really tell you much. Does he play out of position? Is he a call station? Will he make continuation bets? Will he back down from a re-raise? Any of those things may be helpful to know, but you need to be descriptive enough in your note taking to get your point across.

Something like "played 4-4 in early position and called raise with over cards on the board" might be a good way to describe a situation. You need to have useful information or it is not worth bothering with. "Seems to play A-rag out of position a lot" is short and to the point. "Will fold in the BB to a button raise" could be helpful.

You also need to make some sort of designation as to whether the tendency you have spotted is something you have seen multiple times, or is it just a first impression. I will put a question mark after my note many times and then go back and erase it if I see it proven over and over.  For example "raises from the button?" may be something that I saw once, but if I see it again 2 or 3 times, I need to know that so that I can play against it accordingly. Some players I know will also date their notes so that if you see this player again 6 months down the line, you know that the note may be less relevant because he could have adjusted his play drastically in that amount of time.

All in all, note taking is a great way to keep up your concentration, whether the note comes in handy later or not. This is one of those little tools that you are given to use in internet play that you will never have in live play, so take advantage of it.