Know Your Players And Take Notes

In poker, it is absolutely essential that you know who you are playing against. Otherwise, if you don’t modify your style then you will win some games and lose others. You will never truly develop a consistent winning style and in the worst case scenario, you will lose your bankroll again and again.

First, you should know about the basic different types of poker players as most people will approximate to one or two of these - The Different Types Of Poker Players And Why You Need To Know Them.

Secondly, you should pay careful attention to others at your table and take note of their behaviours. You can either do this from memory or you can use the note taking facility which is available at most poker rooms. This allows you to make notes which will be especially valuable in future when you meet these opponents again. These notes are saved even when you log off and log on to the poker room another day.

Third, I highly recommend that you use a room that has avatars (cartoon player characters). These avatars are not just for fun, they are a great way to make a visual association of a player and his behaviour. They really help you to recall a behaviour and allow you to rely less on manual note taking. Some poker rooms do not allow avatars and are still worth playing at but be prepared to have difficulties in remembering what kind of player “superman1574″ is!

Fourth, there are some very good websites out there that keep stats on all poker players at the major poker rooms. They allow you to find out a lot of information about your opponent and his playing habits before you even start to play against him. They are subscription based so if you are just starting out then I recommend you keep your money or put it into learning material instead. But when you get better at it, the cost will be minimal and the information could be highly valuable.