Making reads on opponents

I know this is key for all levels and forms of poker but its just kind of hard to develop reads in sngs and mtts online with multiple games going on at the same time and such, I was just wondering for some tips and categories to label people and what each category means as far as what someone is likely and not likely to do. Any help would be appreciated.

It is tough, and you're going to miss stuff, but if you can't get reads you should play fewer tables and build back up after you're comfortable getting reads and making notes. One tip is make sure you go back to the hand history whenever a hand goes to showdown. This is when you'll get the most valuable info, since you can see the hole cards and the entire line. Some of the things I make notes about... bets when checked to (with)? check/raises (with)? fires second barrels (with)? calls c-bets (with)? defends blinds? re-raises pre-flop (with)? plays monsters passively/aggressively? calls pushes with?

Originally Posted by zook

One tip is make sure you go back to the hand history whenever a hand goes to showdown.

Ditto this. This is important, and a good way to both get quick reads on this particular player and to accelerate the process of learning the general betting patterns associated with this type of player.

I'll frequently just leave the hand history window open next to the table because I'll be checking it so frequently.

the first key is just plying playing playing.
Once you have that you can practice reading hands by opening just one table and trying to put people on hands

Do people actually make notes on players or is this too tedious / pointless (as you''ll likely never see the guy again?)

Originally Posted by bigslikk

Do people actually make notes on players or is this too tedious / pointless (as you''ll likely never see the guy again?)

Yes, constantly. I play cash games and see the same players all the time.

I take notes on about 50% of all players I see. I mark down any particularly odd or unusual play, as well as well as general trends, and occasionally specific strong reads. Even if I don't see the majority of these players again I see enough a second time (or more) that note-taking is worth it.

I tend to rely too much on the HUD. I make almost no notes about players. Althought I make mental notes on people who make unusual plays. This is one of the things I need to improve on. Making reads on SnGs are harder to me and this is one of the various reasons I play only cash games nowadays.