Your HHs need reads, notes, ranges and YOU! *points*

I've seen a lot of threads in the BC lately that start with the words '50 hands, no reads, no notes' and the like. This is worrying.

The regs here at ftr helping and it makes everything sooo much easier if they have something, anything to go on. Giving advice in a vacuum is frustrating at best and -ev at worst.

For those who haven't, please read Spoonitnow's guidelines for posting hands sticky, it will help ftr to help you.

For anyone who struggles to form ranges, ISF has done a great job of explaining:
http://poker-strategy.flopturnriver....ing-Ranges.php
http://poker-strategy.flopturnriver....g-Ranges-2.php

If you're not sure on what notes to take, have a look at Spenda's Leak #5, which discusses ranges and note taking in detail.

I'm barely scratching the surface here, so use the ftr search function or do a google search. For example, put "forming ranges site:flopturnriver.com" into google to see all the posts and vids on ranges. It's all there, just look for it!

One other point - if you're playing so many tables that you find yourself lost in a hand, you may need to consider dropping some and concentrating on your reading. Open the tables slower and look for where your money is coming from while waiting for your blind. Don't open another table until you've spotted the fish and the regs. When your blind comes in and they raise on that first hand, you'll already have something to go on.

While waiting for your blind, think how much you can gather or guess from someone limping 4 hands in a row and check/folding all 4 flops:
- loose / passive / weak
- plays 'fit or fold'
- calls too much preflop, folds too much postflop
- unaware of position
- honest
- Level 0 thinker
You can start to build a profile before you've even paid a blind.

Now get out there, get some reads, form some ranges, take those notes, and pwn. Peace out.

1st!!

Nice post Luco...
This should, in general, help players who play on autodrive w/o noticing what the others are doing...

For beginners in the lowest levels like myself, I found that it is a good place to start by seeing how your opponent bets. If they are limp callers preflop, see if they fold automatically on the flop to a cbet, see how much as a percentage of the pot do they bet with a strong hand etc...
See when they slowplay, look for their hand strength when they reraise on the flop or turn, etc...

Forming ranges will be important to look at but seeing how they bet should help dwindle down the range that they could be on given how they play.

And as mentioned, write down your findings in the notes box in either the poker site or on your tracking software section. If you see a player willing to shove on the flop with TPWK, then mark it down...it helps determine a range that you may be up against should you be in a pot with that player later.

Yeah but what sucks is you can tell people to do this until you're blue in the face and they'll still just not do it.

Although I laughed when I read this. Its jam packed with great info to help beginners.

difference between my A game and my B game is when I'm playing my A game I have a note on everybody at the table

even if the note says "fish" and nothing else
that's already a read