The other day I started playing 100NL. I have 15 buyins and skipped 50NL. At 25NL, the money didn't mean as much since I was overbankrolled and I got bored. So, I moved up but only play 1 table rather than 3-4. I also started taking player notes. Every pfr and subsequent bets are noted followed by the showdown hand if that occurs. If I notice a pattern, I write that down. Not only does it help me peg players, but it forces me to pay attention to every detail. Dazing off in the middle of hands I'm not in doesn't happen. This is done in an effort to become a better player. Multi-tabling lower limits didn't do help me progress.

After my initial session of playing TAG, I was up 1.5 buyins - basically on one hand. The next session I played TAG but at one point the table got down to 5 people with two TAGs, one LAG and one Loose-Passive (both who took some of my money earlier). So, I switched to LAG. I was down before that point and ended up back to even despite getting cold cards. With my player notes, I was able to bet when I sensed weakness and steal tons of pots. The loose players couldn't adjust to my adjustments and I outplayed them. They couldn't count on me being weak and I started running things especially with my new reads.

My third session, I played LAG right off the bat. I was up and even and down,etc. I was down for the night but I'm still learning. I didn't hit a big hand the whole time, so it was a bunch of small-medium pots I lost that added up. I knew if I hit a hand I would easily get paid off - just never happened.

For me it's hard to take mental notes and actually remember them later on, especially between sessions. So, writing things down makes a difference. Right now I'm just using Notepad. This is not a PT supported site and I don't want to run Excel since it uses too much memory (plus it's been crashing on me lately). If anyone has anything better, let me know. I tried taking notes at 25NL when 3-tabling but it was too much. If you aren't taking notes on players, you may want to try it. I think you can improve your game. You don't have to change your playing style. I just did it for an experiment.

I'm playing a huge range of hands. As low as unsuited one gappers for a limp in late position. I'm either folding to aggression, buying pots with reads or actually hitting well-hidden hands and winning mid-large pots. I know I just started this style - should I back off a little and only play suited cons? The crappy starting hands are very easy to fold.

Sorry for the long post that wandered a bit. Just wanted to convey and get some info. Happy New Year.