I tend to be a note taker. When I'm playing an SNG, I'll write down who wins which hand and if its show down, what they had and what they were called down with by the loser. I have my own sort of short hand for this and so far it seems to work for me.

People do usually bet pretty similarly in certain situations. If you know how 1 of the players has played the first 20 minutes, he'll probably do much the same things the next 20 minutes unless he's being conscious of his bets.

I don't yet have great reads and have to talk myself in to decisions sometimes, but usually through consulting my notes and my gut I make the right decisions. Not always though...

Some great players through a lot of practice and ability can jsut recognize bets. That's a top pair bet, that's a semi bluff on a draw, that's a hidden hand that you really want me to call, kind of bet. Can't wait till that's me.