Record Keeping

By Wesley R. Young

One thing that I feel is extremely important, possibly the most important thing you will do, on your trip to becoming a successful poker player is record keeping. Let me repeat that so you don’t miss it. Keep Accurate Records. Notice that it is bold and underlined. This bit of advice is that important. Keeping accurate records is the only way you will be able to make logical and educated decisions for your poker career. Some players keep very extensive records while others keep none at all. I recommend keeping track of at least the following things.

Date of playing session

Time started playing session

Time finished playing session

Buy in

Cash out

Location of playing session

Game

Limit

Notes

With this information you will be able to analyze every part of your poker game and pinpoint possible problem areas. You will quickly be able to determine at what levels and games you have the most success with. Some players have a higher win rate in the hours after eating while others play better at night or when only playing a certain length of time. The important thing is to have this valuable resource available to you. If you always win more by playing four-hour sessions than five-hour sessions, don’t you want to know?

There are only two reasons to play poker, and they are sometimes interrelated. They are for social interaction/fun and/or profit. Of course it is always more fun to win. With these two reasons in mind, the more information you have, the better you will play and therefore the more you will win. You should always be gathering information about your opponents, so why not about yourself also?