Once you’ve decided to start tracking and analysing your results, you need to set up a system with which to do so. A spreadsheet is probably the best way to keep track of your poker results, as it means all sorts of fancy calculations are possible, including finding out how you fare at different levels, disciplines, and so on.
The following is a summary of the data you should consider recording when playing poker.
Level/Stake
Buy-in for tournaments and big blind for cash games. In general, the higher the stakes, the better the opposition. While this may seem obvious, it’s amazing how many players record how they run without breaking it down into different levels. Doing so will give you a much better handle on your comfort zone both in bankroll terms and skill level.
Game description
Omaha or hold’em? Turbo tournaments or regular? Are you a heads-up specialist, or are you only crushing the full-ring games? The more data you can furnish yourself with here, the better.
Date/time
Date is important, because, obviously, you want to know whether you’re getting better over time! The time of day is also important – most writers claim they have a time of day when they’re really firing and this is probably true for poker players too. You never know, you might pick up on how those drunken SNGs after the pub are actually doing your bankroll serious damage...
Position/players (tournaments only)
It’s important to note not only where you came in a tournament, but how many runners there were. Tournament size might be affecting your results. For example, aggressive players tend to have more polarised results for big tournaments – either they bust out early or build up a big stack and go on to place high.
Money made
The bottom line – and the measure of success in poker (agreed, players who get lucky and win big in tournaments have a skewed sample). Record every session, big or small, and every bonus, rakeback dollar, and so on – this is how you know whether you’re any good or not!
Length of session
Some players can maintain focus for 12 hours straight, others need a break every two hours or so. When you ‘feel’ like a break and when you are at your most money-making might not be the same – help determine what works for you with cold, hard, stats, rather than relying on instinct.
Other tables played
Again, some prefer to concentrate on one table at once, others are multi-tabling maniacs. Keep detailed results of what works best. For example, I’ve noticed that I struggle to play Omaha and hold’em simultaneously. David Benyamine has no problem with it. Guess that’s why he’s the one going out with Erica Schoenberg.
Read part I
Read part III