Legitimate businesses have accountants who spend their days looking over cash flow. To grow any sort of company and increase its profits, you have to have a clear understanding of where you make your profit and what accounts for your losses. Your poker exploits are no exception.
Without keeping notes on all of the sessions you play, it's simply not possible for you to truly analyze your game. You need to understand where you make your money, and how much money each area makes you.
Almost all winning poker players become losing players at some specific limit. If the only number you keep track of is your total roll, you will never know if any specific limit is a money pit for you.
For example, if you make $20/hour playing a $5/$10 game, but lose $10 an hour playing $10/$20, as long as you played more hours of $5/$10, at the end of the month you will have ended up on top. Because you see the month as being in the black, you will continue to play $10/$20, not realizing how much money it's costing you to do so.
What to Track
The more information you record and track card cheating, the more interesting reports you can create with that information. You have to decide exactly how in-depth you care to go and are capable of going.
No matter what you choose, some items are vital for all players to track. For every session you should record:
- Date
- Hours spent at the table
- Limit
- Total buy-in amount (including all cap-ups and rebuys)
- Total cash-out amount
If you want your records to be more informative, you can also keep track of:
- Location
- Variant
- Specific players at the table
- Day of the week
- Time of day
- Mood
- Where you make the most money
- What days of the week/tim
