Early in MTTs, there is a general thought process to play solid. For the most part, I think most people believe that over-playing hands early will often result in winning small pots and losing big pots. The structure also plays a part in these decisions because early in MTTs, there is usually no ante, which offers a smaller reward for picking up pots pre-flop.

In my opinion, a lot of players who play several tournaments at once go into autopilot. This gear is commonly used when playing the first few levels of MTTs and when mass multi-tabling. In this gear, I think most players are playing an ABC style of poker where they are not really getting out of line or trying to bluff often.

I think while auto-piloting, most players fall into an outdated style of play where they are waiting for a hand and then evaluating their play. During this time, most people are usually not watching the action closely enough to do anything different, whether it’s due to playing to many tables or playing distracted.

One problem that could come with playing lots of poker on autopilot is engraining that style of play as a habit. Any action an individual practices over and over could slowly turn into a habit. The last thing a poker player needs is to build a habit of autopiloting with little focus.

I think some players could get to the point where playing on autopilot will feel normal. Even when the tables get reduced to a point where all of the action could be followed, they are likely to stay on autopilot and use their extra time to search the web and chat with friends. If this happens to you, know that you are basically burning money and losing EV.

Obviously, playing on autopilot is less optimal than observing how the table and your opponents are playing and countering that with an effective strategy to gain EV. One thing we have going for us today is poker software. With a poker HUD, players can add volume and use the HUD for information instead of having to watch every hand at every table. But in my opinion, a HUD isn’t enough. We still should take notes and make sure we are aware of our image.

A poker HUD is a valuable tool, but we have to make sure we are still thinking and paying attention. When using a HUD when the sample size is small, we have no way to tell if a stretch of activity or inactivity from a player is their style or a run of cards. When the sample gets larger, the HUD stats are more helpful, but can still be skewed if you have no thoughts on how the villain perceives you. Watching showdowns and taking notes can be very helpful.

Taking effective notes takes practice and can be very beneficial. It’s very easy to take a note that will turn out to be unhelpful in the future. When taking notes, I try to put down relevant information that can help in the future. One of the most common things I include is their poker statistics from OPR or Sharkscope. I also have my own icon system.

Understanding whether a player is a winning regular, a breakeven player, or a losing player can help you range them. For example, if a winning regular shoves 14 big blinds from the cutoff, you can expect them to have an idea of what a shove chart is and be shoving optimally. And if a losing random shoves the same 14 big blinds from the cutoff, there is a greater chance they have been waiting for a hand and are likely to be stronger.

Sometimes I will note a whole hand the villain played to give myself the ability to go over it later and remember what the villain is capable of. I also like to note how I think the villain perceives me.

Also, there are a few plays I look out for and if I see a player make one of them, I try to make a note immediately. These plays consist of things like a stop-and-go, a donk lead, or opening and folding a stack that should have been a shove or a fold. Avoiding the autopilot and taking notes is by far the most optimal way to play, but like anything it takes work, but the payoff is worth it.

In closing, I just want to say that to truly play up to our potential, we need to avoid too much autopilot and make sure we are focusing, giving it our all, and taking notes. If you catch yourself playing on autopilot, dig a little deeper and try harder. A lack of focus will only cost us EV in the long-run.

This article was written by John cracker9ball Reynolds, who hails from Tulsa, Oklahoma. If you are interested in taking poker lessons or would like any information, contact him at variance101@gmail.com and visit Variance101.com.