I don't play online, but notice that some of you have referenced some sort of tracking...How is this accomplished?

Are there programs for this?

What about live games? A small balck book?

Most use Pokertracker......you can download for free for first 1000 hands and then it costs 55, or you can get it for free by joining Pokersourceonline. I recommend getting it through PSO. Either way, it is a must have if you want to seriously analyze your performance. Most winning online players have it. IMHO you are at a disadvantage without it.

If you join PSO please use me as a referal...see my signature.

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Please use me as a referral on www.Pokersourceonline.com my referral code is antneye

Defo pokertracker is a great program. You can always use excel but something else (useful for live play) is checkyourbets.com, you just put in your starting/finishing times and stacks along with the stakes you were playing and it'll work out all the stuff you could use a spreadsheet for (bb/hour, table time, general progress etc.), just take a note of these when you play. Only problem is you won't get any hand data that PT gives you (but getting specific hand data from live play is incredibly tedious i find).

Yea...I was figuring a little black book where I could note my hand and what transpired...all shorthand. Maybe not...that might look suspicous...

have anyone used poker office?

Yes, I'm using Poker Office and I actually like it better than Poker tracker. Everything is built into it, it has a better looking interface and I think it's easier to analyse different situations in Poker Office.