Poker Hand Notation: A Quick Guide to Shorthand for Live Players
If you are going to record hands at the table by hand, you need a notation system that is fast enough for live play. Standard poker hand notation gives you that system — a set of abbreviations widely used in forum posts, hand history files, and training content. Learning it once means you can write hands faster, read others' hand posts instantly, and communicate clearly with coaches or study partners.
Worth saying up front: this is the manual method — shorthand you write yourself on paper or in a notes app. A purpose-built app like LiveHands removes the need for it, capturing positions, actions, and cards through a structured tap interface, so you never have to memorize abbreviations or scribble between hands. It is still worth learning, though, for two reasons. First, it lets you read the hand histories players post to forums and social media at a glance. Second, it shows you exactly what a hand record is made of — the same positions, actions, and bet sizes a logging app captures for you behind the scenes.
This is a quick reference. Print it, bookmark it, or just skim it before your next session.
Position Abbreviations
Positions are the first thing you note for every player involved in a hand. These abbreviations are standard across most poker forums, analysis tools, and hand history formats.
Full Ring (9–10 Players):
| Abbreviation | Position | Also Called |
|---|---|---|
| UTG | Under the Gun | First to act preflop |
| UTG+1 | Under the Gun + 1 | — |
| UTG+2 | Under the Gun + 2 | — |
| UTG+3 | Under the Gun + 3 | — |
| LJ | Lojack | One seat before the Hijack |
| HJ | Hijack | Two off the button |
| CO | Cutoff | One off the button |
| BTN | Button | Dealer position |
| SB | Small Blind | — |
| BB | Big Blind | — |
6-Max (6 Players):
In a 6-max game, positions condense to UTG, LJ, CO, BTN, SB, and BB (some players label the two early seats UTG and HJ — the logic is the same). The same shorthand principles apply regardless of table size.
Tip: When logging hands live, position relative to the button matters more than exact seat labels. If you are unsure whether someone is UTG+1 or UTG+2, just note the approximate position and the action — that is far more useful than skipping the hand entirely.
A note on naming conventions: You will see two systems in the wild. One labels middle seats as MP and MP+1; the other extends the UTG-relative chain (UTG+1, UTG+2, UTG+3) and uses LJ for the seat before the Hijack. The second convention is what PokerStars hand histories use and what LiveHands follows. Both are widely understood — the important thing is consistency within your own records.
Action Notation
Actions are the core of any hand record. These abbreviations cover the core actions you will record in most hold'em hands.
| Abbreviation | Action | Example |
|---|---|---|
| f | Fold | UTG f |
| x | Check | BB x |
| c | Call | CO c |
| b | Bet | BTN b 75 |
| r | Raise | CO r 250 |
| 3b | Three-bet (re-raise) | SB 3b 600 |
| 4b | Four-bet | BTN 4b 1400 |
| jam or ai | All-in | HJ jam |
| limp | Open-limp (just call the BB preflop) | UTG limp |
Bet sizes are written as the total amount, not the raise increment. "CO r 250" means the cutoff raised to 250 total. Some players prefer to note sizes relative to the pot or as multipliers (2.5x, pot), but raw chip amounts are more precise for post-session analysis.
Street markers separate the action by betting round:
- PF: Preflop
- F: Flop
- T: Turn
- R: River
A shorthand hand record might look like this:
PF: UTG r 250, HJ c, BTN c, BB f. F: [Ks 9d 4h] UTG b 400, HJ f, BTN c. T: [7s] UTG x, BTN b 800, UTG c. R: [2c] UTG x, BTN b 2000, UTG f.
That is a complete hand in about 40 words. Every action, every street, and every bet size are captured in a format most poker players can parse quickly.
Card and Hand Notation
Cards use a two-character format: rank followed by suit.
Ranks: A, K, Q, J, T (ten), 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2
Suits: s (spades), h (hearts), d (diamonds), c (clubs)
Examples: As = Ace of spades. Tc = Ten of clubs. 2h = Deuce of hearts.
Hand descriptions in shorthand:
| Notation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| AKs | Ace-King suited (same suit) |
| AKo | Ace-King offsuit (different suits) |
| AK | Ace-King (suit unspecified) |
| JJ | Pocket Jacks (pair) |
| T9s | Ten-Nine suited |
| 72o | Seven-Deuce offsuit |
The s/o suffix matters. AKs and AKo play differently — noting the suit status adds strategic context without extra effort.
When logging specific cards on a board, always use the full two-character notation: [Ks 9d 4h] for a flop, not "K94 rainbow." The full notation preserves flush draw information that matters during review.
Stack and Pot Notation
| Abbreviation | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| eff | Effective stack (the shorter stack in a heads-up pot) | Eff 15,000 |
| BB (context: sizing) | Big blinds | Eff 50BB |
| pot | Pot size | Pot 1,200 |
| SPR | Stack-to-pot ratio | SPR 4.2 |
You do not need to record every number. At minimum, note the effective stacks at the start of the hand and the bet sizes at each street. The pot can be reconstructed from there.
Putting It Together: A Complete Hand in Shorthand
Here is a tournament hand captured in shorthand notation:
100/200/200 (BB ante). Eff 18,000. Hero BTN: Ah Qd. PF: UTG f, LJ f, HJ r 500, CO f, Hero c, SB f, BB f. F: [Kh 9h 3d] HJ b 600, Hero c. T: [5h] HJ x, Hero b 1,100, HJ c. R: [Js] HJ x, Hero b 2,800, HJ f.
That captures the blind level, antes, effective stacks, hero's hole cards, every action on every street, and the result — all in under 50 words. It is complete enough to review later, reconstruct into a fuller hand history, discuss with a coach, or post in a strategy forum.
Shorthand at the Table: Speed Tips
With ~25–30 hands per hour in a typical live session, you have roughly 30–60 seconds between hands to record. Standard notation helps, but speed comes from knowing what to prioritize:
- Hero cards and position first. These are the two things you will forget fastest.
- Key bet sizes. Note the sizes that defined the hand — the preflop raise, the big bets, the shoves. You can approximate smaller actions.
- Board cards. Write them down the moment they hit the felt, before the action starts. Board cards disappear from memory within minutes.
- Villain positions. At minimum, note whether the key opponent was in position or out of position relative to you.
You do not need to capture every fold from every seat. Focus on the players involved in the pot and the actions that drove the hand.
A hand logging app built for live play can speed this up even further — instead of writing shorthand in your phone's notes app, you tap through a structured interface that records positions, actions, and cards in a format that is easier to review, clean up, and export later.
Ready to replace shorthand with structured hand data? LiveHands lets you capture every action, street by street, in a fast tap-based interface built for live play. Export for deeper review in leading analysis tools with less cleanup afterward. Try it free for 7 days.