What's a good win rate? (1 Viewer)

fish72s

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Still a few posts shy of qualifying for that free poker genie so I will offer up another question......

I had a good spreadsheet for the first 3 years I played poker. After 2011 it was all ad hoc. I recently went back and organized this into the spreadsheet so that I could see how much money I was putting on the table and how much I was winning (or losing).

I'm assuming most people do this too. If you don't then I highly recommend it.
I found out I had put $52,000 on the table since late 2008. Most years were right at $10,000. This was more than I would have guessed but I don't know how this compares to others.
I was also satisfied with my win rate, but again I don't know whether it would be considered 'good' or not.
It's hard to complain about anything in the black but what kind of consistent win rate does a good player expect. Is this different for a recreational $1/$2 or $2/$5 player than for a serious higher stacks player? Is it different for tournament players?

Anyone want to share the SUM() cell's from their spreadsheets?
 
I don't have a spreadsheet. I do track my "net" profit since I started playing poker.

I wouldn't mind using a spreadsheet. Interested in sharing yours?

I'm 6472.00 in the black. I started playing about 7 years ago. All my buy ins, poker supplies, ect....come out of the bankroll. It would be higher if that wasn't the case.

Oh, and last year I hit 2, 1k tourney's, so I picked up a flat screen for 6 bills.

This is mostly playing .25/.50 cash games and 40-60 dollar tourney's.
 
I probably should have said win percentage instead of win rate. I didn't start tracking hours played until this year.

I am dividing the money earned by the amount put into play. In for $100, out for $120 is a 20% win percentage. Is this the normal stat people use?

My spreadsheet for 2014 has the following columns:
Date / Location / tourney or cash(stakes) / Total buy in / Breakdown of Buy in. Initial +add ons & rebuys / Cash out / Net / # hours / Notes on quality of play and noteable hands.

I let the spreadsheet compute the Total Buyins, Cash out, Net and # hours colums as well as win percentage and win rate.

Most of my games are low stakes home cash games and $50 tournaments. 2014 has been almost all $1/$2 casino games.
 
No spreadsheet here, either, but currently up in the $2k range. Same as DD, I pay for all poker related stuff out of my roll, so it is likely to take a bit of a hit soon, what with chip purchases pending.
 
So here's a related question for everyone.

Do your poker winnings cover the money you spend on poker chips? I really, really wish I had started tracking that 6 years ago:)

No spreadsheet here, either, but currently up in the $2k range. Same as DD, I pay for all poker related stuff out of my roll, so it is likely to take a bit of a hit soon, what with chip purchases pending.
 
I use a tracking app for my phone. Its called pokerincome. I'm presently earning $12.25 per hour after 301 hours playing predominantly .25/.50 cash and the occasional $75 buyin charity tourney. Just the cash game portion is $10.83 after 276 hours. This is 30.15 big bets per hour. I think this is pretty good.

Most of my chip purchases do come from my roll... or craigslist chip flips when I have found amazing deals (Cali Bells and Lakeshores).
 
Win rate is usually tracked by BB/Hr. It's a stake-neutral way of doing it that translates well to all games and all buyins. A lot of guys track winrate based on an hourly income too (more pros, I think, really).

My win rate in 2014 is around $14/hr but would be a lot higher (~$19?) if I hadn't lost $4100 in 15.5 hours of 1/2 NL in Atlantic City this summer. Yes, I didn't know that was possible either. These numbers include mixed home games ($125-$200 buyins from .25/.50 to $1/1) and casino play (mostly 1/2 and 2/5 NL, some 5/10 NL, healthy amount of Limit Omaha games from 4/8 to 5/10 full kill) and 2 or 3 sessions of $1/2 PLO.

What's a good winrate? I've heard that $15-20 at 1/2 NL and $40-50 at 2/5 NL is considered good but everyone has different opinions. I'm personally happy with anything that's positive and lets me continue playing recreationally and growing my roll.
 
So here's a related question for everyone.

Do your poker winnings cover the money you spend on poker chips? I really, really wish I had started tracking that 6 years ago:)


Yes............All poker related shit comes out of my bankroll (even sometimes the pizza when I order it for the tourney's).

I have about 1k worth of chips, 250.00 table, 100 bucks worth of cards.........

This is the only way to keep my wife off of my back.
 
I used to keep all of my poker money seperate, and only use my profit for buyins/expenses. Then I got married and laid off in the same month. Needless to say, the bankroll took a huge hit paying rent, feeding my wife and I, etc. No complaints though, I love my marriage and wouldn't trade it for a bigger poker bankroll. I've been blessed enuff financially to start playing again, and setting aside another bankroll.

- - - - - - - - - Updated - - - - - - - - -

Oh, and to reply to the original question: I feel that percentages are a hard way to track your winning. It should be more about your game decisions and your results. If you win 51% of the time scraping a few bbs profit per session, but every time you lose, you blow up for a few 1000 bbs...that's not a good way to go.
 
I used to keep all of my poker money seperate, and only use my profit for buyins/expenses. Then I got married and laid off in the same month. Needless to say, the bankroll took a huge hit paying rent, feeding my wife and I, etc. No complaints though, I love my marriage and wouldn't trade it for a bigger poker bankroll. I've been blessed enuff financially to start playing again, and setting aside another bankroll.

- - - - - - - - - Updated - - - - - - - - -

Oh, and to reply to the original question: I feel that percentages are a hard way to track your winning. It should be more about your game decisions and your results. If you win 51% of the time scraping a few bbs profit per session, but every time you lose, you blow up for a few 1000 bbs...that's not a good way to go.

The percentage is for the totals, not per session. My net profit is $12.5K which is 20%. This is for both tournaments and cash games. I agree that $$ or BB hourly rate is a better metric for cash games. 2014 for me has been almost all casino cash games. My hourly rate is about $13 / hr over 225 hours. I'd be happy if I can keep that up over the next 200 hours:).

I'm not sure how much I have lost buying an selling chips. I don't think my poker winnings covers it:(
 
The percentage is for the totals, not per session. My net profit is $12.5K which is 20%. This is for both tournaments and cash games. I agree that $$ or BB hourly rate is a better metric for cash games. 2014 for me has been almost all casino cash games. My hourly rate is about $13 / hr over 225 hours. I'd be happy if I can keep that up over the next 200 hours:).

I'm not sure how much I have lost buying an selling chips. I don't think my poker winnings covers it:(

Ah...now I see what you mean percentage-wise. Your profit compared to how much you risk. Much better number to keep track of...but I find it easier to wrap my head around how many BBs I am up or down per session.
 
after reading this thread... I have come to the conclusion that I have to play more... I only have 300+ hours of play since 2011. fish has that in 2014. We try to play once, maybe twice a month... though I don't really get the opportunity to play casino games.
 
So here's a related question for everyone.

Do your poker winnings cover the money you spend on poker chips? I really, really wish I had started tracking that 6 years ago:)

Well, except for a few purchases I made which my lovely wife decided would be gifts (birthday, Christmas, etc.) . . . yes.
 
after reading this thread... I have come to the conclusion that I have to play more... I only have 300+ hours of play since 2011. fish has that in 2014. We try to play once, maybe twice a month... though I don't really get the opportunity to play casino games.

I probably average 15 hours a month in home games. 1 tourney/cash and 1 straight cash.
 
You average 15 hours in just 2 games? That's some seriously long session time, especially for a .25/.50 cash game and a $40-$60 tourney! I may need to move back the the big D just for marathon low stakes games!

Changed my mind. Went outside and it was cold. Need to move to Miami instead...
 
You average 15 hours in just 2 games? That's some seriously long session time, especially for a .25/.50 cash game and a $40-$60 tourney! I may need to move back the the big D just for marathon low stakes games!

Changed my mind. Went outside and it was cold. Need to move to Miami instead...


Yep, we start at 6/7 pm and play until 2-3 am. When I host a 1 table HOPE cash game I usually get 8-10 players. Last two times I had to turn guys away, or put them on a back up list. A nice problem to have.

Oh, if you no show twice, or cancel last minute 3 times I remove you off my invite list. I hate tying up a seat for someone and they don't show. Just pisses me right the fuck off
 
I have a similar session length for my game... start at 6pm, end at 1:00 or 2:00... about 8 hours. Unfortunately I only have a game about once a month and play in another about once a month.
 
My house rule - new chips come from the poker gods. Every chip in the house came from winnings or Santa.

A 10bb/hr win rate is good for an unraked game and almost unattainable in a raked game. I encourage people to keep winnings / loses separate from expenditures but each of us should know what it costs to play. In the end, if you are not having fun, then you aren't doing it right.

DrStrange
 
I also calculate a percentage of my profits from buyins and get a number around 20-25%. This is separated into internet play, home games and casinos. Example - 2014 $2000 total buyins for .50/$1 home cash games. Profit of $500 or 25% of monies wagered. Right now, my best setting is .50/$1 home cash games at 23.8%
 

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