Poker Key Ratios
Poker key ratios are used to calculate your long term result at the poker tables. We will focus on two of the most important key ratios. That is Return on investment, ROI, and hourly rate. There are also other important key ratios such as how many times you finish in the money, ITM, when you play tournaments.
If you keep your statistics updated you will know more about where you win and/or lose your money. If you obtain statistics on your result you can develop your play in the areas where you are more profitable (rather than in areas where you are less profitable). Using key ratios this way, is just in the same way that the stock brokers at Wall Street evaluate their investments. You want your money to work where you get the most in return!
The main key ration for tournament players: Return on investment, ROI
This key ratio is used a lot in evaluating business but also when playing tournament poker. For a tournament poker player this is probably the most important key ratio. It tells you how much return you expect on each invested dollar (buy-in).
Return on investment is calculated as ((Money won - buy ins)/buy ins)*100=ROI%.
As an example, you have played in the WSOP main event and finished in the money. You got $35000 for your effort. That would give you a (25 000/10000)*100=250%.
Remember that just like at the stock market you can only lose a 100% but you can gain a lot more than a 100%. Do not get tricked by the math and think you are great because you have 200% ROI for the moment for entering a $10 000 event and doubled up. If you use that $20 000 to a new buy in and loose you have lost all your money (-100%).
If you want to find out more about how to use ROI and to get a free spreadsheet to use for your statistics go here: ROI.
The main key ration for cash game players: Hourly rate
If you have a job you probably want a high salary. We think the same way about playing poker. It is fun to play, but without the ability to win money it would not be as exciting. For a cash game specialist it is important to keep the hourly rate up. To stay in really tough poker games, winning small amounts after playing several hours, just to prove that you can beat them, is not a very good idea. Instead you should try to move to a game where you can win a decent amount over the same amount of time.
Hourly rate is a simple key ratio and is calculated as (Money won/hours played)=$/h.
It shows you how much money you will win at each hour you play. For example if you play for 10 hours one day and find yourself with a bankroll at the end of the day that was $85 bigger than it was the same morning you have had a positive hourly rate of 8,5. By other words your salary have been $8,5/hour.
If you want to find out more about how to use your knowledge about Hourly rate and get a free spreadsheet to use for your statistics go here: Hourly Rate.
Another way to calculate a somewhat similar key ratio is to calculate money won per hand.
Other poker key ratios
Most key ratios are similar in the way that if one key ratio is positive another is to. We have written about one important concept when playing poker in the chapter about expected value. You should make plays with a positive expected value. And if you do you will find yourself with good results when you look at your hourly rate.
Another key ratio is the times you finish in the money, ITM. If you do finish in the money often you will have a good ROI. But it could actually be situations where you could accept to be ITM somewhat less often in exchange for a higher place (read more why here in our Sit & Go school).
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