What is BB/Hour in Poker? Win Rate Explained for Cash Game Players

If you've spent any time in poker forums or talking with serious players, you've heard the term BB/hour thrown around. Big blinds per hour is the universal language of poker win rates, and understanding it is essential for anyone who wants to evaluate their game honestly.

Understanding BB/Hour

BB/hour measures how many big blinds you win or lose on average for each hour you spend at the table. It's calculated by dividing your total profit (measured in big blinds) by your total hours played. If you won 150 big blinds over 50 hours, your win rate is 3 BB/hour.

The beauty of this metric is its universality. A player winning 10 BB/hour at 1/2 no-limit is performing at the same skill level as someone winning 10 BB/hour at 5/10. The stakes don't matter—the rate tells you how effectively you're extracting value from the game relative to its structure.

Measuring in big blinds rather than dollars removes the distortion that different stakes create. Winning $100 sounds great until you realize it came from a 5/10 game where you should expect to win more. Conversely, winning $40 at 1/2 represents excellent performance—20 BB/hour—that might go unrecognized if you only tracked dollars.

How to Calculate Your Win Rate

The math is straightforward. First, convert your profit to big blinds by dividing by the big blind amount. If you won $300 at a 1/2 game, that's 150 big blinds. Then divide by your hours played. If that $300 came over 6 hours, your rate is 25 BB/hour.

Accuracy in tracking hours matters more than most players realize. Include only actual playing time—not breaks, not time waiting for a seat, not dinner away from the table. Inflating your hours makes your win rate look artificially low, while underestimating hours creates false confidence about your edge.

Track every session, especially the losing ones. Cherry-picking only your good sessions defeats the entire purpose of measurement. Your true win rate includes the nights when nothing went right.

What Constitutes a Good Win Rate

Live poker win rates are expressed in BB/hour and vary significantly by game quality. A recreational player who breaks even is actually doing fine—most recreational players lose. Consistent winners at low stakes typically earn 5-10 BB/hour. Anything above 10 BB/hour indicates you're crushing the game and might be ready for higher stakes.

The absolute elite live players can sustain 15-20 BB/hour over large samples, but these rates require exceptional skill combined with exceptional game selection. Such rates are rare and shouldn't be used as expectations for most players.

Online poker uses BB/100 (big blinds per 100 hands) rather than BB/hour because hand speed varies by table count. A typical online winner at low stakes might sustain 3-5 BB/100. Since online games deal 60-100 hands per hour compared to live poker's 25-35, the hourly rates end up similar despite the different metrics.

Factors That Influence Your Rate

Game selection might be the single biggest determinant of win rate, yet it receives too little attention from many players. The difference between a table with four recreational players and a table with one recreational player surrounded by competent regulars is enormous. Same stakes, same blind structure, but completely different earning potential.

Your playing style affects sustainable win rates. Tight-aggressive players typically show the most consistent positive rates because they're selective about the hands they play and aggressive when they enter pots. Loose-aggressive styles can produce higher peaks but with greater variance. Extremely tight players might show positive but modest rates, leaving money on the table by playing too few hands.

Stakes level influences rates in counterintuitive ways. Lower stakes often produce higher BB/hour rates because the player pool includes more beginners and recreational players. As stakes increase, competition intensifies and edges shrink. Many players would earn more per hour at 2/5 than at 5/10 despite the larger pots at higher stakes.

Time of play matters more than you might think. Late-night games often feature fatigued and intoxicated players making mistakes they'd avoid at noon. Weekend evenings bring recreational players celebrating the end of the work week. Learning when the games are softest in your poker room directly impacts your win rate.

Common Mistakes in Win Rate Analysis

Drawing conclusions from small samples tops the list. Poker variance is extreme. You might run at 30 BB/hour over 50 hours, then 5 BB/hour over the next 200 hours, then settle at 8 BB/hour over 1,000 hours. That 50-hour heater meant nothing statistically. You need hundreds of hours—ideally a thousand or more—before your measured rate approximates your true rate.

Ignoring rake transforms winners into losers. The casino takes money from every pot, and that money has to come from someone. If the rake at your stakes amounts to 5 BB/hour (not uncommon in some rooms), you need to be 5 BB/hour better than your opponents just to break even. Always factor rake into your analysis.

Failing to track break time inflates your hours and deflates your rate. That 30-minute dinner break during a 6-hour session means you played 5.5 hours, not 6. Over many sessions, this discrepancy adds up to meaningful distortion.

Converting to Real Money

Your BB/hour translates directly to hourly income through simple multiplication. At 10 BB/hour playing 1/2, you earn $20/hour. That same 10 BB/hour at 2/5 becomes $50/hour, and at 5/10 it becomes $100/hour.

This conversion helps with career decisions. Is 10 BB/hour at 1/2 worth your time? For some players, $20/hour represents meaningful income. For others, it's not enough to justify the hours. Understanding your real-dollar earning rate lets you make informed decisions about whether poker deserves your time.

Consider the full picture when evaluating poker as income. That $20/hour comes with no benefits, no job security, and no guaranteed hours. It requires working nights and weekends when games are best. Factor these realities into any comparison with traditional employment.

Tracking Your Progress

Consistent tracking over time reveals trends that session-by-session results hide. Your win rate should improve as you study and gain experience. If it's declining, something has changed—either the games have gotten tougher or your play has deteriorated.

Use your rate to identify leaks. If your overall win rate is positive but your rate in certain situations is negative (say, when you play late at night or when the game has gotten tough), you've found a specific improvement area.

Set realistic goals based on your measured rate. If you're currently running at 5 BB/hour, targeting 7 BB/hour through focused improvement is reasonable. Expecting to suddenly hit 20 BB/hour is fantasy that will only lead to frustration.

Conclusion

BB/hour gives you an honest picture of your poker performance. It removes the noise of short-term variance and the distortion of stake levels, revealing your true earning rate. Track it diligently, interpret it wisely, and use it to guide your poker decisions.

Your win rate is the foundation of everything else—bankroll requirements, stake selection, career viability. Know your number, understand what it means, and let it inform your path forward.

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