What do you earn per hour?

[Mikey]

I'm just wondering how much do you guys earn per hour playing poker. I would like to hear answers from players who play 10-20 and higher what their avg. BB per hour is.

I don't want a numerical sum, but more of an answer like

AVG. 1.45 BB an hour. or
AVG. .85 BB an hour.

The reason why I ask is because I'm thinking about playing full time 10-20 this summer and I just want to get a basic idea of what you guys make an hour....to see if it's even worth me trying it out.

Thanks.

[Dynasty]

If everybody were to post their winrates here, how would that help your decision?

The game is beatable for somebody who has the proper skills. The question you should be asking is "Does Mikey have the skills to beat 10-20?"

Do you?

[JTG51]

I agree with Dynasty 100%. All that matters is your win rate, not everyone else's.

The fact that Tommy Angelo, Dynasty, Clarkmeister, mike l., etc can beat the games for a million big bets doesn't mean that you, or I can. I'd love to play professional golf for a living, but asking Tiger and Erine Els how much they make doesn't help my decision.

You've been posting here as long as I have, you must have played a significant number of hours by now. Use that data to make your decision. If you think you've made significant improvements in your play recently, then weigh the next 100 hours you play a little more heavily. Just don't get tricked by a great or a terrible run of cards.

[Tommy Angelo]

What we're talking about here is units. And units are always arbitrary. The smart way to use units is in ways that are useful. For me, "big bet" is not a useful unit. And neither is "hour." And in general, I think it's silly to talk about earn rates within a business and not have a distinction between "gross" and "net." So I never bought fully into the BB/hour thing, though I did employ it for years.

In choosing a unit for money, I can't think of a better unit than dollars. And in choosing a unit for time, I can't see a reason to choose a week over a month, or an hour over a decade. So I've settled on "hand" as a unit of time. My gross rate of earn at poker since 1990 has been about a buck and quarter per hand.

Tommy

[hot tub man # 1]

I agree with everyone who has posted thus far. If you are not keeping stats, then I certainly suggest that you start. Order statking if you dont have it, its cheap and it does a great job of organizing everything.

One thing to add, dont be fooled by all this big bet an hour stuff. In reality, there arn't that many players who are able to earn at that rate. For instance, at the the Taj, where you play your poker, Carlo is probably the best regular 10-20 player there, he has told me his win rate before, and its nothing through the roof. Also, that game tends be a lot tighter, and sometimes tougher than both the 15-30 and the 20-40 at the taj.

[jebronie]

who cares about hrly, see all the money on the table? Now go get it.

[Pot-A]

I don't think it's an unreasonable question. If I was considering devoting a major chunk of my life to web page design, I might reasonably ask "how much does a web page designer make?".

I've always kind of wondered what the top end is. Most of the people who think they're winning players aren't, and most of the winners could do better at McDonalds. Assuming playing poker is a learned skill (within some boundary of talent), how much is possible for a reasonably clever person?

If memory serves, Sklansky put that number at 1-1.5 big bets, but I've always wondered if that isn't a bit low.

[SittingBull]

30.00 and 32.00 bucks/Hr. assuming about 25 hands dealt per Hr. Hmmm
Now that's your gross rate over a period of about 10 yrs.
What about your definition of "gross rate"??
About what is your "net rate" ??
Just wondering,
Happy pokering,
Sitting Bull

[Phat Mack]

Do you actually count your hands, or do you estimate them?

[adios]

In a 3 month time frame luck will likely be a big factor, much bigger than you probably believe it to be. The last thing IMO a skilled poker player wants is to have their results dominated by luck rather than skill.

[Glenn]

Tom makes a good point. Even if you can beat the game, you might win nothing in 3 months. If that will not screw you then by all means go for it, but if you actually need money every month then here are some numbers:

Assumptions

Win rate = .75 BB/hr ($15), SD = 10 BB/hr
This would make you a solid but not amazing player who does not go on tilt, probably around the 95th percentile at that limit (in my opinion). Some people are better than this, most are much, much worse.

Note: these are rough calcs...they are close but not exact

For 1 month (160 hrs play)

expected earn = 120BB/$2400
Monthly SD = 126.5BB/$2530

25% of the time you will win less than $630
10% of the time you will lose more than $890
5% of the time you will lose more than $1760

For 3 months (420 hours)

expected earn = 360BB/$7200
SD = 205BB/$4098
25% of the time you will win less than $2780
10% of the time you will win less than $1870
5% of the time you will win less than $460
4% of the time you will have a losing summer

It is pretty obvious that luck is a big factor in the short term, and if you are living month to month, there is a good chance that your rent will not be there one month. It is certainly not impossible to play professionally for the summer as long as you have a clear understanding of how bad you can run and are prepared. You also have to be able to beat the game and how much you can beat it for is dependant on how YOU play.

[J_V]

I think it's sort of lame that not one player could give you a real answer. If I had a number to give you for a live game I would. Unfortunately, I don't.

[JTG51]

I think it's sort of lame that not one player could give you a real answer.

I think it's sort of lame to ask a bunch of people what they earn at their job, regardless of what that job is.

[Miles]

Mikey,

Here are my results for my last 300 hours of poker (primarily 6-12 and 8-16, with a little 15-30 sprinkled in there):

Time: 300 Hours
Win/Loss: +$4,919.00
$/hour: $16.40/hour


***NOTE: I am NOT a professional player. I'm strictly a recreational player who has a very good job (well into six figures annually) who plays poker for the enjoyment of it.

I've played for three years.

Hope this helps...


---Miles221