What does "BB" mean?

joker122 · #1 02-03-2004, 06:52 PM

I always here people talking about being up or down nBB (n being an aribtrary number). What does this mean? How do I compute how many BB I am up? And finally, what is the use of it, can't I just say I'm up $450?

Illininate · #2 02-03-2004, 07:03 PM

Generally speaking, BB refers to Big Bets, IE the bet made on 4th and 5th street in limit hold'em games. When discussing position, it refers to the Big Blind.

The reason for saying nBB instead of $n is that being up or down $200 is a lot different at 1/2 then at 10/20, whereas if you say you're up 100BB, everyone who reads knows that's a relatively large amount in relation to the limits you are playing.

Hope that helped,

Nate

StellarWind · #3 02-03-2004, 07:07 PM

BB = Big Bet

For example, if you play $10/$20 Hold'em, 1 BB = $20.

Using BBs factors out the effect of the stake size on your win rate. If you tell me you won $2000 in 1000 hours of 0.5/1 Hold'em, that's an average of 2 BB/hour and you are comfortably beating the game. Consider moving up. But if you were playing $20/$40, that is only .05 BB/hour and you are practically breaking even. Consider moving down to something you can beat.

spamuell · #4 02-03-2004, 07:09 PM

When people are talking about how much they have won/lost, BB means big bets. So in a 2/4 game, one BB is $4, and in a $5/$10 game, it's $10. In reference to position, BB is the big blind.

You compute how many BBs you're up by dividing the amount of money you're up by the value of one BB. For example if you're up $500 at $1/$2, you can say that you're up 250BB.

The use of measuring the amount of value you're up in BB is because it's a universal calculation to check if you're doing well. For example, if you say you're up $450 after 150 hours, this is pretty meaningless. If you're a $0.25/$0.50 player, this is excellent, whereas if you're a $30/60 player, it's less impressive. If you can say that you're beating a game for 3BBs/hr, this is very good regardless of limit.

Also, some people like to say that they are beating a game for nBBs/hr, rather than $n/hr, because it just sounds less crude. If you were a stock trader, you might tell people you make 1% on all trade deals, but you'd be less likely to tell your friends that you're earning $150k a year.

Hope this helps

joker122 · #5 02-03-2004, 07:27 PM

Thanks.