Session Win Percentage.

RiverMise · #1 06-30-2004, 12:24 AM

Looking at PT, what is your session win percentage? What would you expect this to be for a 3 BB/hr player at 6max games? Mine is 61%... seems a bit low... maybe not.

LondonBroil · #2 06-30-2004, 12:33 AM

My stats are strange. I have 125 3/6 sessions (~7000 hands) and I've only won 40.8% of them (51 out of 125). I'm also beating the game for 1.77BB/hr.

I think it has to do with the fact that somtimes the table I sit at starts to break up shortly after I have posted my blinds so I'm techincally down $4/$8 for that session.

JohnShaft · #3 06-30-2004, 12:40 AM

I think that's it LB.
I have a 240 sample size and a 53% win percentage.
But 45 sessions are under 20 minutes, only 13 of which are wins.

With me it's quite simply tables breaking up and leaving bad tables when I realise they aren't good ones after all.
Oh, and if I'm correct a $0 session will be counted as a Non-win so it's very easy to have your total reduced by leaving even after a few orbits.

I don't think it's anything to worry about. As long as you're winning overall.

InternetPokerPro · #4 06-30-2004, 01:16 AM

My session win % is 65%. But my sessions are almost always around 1,000 hands which tends to smooth out the session variance.

Just as important as the % of sessions you win is how big are your losing sessions compared to your winning sessions. If my losing sessions are no more than 60% of the $$ of my winning sessions on average, then I know that I am playing thru the down turns without pushing or changing my game out of frustration.

Everyone can win when the deck hits them. But breaking even or minimizing your losing sessions when you don't get your fair share of premium starting hands and/or made hands holding up is by far the biggest differential between the most consistent winning players and the average players.

InternetPokerPro · #5 06-30-2004, 01:23 AM

From re-reading your post . . . it appears you are defining a session as every table you sit at. Obviously I was not.

Mason Malmuth · #6 06-30-2004, 01:51 AM

Hi RiverM:

This is not a good question. If you're a winning player, the longer your sessions are, the higher your winning session percentage should be.

In fact, if you insist on playing untill you either get ahead or get incredibly buried, you should have a very high win percentage. This will be true even if you are an overall loser. It's also true if your game is craps.

Best wishes,
mason

InternetPokerPro · #7 06-30-2004, 01:57 AM

There have been many analogies and even books written lately comparing business decisions to poker decisions.

When I was in the business world . . . I would only track data that would enable me to make better decisions. If the data had remote direct correlation to decisions that I had to make . . . I didn't care about it.

The same can be applied to my new poker career. If I knew that I only won 40% of the time per table and many of the tables only average a round or two of hands . . . what would I do different w/ that information.

That is why I just assumed you meant a full day's session at least.

Mason Malmuth · #8 06-30-2004, 02:01 AM

Hi IPro:

[ QUOTE ]
Everyone can win when the deck hits them. But breaking even or minimizing your losing sessions when you don't get your fair share of premium starting hands and/or made hands holding up is by far the biggest differential between the most consistent winning players and the average players.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't like this either. This implies that you should give up clear edges because you are losing.

Now I do agree that when you are losing your judgement might be off a little and thus you should tighten up some on your starting hands. But that's very different than what your quote advises. In fact, by trying to control your loses and not raising when you should, for instance, in an attempt to knock others out, could prove very costly in the long run yet smooth out your fluctuations. Sounds self-weighting to me.

Best wishes,
Mason

InternetPokerPro · #9 06-30-2004, 02:04 AM

It was really just a verbose way of saying "don't tilt" when you have a bad session.

I think a solid player will not only win more often as a % of his sessions . . . but his losing sessions will be smaller $$ wise on average compared to his winning sessions.

umdpoker · #10 06-30-2004, 03:14 AM

"In fact, by trying to control your loses and not raising when you should, for instance, in an attempt to knock others out, could prove very costly in the long run yet smooth out your fluctuations."

i am so guilty of this, its disgusting. i could make a lot more money if i didn't go into weak-tight mode after a few bad beats. is there a pill ro something i can take to stop this?