"How much did I make this year?" and "How well did I play this year?" are different questions. The first is about an amount. The second needs ROI — return on investment. Two players who each made $2,000 are not equal if one spent $4,000 on entries and the other spent $40,000.
The ROI formula
ROI = (Total prizes − Total cost) ÷ Total cost × 100%
"Total cost" is everything you actually paid to enter during the period, and "total prizes" is everything you collected. An ROI of 20% means that for every $100 you put in, you got back $120 on average.
A worked example
Suppose you played 40 entries over the last six months:
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Entries (including re-entries) | 40 |
| Average cost per entry (buy-in + fee) | $110 |
| Total cost | $4,400 |
| Total prizes | $5,280 |
| Net profit | $880 |
ROI = 880 ÷ 4,400 × 100% = 20%
What belongs in the cost?
The denominator is where ROI most often goes wrong. All of the following count as cost:
- Buy-in and fee: an event listed as "$100 + $10" costs you $110, not $100.
- Re-entries: entering again after busting is another cost. Three bullets in one event means three times the cost.
- Add-ons and rebuys: also money you paid in.
Travel, accommodation and food are usually left out of the ROI denominator, because ROI measures what happens at the table. Track them separately so you can also work out your true overall result. Both numbers are useful — they answer different questions.
How re-entries change your ROI
Say you fire two bullets in a $200 event and cash for $480.
- Wrong: (480 − 200) ÷ 200 = 140%
- Right: (480 − 400) ÷ 400 = 20%
Forgetting re-entries is the most common reason ROI gets overstated. When you log results, treat every bullet as its own cost.
What counts as a good ROI?
There is no universal answer, because it depends on buy-in level, field size and how large the fee is. A few things are certain:
- An ROI above 0% means you were profitable over the period.
- The higher the level and the tougher the field, the lower the ROI that can be sustained.
- The larger the fee relative to the buy-in, the harder it is to break even.
Rather than comparing yourself with others, compare with your own past: how does this quarter look against the last one? Does your ROI differ clearly between levels or venues?
The big caveat: sample size
A 20% ROI over 40 entries does not make you "a 20% ROI player". Tournament results swing wildly, and one or two deep runs can turn a negative ROI into an impressive one. Until you have several hundred entries, ROI describes what happened during that stretch more than it describes your true ability. Variance and sample size covers this in detail.
What to look at besides ROI
- ITM rate: how often you cash. It does not always move with ROI — see ITM vs ROI.
- Hourly rate: which events pay best once your time is counted — see how to calculate your poker hourly rate.
- ROI by segment: splitting by level, format and venue is often more useful than a single overall figure.
Try the matching tool: Poker ROI, ITM Rate and Hourly Rate Calculator