ROI tells you the return on each dollar, but not how much time that return took. A low buy-in event that runs ten hours for a small prize can show a lovely ROI and still be a poor use of an evening. That gap is what hourly rate fills.
The hourly rate formula
Hourly rate = Net profit (total prizes − total cost) ÷ Total hours
Using the example from the ROI guide: 40 entries, $880 net profit. If those 40 entries took 160 hours:
Hourly rate = 880 ÷ 160 = $5.50 per hour
If the same profit took 320 hours, the hourly rate is only $2.75. Same amount, completely different meaning.
What counts as playing time
The usual question is where to start and stop the clock. Use a simple definition you can apply the same way every time:
- Start: when you sit down with chips.
- End: when you bust, or the event finishes.
- Breaks: included. You cannot do anything else with that time.
Whether travel and waiting count is up to you, as long as you are consistent. If you often travel for events, keeping a second figure for "total hours including travel" is well worth it.
Sessions with no hours logged: if you only recorded the result for some events, leave them out of the hourly calculation rather than treating them as zero hours. Otherwise your hourly rate will be badly overstated.
Three questions hourly rate answers
1. Which events are worth my time?
Splitting your records by format often produces surprises. Here is an invented but typical example:
| Format | Avg cost | ROI | Avg hours | Hourly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeknight turbo | $50 | 30% | 2.5 | $6.00 |
| Weekend main event | $200 | 18% | 7 | $5.14 |
| Deep-stack series event | $400 | 12% | 11 | $4.36 |
Here the turbo has both the best ROI and the best hourly rate. But if its ROI were only 15%, its hourly rate would fall to $3.00 and the main event would win. You need ROI and hourly rate together to see the whole picture.
2. What is my time worth?
Hourly rate puts poker on the same scale as anything else you could do with those hours. The point is not to turn a hobby into a job. It is to have an honest number for your own time.
3. Do I play worse the longer I play?
Some players' decisions deteriorate late in long events. If you group sessions by length and the ones over eight hours look clearly worse, that may be stamina and focus talking, and it is worth adjusting your schedule. See tilt control and stop-loss rules.
The limits of hourly rate
- It swings just like everything else. The numerator is net profit, which is very unstable over few events. See variance and sample size.
- In tournaments, time and results are linked. The deeper you run, the longer you play and the more you win, so a single event's hourly rate is meaningless. Look at the long-run total.
- It excludes expenses. For a true net hourly rate, subtract travel, accommodation and similar costs from the numerator.
Putting it into practice
The enemy of accurate hours is reconstruction after the fact. Three days later you will not remember whether it was five hours or seven. The reliable method is to log it the moment you leave the table — start and end time, or simply the total. Keep that up for a few months and you will have data that can genuinely answer which events suit you.
Try the matching tool: Poker ROI, ITM Rate and Hourly Rate Calculator