Poker Cash Game Calculator: The Numbers to Run
Poker cash game explained through the numbers: winrate in bb/100, expected hourly, pot odds, and stack-to-pot ratio, with formulas for each.
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A poker cash game is best understood through its numbers, and you don’t need software to run them — a handful of formulas tells you whether you’re winning, how much you should expect to make, and whether any given call is profitable. This is the calculator you carry in your head: four numbers, each with the exact formula and a worked example.
1. Winrate — big blinds per 100 hands
Your winrate is the single most important number in your game. Online, it’s measured in big blinds per 100 hands (bb/100):
bb/100 = (profit in big blinds ÷ hands played) × 100
Say you won $1,000 in a $1/$2 game (big blind = $2), so 500 big blinds, across 20,000 hands. That’s (500 ÷ 20,000) × 100 = 2.5 bb/100. Live players usually track big blinds per hour instead, because a live table deals only 25–30 hands an hour versus hundreds per hour across online tables.
| Format | Typical solid winrate | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Online small stakes | 3–5 bb/100 | After rake; harder than it looks |
| Online mid stakes | 1–3 bb/100 | Tougher fields compress edges |
| Live low stakes | 8–15 bb/100 | Looser, more passive opponents |
2. Expected hourly — turning winrate into dollars
Once you know your winrate per hour, your expected hourly is just:
hourly = (big blinds won per hour) × (big blind in dollars)
Win 5 big blinds an hour in $1/$2? That’s 5 × $2 = $10/hour before variance. To turn an online bb/100 into an hourly, estimate hands per hour (say 250 across three tables) and scale: 2.5 bb/100 × 2.5 hundreds × $2 = $12.50/hour. It’s a small number per hour, which is why volume and game selection matter so much — the swings around that average are covered in cash game variance.
3. Pot odds — is this call profitable?
Before you call a bet, compare the price to your chance of winning:
pot odds (as a %) = call amount ÷ (pot after your call)
If the pot is $80 and your opponent bets $20, you’re calling $20 to win $100, so you need to win at least 20 ÷ 120 = 16.7% of the time to break even. Compare that to your equity — a flush draw is roughly 35% to complete by the river with two cards to come — and the decision becomes arithmetic, not a guess. The odds and math hub breaks down equity for every common draw.
4. Stack-to-pot ratio — how committed are you?
Stack-to-pot ratio (SPR) tells you how much room you have to play after the flop:
SPR = effective stack ÷ pot size (usually on the flop)
With $200 effective stacks and a $50 flop pot, SPR = 200 ÷ 50 = 4 — a low SPR where top pair or an overpair is often happy to get all the chips in. At an SPR of 15, that same top pair is far more fragile, because there’s too much money behind for a one-pair hand to want a stack-off. SPR is what connects your preflop bet sizing to how the whole hand plays out — small preflop pots create high SPRs and more postflop skill; bigger preflop pots create low SPRs and simpler commit-or-fold decisions.
Chips: converting stacks to big blinds
Every decision above is cleaner in big blinds, so the last skill is converting chips and back:
stack in big blinds = stack in dollars ÷ big blind size
A $300 stack in a $1/$2 game is 300 ÷ 2 = 150 big blinds — deep enough that implied odds and postflop skill dominate. A $70 stack is 35 big blinds, short enough that you want to get it in on strong hands before the pot grows unwieldy. Seeing the table in big blinds is what lets a $2/$5 regular sit at $5/$10 and read the same spots instantly — 100 big blinds plays like 100 big blinds whatever the currency.
How the four numbers connect
These aren’t four separate tools; they’re one picture. Your winrate says whether your approach is sound. Your expected hourly says whether the stake is worth your time. Pot odds govern each decision inside a hand. And SPR sets the frame before the flop even lands. Run all four fluidly and your decisions stay consistent — sizing the preflop pot to create the SPR you want, then using pot odds to navigate it, all in service of the winrate you track.
Put the calculator to work
None of this needs an app — it needs a habit. Track every session, compute your bb/100 across a real sample, know your pot odds cold, and read SPR the moment the flop comes. The one input all of it depends on is honest data, which is why a clean results tracker is the first tool any serious player builds. When the numbers become second nature, you stop guessing and start knowing — and that’s the whole edge. For the strategy that sits on top of the math, head back to the cash game strategy hub.
Frequently asked
How do you calculate winrate in a cash game?
Winrate is measured in big blinds per 100 hands (bb/100): take your total profit in big blinds, divide by the number of hands played, and multiply by 100. For example, winning 500 big blinds over 20,000 hands is 500 divided by 20,000 times 100, which equals 2.5 bb/100. Live players often use big blinds per hour instead, since hands come far more slowly.
What is a good winrate in cash games?
For online no-limit hold'em, anything positive after rake is respectable, and roughly 3 to 5 bb/100 is a solid winning rate at small stakes. Live games play looser, so strong regulars can post double-digit bb/100. What counts as good drops as you climb in stakes and the competition stiffens.
How do I calculate my expected hourly?
Multiply your winrate in big blinds per hour by the big blind size in dollars. If you win 5 big blinds per hour in a $1/$2 game, that's 5 times $2, or roughly $10 an hour before variance. Online, convert bb/100 to an hourly by estimating hands per hour across your tables.
What is stack-to-pot ratio and how is it calculated?
Stack-to-pot ratio, or SPR, is the effective stack size divided by the size of the pot, usually measured on the flop. A low SPR means you're committed and should get chips in with strong hands; a high SPR means there's room to maneuver and you need a stronger hand to stack off. Divide the smaller of the two stacks by the current pot to get it.