How to Track Your Poker Results (and Why It Matters)

Ask a room full of poker players whether they win, and almost all of them will say yes. Ask how much, and most can't tell you. Tracking your results is the simplest edge in poker — and most players never do it.

Why tracking matters

• Memory is biased. We remember big wins and forget small losses.
• Bankroll decisions need data. You can't move up or down sensibly without knowing your real results.
• Patterns are invisible without it. Your best games, days and session lengths only appear when you look at many sessions together.
• Record keeping. In many countries, gambling winnings are taxable, and a session log is useful evidence.

What to record after every session

1. Date and start/end time
2. Game and stakes (e.g. $1/$3 NLH)
3. Location or online site
4. Total buy-in, including rebuys
5. Cash-out
6. Expenses like dealer tips and travel
7. A short note: table conditions, mood, key hands

The numbers that matter

• Net profit — after expenses.
• Hourly rate — profit divided by hours. Try the win rate calculator.
• bb/hr — your win rate in big blinds, comparable across stakes.
• Tournament ROI and ITM — see the ROI calculator.

Habits that make tracking stick

• Log immediately. Enter the session before you leave the casino or close the poker client.
• Log losing sessions too. Especially losing sessions.
• Review monthly. Look at your results by stake and game once a month, not after every session.
• Judge with enough data. A few sessions mean very little; see the variance calculator.

Spreadsheet or app?

A spreadsheet works if you're disciplined, but it's slow to update on a phone and hard to analyze. The free Poker Tracking web tracker makes logging take seconds and does the analysis automatically, with iOS and Android apps on the way. To add up a set of past sessions quickly, use the free poker profit calculator.