How many BB/100 Hands is Good?

Hello everyone, just started playing $2NL on Full Tilt and I feel like I'm doing pretty well (haven't had a losing session yet), but I would like to know exactly how to measure my progress accurately. For example, for MTTs and SnGs I know that an ROI of around 25~50% is considered good for the microstakes, and that a sample size of at the very least 100 games, preferably more, is necessary in order to start getting an accurate picture.

So for NL cash games, how exactly do you calculate BB/100 hands (mathematically)? I'm guessing you just take your profit so far in Big Blinds, divide it by the number of hands played, and then multiply by 100. Does that sound right?

And secondly, what is my minimum hand sample size before I can start coming to any conclusions about my play? (So far I've played over 800 hands, which I'm sure is a ridiculously small sample size).

And finally, what is a good rate to shoot for, (5BB/100 hands, 10BB/100 hands)? And what would be considered "crushing" $2NL? (I hear that term a lot, and it sounds badass).

Many thanks for your patience, and let me know if it looks like I've botched anything here. Best of luck at the tables,

T.

You can maybe start analysing after playing 2000hands to see what type of player you are. But to get a good read you need to have at least 10,000 hands and preferably 50,000. just my oppinion.

BB=Big Bet
bb = big blind
BB=2xbb

BB/100 = 2xbb/100

Anything over 3BB/100 is considered goo (you are winning)

10BB/100 is considered a pro's winrate at higher stakes.

At microstakes its possible to beat the game for winrates >10BB/100

Sample sizes are very large before this figure converges. 100-200K

Hum. Nobody beats 100nl+ by 10BB/100 at 6max or FR over a significant sample.

And to OP, nobody really crushes 2nl either.

In both cases the reason is the same. If you're that good, you either move up or add more tables to increase your $/hour. Players who completely destroy the games like kelisitaan or nanonoko typically run around 4BB/100.

I'd say you need 10,000 hands, at least, to evaluate how you are doing.

2BB/hr profit is considered decent. Do not expect to get rich quick-- variances in NL are pretty high. And, obviously, 2NL is a training ground. It's pretty soft in the micros. And pretty swingy.

It's gonna be awhile before you can evaluate how you are doing. Breathe. Good luck out there.

online? 2BB/hr is really low. Good players can win 3BB/100 while playing enough tables to play 500 to 1000 hands per hour. Make that 20 BB/hr or more.

Thank you very much for all the responses! I'll keep on grindin away and let you all know how I'm doing once I hit at least 5K hands (don't hold your breath!) So far so good though ($6.96 in net profit) after the first 800 hands, but I'm sure I'll swing down soon.

And again, thanks so much to all the veterans like Belgo and Stu who take the time to come and help a noob out.

Best of luck out there!

T.

Expect a lot of variance in your first 10k hands. Be happy if you can keep your initial deposit when you first start.

Just thought I'd give you all a quick update as to how I'm doing. I recently hit 10K hands and figured It'd be a good milestone to post an update.

10550 hands
34.72 net profit
=
16.45bb/100 hands (8.22BB/100 hands)

After an initial hot run, my winrate eventually petered out, and ran fairly steady until I ran into a nasty bout of variance (combined with tilt). After coming back, I managed to keep more or less steady.

Not doing stellar, but more or less good all things considered. I'll keep you all posted after the next milestone at 20K hands, which will probably come soon as I've been making ample use of the recent triple point happy hours and the Take 2 promotion.

Best of luck to all of you out there!

T.

By 2NL, are we talking about $.01/$.02, or $1/$2? Also, what do you mean by "soft." Thanks.

Also, how much rake can one expect to pay at $.01/$.02 NL? .05/.10 NL? .50/1 NL? 1.0/2.0 NL? etc. Thanks very much!

2NL is .01/.02 No Limit Hold'em. Soft refers to it being easy to play, as most people who play these levels aren't very skilled, and if you do run into skilled players they will eventually move up in limits.

As for rake, it depends on the site. Take a look at your favorite site and look for their rake policy. Hope that's helpful, and good luck to you out there.

Pay? What do you mean?

If you want to keep stats. on yourself, check out PokerTableRatings. There's lots of cool stuff on there that is free once you register. I think you will like it.

What I mean is, all else being equal, will a higher percentage of your winnings go to rake at 2NL, 20NL or 50NL, or some other? And at what level to does it just begin to flatten out, percentage-wise?

In other words, all else being equal, is one level more optimal than another, percentage-wise?

Thanks.

$500/$1k is where you pay the least rake percentage-wise, unless some site offers even higher stakes.

This was one of the first questions you asked when you joined this site.. I think it was explained at length.