Module 7 · Lesson 32 of 39 · Free
Stacks in big blinds, results in bb/100
Win $50 over 1,000 hands at a $0.50/$1 table and you have won 50 big blinds, 5 bb per 100 hands. Win $500 over 1,000 hands at $5/$10 and it is the same 50 big blinds and the same 5 bb per 100 hands: ten times the money, the same result. Counting in big blinds makes stacks, pots and results comparable at any stakes.
The hand
You play 1,000 hands at a $0.50/$1 table and finish $50 ahead. The Regular plays 1,000 hands at $5/$10 and finishes $300 ahead.
Predict first
Measured in big blinds, who won more per 100 hands?
- The Regular: $300 is six times your $50
- You: 5 bb per 100 hands against his 3
- Neither: you both won about the same
Show the answer
Answer: You: 5 bb per 100 hands against his 3
Divide by the big blind first: your $50 ÷ $1 = 50 bb and his $300 ÷ $10 = 30 bb. Over 1,000 hands, ten blocks of 100, that is 50 ÷ 10 = 5 bb/100 for you and 30 ÷ 10 = 3 bb/100 for him.
Working it out
Two divisions do all the work. Money to big blinds: divide by the big blind, the second number of the stakes. At $0.50/$1 your $50 is 50 ÷ 1 = 50 bb, and at $0.25/$0.50 a $40 stack is 40 ÷ 0.5 = 80 bb. Big blinds to a win rate: divide by the hands in hundreds, 50 ÷ (1,000 ÷ 100) = 5 bb/100. To go back, multiply: 5 bb/100 over 20,000 hands is 5 × 200 = 1,000 bb, which is $1,000 at $0.50/$1 and $10,000 at $5/$10.
The rest of this course counts in big blinds for that reason: a 6 bb pot or a 100 bb stack means the same at every table. Keep your own results the same way: for each session, the stakes, the hands played and the big blinds won or lost. In tournaments the blinds rise, so the same 3,000 chips are 30 bb at 50/100 and only 15 bb at 100/200. And 1,000 hands are far too few to know a win rate, as the Mathematics lesson on variance shows: keep counting.
Formula
bb = money ÷ big blind; bb/100 = bb won ÷ (hands ÷ 100): 50 ÷ (1,000 ÷ 100) = 5 bb/100
Check your understanding
At $0.10/$0.25 you sit down with $30. How many big blinds is your stack?
Show the answer
Answer: 120 bb
Divide by the big blind: 30 ÷ 0.25 = 120 bb.
You lose $120 over 3,000 hands at $1/$2. What is your win rate, in bb/100?
Show the answer
Answer: −2
120 ÷ 2 = 60 bb lost, over 3,000 ÷ 100 = 30 hundreds of hands: −60 ÷ 30 = −2 bb/100.
Player A wins 4 bb/100 at $0.05/$0.10 and Player B wins 1 bb/100 at $1/$2, each over 10,000 hands. Which is true?
- A has the higher win rate; B won more money
- B has the higher win rate, because he won more money
- They did equally well
Show the answer
Answer: A has the higher win rate; B won more money
10,000 hands are 100 blocks of 100. A wins 4 × 100 = 400 bb, which at $0.10 is $40; B wins 1 × 100 = 100 bb, which at $2 is $200. A wins more for the size of his game, B more money because his big blind is 20 times bigger.