Tracking a poker bankroll is simple in principle and easy to do badly in practice. The system below is the one serious players use — and it is exactly what a poker bankroll tracker automates for you.
Step 1: Set your starting bankroll
Your bankroll is the money set aside specifically for poker — separate from rent, savings, and life expenses. Write down the number. That is your baseline, and every session moves it up or down.
Step 2: Log every session
For each session, record:
- Date
- Game type (NLHE, PLO, MTT, etc.)
- Stakes
- Venue
- Total buy-in (including rebuys)
- Cash-out
- Hours played (pause-adjusted for breaks)
The single biggest mistake is inconsistency. One missed session and your sample size — and every metric derived from it — becomes less trustworthy. This is why a lock-screen timer matters: the lower the friction, the more complete your data.
Step 3: Calculate profit and hourly rate
Profit is total cash-outs minus total buy-ins. Hourly rate is profit divided by hours played — the single most intuitive measure of how you are doing. Try the free hourly rate calculator.
Step 4: Track a stake-normalized win rate
Hourly rate does not let you compare $1/$2 to $5/$10. For that, cash players track BB/100 and tournament players track ROI and ITM%. The free win rate calculator includes a confidence interval so you know whether your number is real or variance.
Step 5: Review and adjust
Compare your bankroll to your stake regularly. When your bankroll grows past the threshold for the next level — and your win rate supports it — move up. When it shrinks, move down. The risk-of-ruin calculation turns this into a number instead of a gut feeling.
Doing it automatically
Every step above is manual in a spreadsheet and automatic in StackEdge: the timer logs your hours, rebuys log in one tap, your bankroll updates on cash-out, and BB/100, ROI, risk of ruin, and venue breakdowns calculate themselves. It is the 5-star rated way to keep this system running without thinking about it.
