Table profit and your after-expenses hourly
Table profit is the money you take out of a cash game minus everything you put in. Divide it by playing hours for your table hourly. To understand the trip as a whole, account separately for additional expenses and time away from the table. Each figure answers a different question.
Why the founder records expenses
In a cash-game interview on 15 October 2026, Thomas Howcroft, known as Tom and the founder of Overshove, described recording food and travel alongside his session results. Hourly rate is his main review metric. He also made an important distinction: he does not currently record his own dealer or staff tips separately. This article draws on his personal routine and explains the arithmetic; it is founder-authored material, not an independent product review or an audited account of his results.
Include every buy-in and rebuy
Add the initial buy-in, every rebuy and every top-up to find total money in. Add all money taken back out, including any withdrawal before the final cash-out, to find total money out. Table profit is total money out minus total money in. For a completed session, reconcile any remaining chips consistently with that total. Subtracting only the first buy-in can overstate the result substantially.
Do not deduct chip-paid costs twice
Rake removed from pots and tips paid from your playing chips already affect the amount you cash out. The resulting table profit includes their effect. Subtracting those amounts again would count the same cost twice. A separate rake or tip note may help explain a result without creating another deduction. A cost paid from outside the recorded poker money needs separate treatment if you choose to include it in your after-expenses result. Check how any tracker handles these entries before adding another adjustment.
A worked example, using invented figures
This is a synthetic example, not one of Tom's sessions or a forecast. A player buys in for £200, rebuys for £100 and cashes out £420 after four playing hours. Total money in is £300, so table profit is £120 and table hourly is £30. They also pay £12 for session-related food and £18 for travel from separate money. Those £30 of additional expenses leave £90, or £22.50 per playing hour. Any rake or tips already paid from the chips are not deducted again.
Try it: your three hourly rates
Enter one session's totals. The tool keeps table hourly, after-expenses hourly and door-to-door hourly apart, so you can see what each cost and each extra hour changes. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.
Rake and tips paid from your chips are already in the cash-out figure, so do not enter them as extra expenses. Poker costs and true hourly calculator.
Travel time changes the denominator
If the same invented trip includes one hour of travel, the four playing hours become five hours door to door. After-expenses profit remains £90. Dividing £90 by five gives an after-expenses door-to-door hourly of £18. Travel time changes the hours used in the calculation; it does not itself subtract money from profit. Include any other time you want this measure to cover, such as waiting, and label the definition so comparisons stay consistent.
Keep the scope and missing figures visible
Table hourly and after-expenses hourly are both useful when clearly labelled. Decide which additional costs belong in your own review and apply that definition consistently; these categories are not tax advice or a universal accounting rule. If a cost or playing time is unknown, mark it as unknown rather than silently entering zero. Keep any estimate identifiable. One session, or a graph of results, cannot establish your long-run win rate or the quality of individual decisions.
Key takeaways
- Table profit is everything you took out minus everything you put in, including every rebuy.
- Rake and tips paid from your chips are already in that figure, so never deduct them twice.
- Say which hourly you mean: table, after expenses or door to door.
Questions
How do you calculate your hourly rate in poker?
Subtract everything you bought in for, including rebuys and top-ups, from everything you took out. Divide that table profit by the hours you played: £120 over four hours is £30 an hour. To compare stakes, divide again by the big blind to get big blinds per hour.
Should I deduct rake and tips from my poker results?
Not if they came out of your chips. Rake taken from pots and tips paid from your stack already reduce your cash-out, so your table profit includes them. Deduct only costs paid from separate money, such as food or travel, and only once.
Should travel time count in my poker hourly?
It depends on the question you are asking. Table hourly uses playing time only. A door-to-door hourly adds travel and waiting time, which lowers the rate without changing the profit. Label which one you mean so comparisons stay fair.
Is 1/2 poker profitable?
It can be for some players and not for others. The answer depends on your edge over the other players, the rake and other costs, and the time you put in. Your own complete record of buy-ins, cash-outs, hours and extra costs is the only evidence that applies to you, and a short sample can mislead in either direction.