Expenses

Almost all professional players I know keep meticulous records of their play. For every session, they record at least the following variables: location, type of game, limit, numbers of hours played, and results. Of course, they are correct in doing this. Without these figures, it would be almost impossible to conclude whether or not someone is truly a winner – and if so, for how much.

Having said that, quite a few of these pros don't accurately factor in expenses. Over the years, I have met quite a few people who (rightly so) think in terms of hourly rate, but don't pay enough attention to expenses that don't seem directly related to play itself. I am thinking about things like the cost of food and drinks, tips for the doormen and the waitresses, the cost of parking, and so on. On more than one occasion, I have seen people who claim to have an hourly win rate of $12 hand over $18 or $25 to the waitress for food and drinks with money out of their wallets – not with the chips in play. Now, I am almost 100 percent sure that these expenses don't appear in these players' overall figures. Thus, there can be no doubt that their overall figures will probably be grossly overvalued because of this.

My Opinion

It is my opinion that all expenses should be factored in when keeping records. There are two ways of doing this:

1. Keep the totals of your expenses separate from your play at the table. If on Feb. 21 you spent $18 total on food, drinks, parking, and so on, write this down in a separate column. Now, if at the end of the year you played a total of 1,000 hours for a total win of $50,000, and your expenses added up to $5,000, you should know that your net win is only $45,000, and that your hourly win rate is $45 and not $50.

2. An alternative to this would be paying all of your expenses with the chips in play. This is something I always do. One negative thing about this is that it may make your overall results less than 100 percent accurate. The positive thing is that when you err, you err on the side of caution. This means that your actual results should be slightly better than the figures seem to indicate, while for most people, this would be the exact opposite; because they do not factor in all expenses, they tend to overrate their actual results. If your regular game is $10-$20 hold'em, and you routinely spend $15 per session on food and drinks, this will have a huge impact on your actual win rate. Of course, I would recommend that relatively new players who are still on their way up should try to limit all expenses outside of the game to the absolute minimum. Especially when playing for relatively low stakes, these expenses can add up to a significant portion of your total profits. Thus, you should not simply neglect them – as some people seem to be doing.

Expenses: An Overview

In most American casinos, there is no entrance fee, and drinks (and sometimes food) are often free. This is not the case in Europe. Quite a few casinos charge you, say, $5 to get in and $2 or $3 for a soda, and $15 for a simple steak is the rule rather than the exception. If you are playing for a living, you should know exactly how much you spend on these things on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis. After all, you should view these expenses as costs of operation. You try to keep them as low as possible, but you cannot simply neglect them. After all, money spent is money spent. As is the case in actual play, a dollar saved is a dollar gained, and just as the customary dollar tip for the dealer counts, so do the little tips for the waitresses and the doormen – and therefore have to be factored in. Now, what are some of these common expenses?

• Entrance fee, tips for the doormen, cost of hanging your coat, and so on. As I said, expenses like this are more common in Europe than in the United States. If you have to pay $5 to get into the casino, then pay $1 for your coat, and at the end of the night tip the doorman $1, your $102 win in a $10-$20 game is actually substantially lower: $95.

• Cost of food and drinks, tips for the waitresses, and so on. If you know that the casino where you play charges a lot of money for food and drinks, I would recommend that you eat at home in order to keep these costs as low as possible. After all, you don't need to drink four cappuccinos at $3 each, and you don't need to order a T-bone steak for $19.95. Still, all costs that you do incur should be reflected in your daily, monthly, and yearly results.

• Cost of parking. In the United States, parking your car at the big casinos is often free, and even valet parking shouldn't be too expensive. This is not the case in Europe. Especially the state casinos are often located in the best parts of town, where the charge for parking may easily exceed $2 per hour. Of course, you should try to keep these costs as low as possible (for instance, by trying to find a cheap parking place, or by looking for different means of traveling), but if you are unable to get around them, you should factor them in as yet another cost of operation.

• Cost of airfare, traveling, accommodations, and so on. This is something that's very important for high rollers and players who are traveling the tournament circuit. Oftentimes, the costs of travel and hotel accommodations are so high that these people have to play very well and for very high stakes just to break even for the trip. This means that if you're a good but not great player who likes to play for relatively small stakes, these costs will often be too much of a burden to show even the slightest profit over an entire trip.

Some Final Words

Expenses are some of the most underrated and neglected aspects of playing poker. I guess I have always given them considerably more attention than most players, and not without a reason. If you want to become truly successful in poker, you have to focus on every possible aspect of the game – including this one.