Poker Pilgrims is proud to introduce a new feature: Average Cash Poker Tables. We’ve been working over the past several months to collect data on the average number of poker tables by day across New England. Our first page with those results is now live. New England Cash Poker average number of tables can be accessed via the drop-down menus at the top of the homepage (under Poker Room Information).

This page will be updated approximately every three months. Over time we will add average cash numbers for other regions with high concentrations of poker rooms. These will include regions such as South Florida, Las Vegas, Southern California, and the mid-Atlantic seaboard.

Sites such as Poker Atlas and Bravo Poker Live offer users the ability to see current numbers of cash players at a venue at any given time. However, we have not found a resource that allows you to plan your next poker visit in advance. Currently, if I would like to learn how many $1-$2 no-limit tables Maryland Live! gets on a Thursday evening, there is nowhere to go to find that information. Poker Pilgrims hopes to fill that gap. Whether you are figuring out where to play poker next weekend, or where to plan your next poker vacation, our average cash table map will hopefully be of help.

Our Plan

Ultimately, our vision is to track the number of average cash poker tables across the country in all areas with high concentrations of poker rooms.  In areas where a poker player has options, this information, along with room reviews, can help you make a discerning choice. Be patient with us as we work to populate these tables. In the meantime, feel free to visit our New England page. You are also welcome to read our analysis of where to play poker in New England or our thoughts on the impact of Encore Boston Harbor on the New England poker scene.

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Every player knows that the key to profiting at poker is playing well.  If you don’t play well, you’re toast long-term. Unfortunately, playing well is not enough. Equally important is understanding how other factors impact your potential profitability. As we have discussed before, there are many ancillary costs of playing poker, and it is important that you make a plan to combat them.  Most importantly, however, card rooms don’t survive on good cheer. They take a piece of the action out of every hand. Understanding how your card room takes their piece of the action, the poker rake, is critical in determining how your potential wins, or losses, will be impacted.

Cash Games and Poker Rake

Poker Rake

Let’s imagine for a moment that a 10-handed table has started with each player buying in for $200. Our imaginary casino’s poker rake is $1 for every $10 in the pot, up to $5 total (fairly typical). If the median pot is $30, the average hand loses $3 in every pot. Although there is some variation, on average, there are about 30 hands dealt an hour. We’ll also assume that nobody busted and re-bought or left and was replaced by a new player. The overall rake paid is $90 (30*$3) in that hour; thus, the “average” player will lose $9 in poker rake (or 4.5% of his/her stack) per hour.

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