Poker Ledger: How to Keep One for a Home Game
Updated Oct 28, 2026
A poker ledger is the written record of a game's money: every player, every buy-in and rebuy, the value of their chips at the end, and the result. Each player's net is chips out minus money in, and the nets always add up to $0. Keep it as the money goes in, not from memory at the end, and the settle-up takes two minutes.
What goes in a poker ledger
Five columns are enough for any home cash game:
Scroll table horizontally →
| Player | Buy-ins (each one) | Total in | Chips out | Net |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | $20, $20 | $40 | $8.50 | −$31.50 |
Name
- Buy-ins (each one)
- $20, $20
- Total in
- $40
- Chips out
- $8.50
- Net
- −$31.50
- Buy-ins: write each one separately, including rebuys and top-ups, at the moment the money or the IOU changes hands.
- Total in: the sum of that row's buy-ins.
- Chips out: the cash value of the player's chips when they leave or when the game ends.
- Net: chips out minus total in. Plus means they won, minus means they lost.
Add one line at the bottom for the table: total in, total chips out and the sum of the nets. The first two must match and the third must be $0.
Worked example: a 6-player ledger
$0.25/$0.50 cash game, $20 buy-ins, Mike and Dave rebought once each.
Scroll table horizontally →
| Player | Buy-ins | Total in | Chips out | Net |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike | $20, $20 | $40 | $8.50 | −$31.50 |
| Dave | $20, $20 | $40 | $20.50 | −$19.50 |
| Jen | $20 | $20 | $39.50 | +$19.50 |
| Chris | $20 | $20 | $18.00 | −$2.00 |
| Sam | $20 | $20 | $51.00 | +$31.00 |
| Tony | $20 | $20 | $22.50 | +$2.50 |
| Table | $160 | $160.00 | $0.00 |
Mike
- Buy-ins
- $20, $20
- Total in
- $40
- Chips out
- $8.50
- Net
- −$31.50
Dave
- Buy-ins
- $20, $20
- Total in
- $40
- Chips out
- $20.50
- Net
- −$19.50
Jen
- Buy-ins
- $20
- Total in
- $20
- Chips out
- $39.50
- Net
- +$19.50
Chris
- Buy-ins
- $20
- Total in
- $20
- Chips out
- $18.00
- Net
- −$2.00
Sam
- Buy-ins
- $20
- Total in
- $20
- Chips out
- $51.00
- Net
- +$31.00
Tony
- Buy-ins
- $20
- Total in
- $20
- Chips out
- $22.50
- Net
- +$2.50
Table
- Buy-ins
- Total in
- $160
- Chips out
- $160.00
- Net
- $0.00
The table balances: $160 went in and $160.00 in chips came out. One way to settle it is four payments: Mike pays Sam $31.00 and Tony $0.50, Dave pays Jen $19.50, and Chris pays Tony $2.00. If your game uses a bank, the losers pay the bank and the bank pays the winners instead.
Paper, spreadsheet or app
- Paper: fine for a small game. Print the free poker buy-in sheet, keep it next to the bank and never skip a line.
- Spreadsheet: good for keeping results across many nights, but somebody has to type everything in afterward, and that's where rebuys go missing.
- Free browser tools: the buy-in tracker is a ledger you tap during the game, the chip counter totals the chips by color, and the settlement calculator turns the nets into payments.
- An app: keeps the ledger on the host's phone and the history for the whole group. Our comparison of home poker apps covers the options.
How to run a home cash game in the order the night happens, from the first buy-in to who pays who.
Watch with chapters and the full transcript →
Ledger rules that prevent the 1 a.m. argument
- One person keeps the ledger, usually whoever runs the bank.
- Write the rebuy before the chips go out, not after.
- An IOU is still a buy-in. Write it down with the player's name.
- Count chips before anyone leaves, and fill in chips out for an early leaver when they cash out.
- Read the totals out loud before anyone pays. If the nets don't add to $0, fix it first.
Host's note
The Friends poker episode ends the way a lot of real nights do: the game is over and Ross reads the ledger out loud while someone tries to slip out the door. In our own cash-game video, the advice is simple: four friends playing for pennies only need a notebook, but once there are rebuys and more than one way to pay, write every buy-in down the moment it happens.
The Friends poker game, explained, including the ledger Ross reads at the end.
Watch with chapters and the full transcript →
Frequently asked questions
What is a poker ledger?
A poker ledger is the record of a game's money. It lists each player, every buy-in and rebuy they made, the value of their chips at the end, and their result, which is chips out minus money in.
How do you read a poker ledger?
Look at the net column. A plus number is what that player won and a minus number is what they lost. All the nets added together must equal $0; if they don't, something was written down wrong or the chips were miscounted.
Is there a poker ledger template?
Yes. The columns are player, each buy-in, total in, chips out and net. You can print our free poker buy-in sheet, copy the table on this page into a spreadsheet, or use the free buy-in tracker in your browser.
Is there an app that keeps a poker ledger?
Several home-game apps keep one, and our comparison of home poker apps lists them. HG Poker logs buy-ins and rebuys as they happen, checks the final chip count against them, and shares who owes who to the group chat. It doesn't hold or move money.
What if the ledger doesn't balance?
Recount the chips and compare the ledger's buy-ins with what the bank collected. If the chips are over by exactly one buy-in, a rebuy was probably never written down. The free chip counter checks the table total against the buy-ins for you.
Start a free ledger in your browser with the buy-in tracker. HG Poker keeps the same ledger on the host's phone during the game, checks the final count against every buy-in and rebuy, and shares who owes who to the group chat. It takes no bets, holds no money and moves no money. App Store · Google Play