There are many factors that affect the true amount of hands per hour. I believe the rule of thumb in the AP community is to achieve nothing less than 100 rounds per hour yes?

There are so many factors that affect the game speed besides the # of players. For example...

How many decks in the game - The more decks, the less time that will be spent breaking the deck and shuffling

What is the level of penetration - More important for 1-2 decks than 4 +

Hand Shuffle or ASM - ASM games save a lot of the shuffle time, and as a result the level of penetration does not factor as much (for speed) on an ASM game.

Face down, or face up -In a face down game, some players won't even really look at their hand until it is their turn to make a decision. The player's involvement with their own cards can significantly slow down the game.

Pitch or shoe - A dealer can deal faster from a shoe compared to the mid-air pitch.

Table Limits - I noticed that things can get really slow with others when in the high-limit area, and other player(s)on a losing streak betting large amounts but keep buying in with 20's. The dealer can spend a lot of time just sorting through cash and calling the pit to verify when she could be getting rounds out instead.

Other misc. factors - Using irregular/erratic chip combinations, and even the AP's ability to make decisions can significantly affect game speed as well, however I believe these things would be hard to quantify as the factors mentioned above...

Does anyone have a chart, or their own thorough analysis of a game speed given the following considerations? How about other factors I may have missed...anybody?