Can You Make a Living Playing Online Poker in America April 25, 2019 by TJ Leave a Comment Anyone who has shown a significant appreciation for online poker has asked themselves if they can turn their hobby into a viable career path. Making a living playing online poker is something that requires many hours of study. At first, most of the players think that playing poker online is equal to big amounts of money, few hours at the gaming tables and a dream life. So, you definitely can make a living playing poker, even in today's tough games. As time goes on there will just be more and more people who have tried and failed. The internet forums are full of people who will tell anybody that will listen, about how everybody is too solid.
You have a good life.
You have a supportive family, a nice set of friends, and a decent job.
Whenever you find free time, you play poker with your friends and relatives and for some strange reason, you get to kill the game and win almost every time.
Although it’s impossible to win each hand you’re dealt with (even Phil Ivey has to fold a hand from time to time), you have a sense of what’s going on at the poker table.
You think you have the steel to win poker matches, especially in your home games, but have you ever thought about earning a second income from poker?
If this is the first time you’ve heard of playing poker as a source of secondary income then you’re in for a treat. A fair warning though, I don’t suggest that you gamble your lifesaving’s away.
All you need to do is be smart about it and plan in advance.
Start off with the extra cash that you have and make sure you don’t blow your hard-earned money away.
EXCLUSIVE BONUS CONTENT
Get this article as a beautiful, easily save as a PDF or print for daily use.
Get an amazing infographics covering poker income
Get a free copy of our popular eBook “21 Secrets to Dominate the Poker Tables Like a Pro“.
Don’t give poker a bad name
Bull going all-in!
You’ve cards flying up in the air together with limped bodies and cowboy boots.
Poker is often associated with cowboys and westerns thanks to much Hollywood movies we’ve seen.
If not westerns, poker (and other card games) is often played in sleazy and dingy card rooms.
Rats won’t stand a chance in these filthy places much less you, the poker player.
Whether we like it or not, that’s the poker environment we’ve grown accustomed to: polluted, covered with cigar smoke, and dangerous.
Let’s thank the poker gods (and ESPN) because the descriptions above aren’t close to real card rooms and casinos.
You don’t see dudes from the ‘hood with guns toting at you. Instead, you’re more likely to find businessmen, math professors, MBA degree holders, and more plain average Joes.
Of course there are sharks (professional poker players who make a living out of the game), but with the right preparation and steady bankroll, the idea of earning a second income from poker is very possible.
The Reality of Poker: Gambling versus Sport
“Guys around here will tell ya, you play for a living, it’s like any other job. You don’t gamble, you grind it out. Your goal is to win one big bet an hour, that’s it. Get your money in when you have the best of it. Protect it when you don’t. Don’t give anything away. That’s how I paid my way through half of law school. A true grinder. You see, I learned how to win a little at a time” – Mike McDermott.
Are those lines familiar to you?
If they’re not, they’re from the opening scene of the movie Rounders.
We can get a lot of card philosophy from the movie if you’re considering earning a second income from poker.
The debate whether poker is gambling or sport remains unresolved and to the uninitiated, poker players are often frowned upon.
But one thing should be clear: Poker only becomes gambling if you play with reckless abandon like a boxer who throws punches with his eyes closed. What goes on at the poker table – how you you’re your cool, how you react, and how you decide – is a microcosm of real life.
Poker is no different from a sought-after business deal. It’s no different from war (or the threat of it) and brinkmanship is crucial. And just like the many aspects of our professional and private lives, poker is about making decisions.
Poker is not for the faint of heart. It’s for adventurers, thrill-seekers, and especially those with entrepreneurial spirits. It’s about taking risks and calculated chances.
You must have the heart and soul to appreciate victories and the humility to accept defeat without going crazy.
Earning a Secondary Source of Income FROM POKER: How to Prepare
The Art of Poker
“Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.” – Sun Tzu, Art of War.
It’s a scary thought, but I have to admit that poker’s a tough sport.
What’s easy these days anyway?
With that in mind, in wouldn’t hurt if you prepare before you rush into the sport.
Here’s another tip: treat poker as an investment.
If you look at poker as an investment, you won’t squander your cash in casinos and online card rooms like you have a cash flow that never runs out. Every investment has risk and to keep that always in mind will help you protect it.
Play within your means. Don’t be blinded by a pipe dream. Sure, it’s sweet to see yourself at the final table of the World Series of Poker with Phil Ivey on your left and Tom Dwan on your right.
Don’t mistake the money you win for fame, glory, and wealth. Think of your winnings as windfalls that could help pay the bills or the vacation you’ve been longing for.
What’s important is to play the blinds that won’t hurt your wallet.
Remember: your objective is to make poker a source of secondary income, not make you poorer. You have to grind it out.
Set Targets
Set yourself a goal each time you play.
Put a reasonable monetary target.
There’s no shame if your goal is to win $100 per four or five hours of playing poker every day.
The point is to build your bankroll big enough to augment your current income to support your family’s or friends’ financial needs.
Here’s another Rounders treat for you: “You can’t lose what you don’t put in the middle.”
Be wise when you play poker and make it a source of secondary income.
All the other players sitting with you at the table are out there to take your money, too.
Variance and bad beats will show their terrible heads from time to time, but you can control your losses if you leave yourself outs.
Who knows? Maybe the next time you re-read this article in front of you – this article that spawned your desire to consider earning a second income from poker – your monetary target is no longer $100 per night, but $5,000 or $10,000 or more!
Live Poker Games
Playing poker live does have some advantages.
I don’t know where you live or from which part of the world you come, but there are plenty of places you can go to find a good poker game.
- Search for local card rooms within your vicinity.
- Check out the tables and their swings.
- Observing how the regulars play will give you an idea how strong the players are.
You can use what you observed and assess whether your game is good enough to play head-on with the veterans of the card rooms. You can have a feel of what’s going on around you by playing face-to-face with other poker players.
However, live poker games in card rooms and casinos have disadvantages.
Here they are:
- Gas money – with the economy plummeting, the price of petrol fuel is a pain in the neck. The objective why you want to play poker is because you want to earn a secondary income. If driving around town to find the best card rooms would result in additional cost then playing live poker may not be a good idea.
- Food money – Although there are card rooms that give free drinks and sodas to their clients, you need to eat, too, while you play for hours. However, food choices in card rooms and casinos can be pricey. You can’t play on an empty stomach because it can affect your judgment.
- Physical distance – travelling can be very exhausting. Apart from the gas and food costs, and depending where you are, the physical distance can take a toll on your game and decisions.
Online Poker Games
If you can’t handle the distance and you want to avoid additional cost, don’t worry.
Online poker games abound it’s like choosing from live card rooms, too. Below are three examples of online poker sites that you can try if you prefer to save more money:
- PokerStars.com – this is considered one of the largest poker sites worldwide. You can browse the site and you’ll find more tournaments and games than any other poker site. It has 24/7 customer support with secure deposits and fast cash outs.
- FullTiltPoker.com – Full Tilt Poker is an online poker room conceived and designed by some of the world’s leading professional poker players. Notable poker players that play in this site are Phil Ivey and Tom Dwan. You can start playing with beginners at small stakes tables or you can rough it out with the best players in the site.
- Bodog Poker – Bodog has plenty of tournaments and you can play in sit and go tournaments, multi-table and even WSOP qualifiers. All you need to do is to create an account and download the free poker software.
Learn More Poker
Learn more poker.
Finally, learn from the masters of the game.
Sure you can beat your buddies at home even when blindfolded. You can rip them off and take their barbecue money.
However, when you go pro – at least from earning a secondary income standpoint – it wouldn’t hurt to read about the game.
Chess grandmasters would spend thousands of hours playing. They also spend loads of time reading and studying chess books to up their game.
Go grab a poker e-book. Read Doyle Brunson’s Super System. My personal favorites, for some strange reason, include Phil Gordon’s Little Green Book of Poker and Daneil Negreaneu’s Hold’em Wisdom for All Players. You could also try the books of Phil Helmuth, Barry Greenstein, and Gus Hansen.
They’re all worth reading.
Watch videos how the pros play and bluff their way. Watch Ivey, Dwan, Esfandiari, Mizracchi. Sooner or later all else will become clear and you’ll have an arsenal of tricks that could help you increase your bankroll.
Besides, when you’re just starting with the game, you learned the rules and felt it as you went along.
This time, you have to be smart. Really smart.
That’s how you prepare if earning a second income from poker is what you want.
I will leave you with an inspirational video from Doyle Brunson and after you can start playing some real poker.
How Much Money Can You Make as a Professional Online Poker Player?
Playing poker online professionally sounds like a great way to make a living. After all, who wouldn’t want to get paid to play cards. Most people reading this page like poker and play for fun anyway. Wouldn’t it be great if they could make a living at it?
Looking to play poker online? Check out one of the sites above!
But, realistically speaking, how much money can you make if you’re good enough to play online professionally?
This post tries to answer that question.
An Anecdotal Answer from a Friend of Mine
I used to be good friends with an online poker pro. This was during the glory days of online poker, before Black Friday in the United States. He blogged about poker, but he made his money playing. I asked him how much money he made and what the swings were like.
Here’s what he told me:
He played for about 4 hours a day. That was all he could handle mentally. He would play between 4 and 8 tables at a time. It sounded intense.
He said that he made 5 figures a month, 5 months out of 6. He also said that one month out of every 6, he lost 5 figures.
Let’s assume that he was making $10,000 a month/10 months out of the year. That’s $100,000 in profits.
But we also must assume that he lost $10,000 a month/2 months out of the year. The reduces annual profits to $80,000.
That sounds like a lot of money, but it doesn’t come with a benefits package. You also don’t get any paid time off. If you’re not playing poker, you’re not making money.
Are You Really a Good Enough Player to Play Professionally Online?
Here’s one thing I know about my friend, too—he was a really good player. Here are a few things I’d suggest to you:
1- You probably don’t play as well as you think you do. One of the things that separates professional gamblers from wannabe professional gamblers is the quality of the records they keep. Do you keep records of your play? If you do, then you already know how much you win or lose per hour at various stakes, so why are you even reading this post?
2- It’s not enough to be better than the other players. You DO have to be better than the other players. But you must be much better than the other players. For one thing, the rake takes 5% out of every pot. Let’s assume you’re playing at a table where you’re exactly as good as the other players. Without that 5% rake, you’d break even. With the rake, you’ll eventually go broke.
You must be good enough to overcome the rake.
3- There are other expenses and risks involved, too. For one thing, transferring your money to and from the poker site involves fees. These come right out of your winnings. You also run the risk of a site going rogue or getting in legal trouble. When Black Friday rolled around, a lot of online pros were in a bind because of the large amount of money they had sitting in their poker accounts.
4- You need a big bankroll. You can’t play poker for a living unless you have a big enough bankroll to weather the natural ups and downs that luck will inevitably bring. Even long-term winning players have losing streaks. Re-read the part of the post where my friend the online poker pro lost $10,000 a month every few months. You need a big bankroll to soak that up.
Do You Have the Temperament to Play Online Professionally?
Most people don’t have the temperament to play poker professionally online, anyway—even if they’re skilled enough to win consistently. After all, we’re talking about sitting in front of a computer with multiple monitors, making decisions of hundreds of hands per hour.
That’s mentally taxing. It’s also lonely work.
Can I Make A Living From Online Poker
And it’s tedious as hell, too. If you’re grinding it out professionally online, you don’t get to make big plays or have any fun or excitement. You’re playing every hand strictly by the numbers. You’re making the correct decision every hand, grinding it out.
That might sound like a dream job to some people, but I don’t think most people aspire to that kind of thing.
Running Some Numbers
Let’s start by looking at how big a bankroll you need to play poker online professionally.
Keep in mind a couple of things about bankroll, too:
- This is money that’s used exclusively to fuel your poker playing. You can’t dip into it to pay bills. If you must do this, you’re not good enough to play poker professionally.
- You must be playing at your best with this money—every hour of every day. If you’re not bringing your best game to the table, your bankroll will eventually disappear.
Let’s assume you’re going to play limit hold’em at the $3/$6 level. You need 300 big blinds to have a large enough bankroll, so you’re looking at a bankroll of $1800.
Let’s also assume that you play well enough to win $6 per hour at this level. Of course, you can’t make a living on $6/hour, so you’ll almost certainly have to play multiple tables. We’ll assume you’re able to play 8 tables at a time, so your hourly win rate is $48/hour.
That might sound like a lot of money, but keep in mind you don’t get any benefits with that. And you’re also unlikely to be able to maintain that pace for more than 4 hours or so per day. You’re looking at making $960 a week.
Of course, maybe you’re a better player than that, so you can play higher stakes. Let’s say you’re able to play $5/$10.
Can You Earn Money From Online Poker
But a lot of poker sites don’t have as much action at those stakes, so you’re only able to play 4 tables per hour. You’re winning $10/hour per table, but since you’re only playing 4 tables, you’re only making $40 per hour.
Of course, you could combine those 4 tables with 4 tables at the $3/$6 level. Now you’re making $64/hour. That’s $1280 per week, which is better.
Then again, you might be able to play no limit holdem at an expert level, too. Theoretically, you could have a higher win rate there, but you’re also going to face higher variance. You’ll need a bigger bankroll to pull this off.
Also, you might need to play fewer tables, as no limit holdem requires a little more thought than grinding it out at the limit tables.
Can You Earn A Living From Online Poker Games
What If You’re from the United States?
If you live in the USA and plan to play poker professionally from here, you’re probably deluding yourself. The legal situation makes it so hard to pull off as to be practically impossible.
I know a few years ago, some travel agents were setting up businesses where they’d set up an apartment in Costa Rica for professional players who wanted to move temporarily to pursue their poker careers. That doesn’t sound realistic to me, especially not for this kind of money.
Conclusion
Making money as an online poker professional sounds like a great idea. But it’s probably a lot harder to pull off than you realize, especially if you’re from the United States.
You need a large bankroll, and you also need to be a skilled player with the right temperament. If you’re still interested after reading this post, you have my blessing if you want to try to go pro.