How Much Money Can You Make Playing Poker?

[mtl mile end]

In live cash games, I think it's unrealistic to expect to be very profitable in the lower stakes ($1/2, $1/3). The rake is usually one or two dollars for the Bad Beat Jackpot plus the 10% up to a maximum of $8-10 EVERY HAND. I have discussed this with friends and we have decided that the level of play (you and opponents) along with the rake makes it impossible. If you can move up to at least $2/5, there can be an expectation of beating the rake and playing in a manner that is less luck reliant. Online seems like a blur of HUDs, multi tabling micro stakes, and Zooming through a morass of donkeys to take advantage of small stakes and small rakes. If decent rake back programs still exist, that could make a difference (a huge difference).

I think tournament possibilities are more straightforward and easy to understand. The rake is quite small and taken in one shot and never goes into the prize pool. The payout in a large MTT is usually about 17%. Only the top finishers are going to make big dollars (winner gets about 20% of total prize pool). With all that in mind, Daniel Negreanu, one of the best tournament players in the world was able to money in about 20% (11/50) of the tournaments that he played in 2013. This is not an indicator that an average player can realistically hope to profit from large MTT play.

 

[willko01000]

Interesting

Very interesting!

I think the majority of players begin with their sites set on winning a fantastic prize pool but soon begin to realise they are going to have to work at it and enhance their skill set if they really want to see any significant steady gains from Poker.

Its interesting thinking in terms of online and live and the disparities between the two.

They are both very different but similar beasts!

 

[Muzyka1996]

At this time I spend not many time on poker, so I can not do much money now.

 

[VovanBaron]

It is very serious article and I noticed that some of these ideas I ahad already thought in my mind when was sitting and playing online poker.I dont know what to add but my personal opinion is that every losing players can become winning if he is working on his faults and mastering own game.

 

[MrHachiman]

Depending on the mode you play and the time you spend + your skill you can earn more or less. The variance is always there, too. I am a firm believer that you can earn a lot of money playing poker regularly, but you also need to devote an amount of time proportional to the study of the game. Without effort, there is no reward in any area of ​​life.

 

[wilmer907907]

As it is said at the beginning, the earnings depend on the modality in which we are playing, according to my experience, I played sit & go tournaments of 45 and 90 players, with 0.25 to 0.50 tickets, and with a volume of 20 tournaments a day, in a month about 400 tournaments, for a profitability of about 80 to 100 $, it is only a question of commitment, dedication and discipline to achieve it

 

[Spaceman]

ROI? Sorry I’m new to online poker and don’t know all the abbreviations

ROI means Return On Investments. Its total profits / amount you spend on buyins. Its basically how much you get back from putting your money in.

 

[Spaceman]

A friend of mine writes for CardPlayer magazine, and has interviewed everyone from high stakes TV name pros to the everyday casino grinders--

At the average $5/$5 game in Los Angeles ($300-$500 buy-in), the solid, winning pros make around $80k per year, give or take $20k in either direction. Some break six figures but it's rare. To make more than $150k, you really need to jump to higher stakes games which are obviously very pro-heavy.


Also--
You need to RISK A LOT to EARN A LITTLE.


Watch some of the grinder blogs such as Brad Owen and Andrew Neeme. They always enter for the max buy-in -- usually around $1k -- and make sure they're topped off, so on any given night figure they're risking anywhere from $500 - $3,500. Yet their wins are usually under $500. You're basically risking $1,000 per day to make $200.


Here Brad Owen -- who has around 40,000 subscribers and is one of the most popular poker vlogs on YouTube -- made just under $40,000 in 2017. See his stats at 26:30: AZ Game, Then I Share All Of My Poker Stats Since I Started Vlogging! Special 1 yr Ann'y Vlog Ep 46 - YouTube


Doug Polk also did a video breaking down earnings: How Much Money Do Poker Players REALLY Have? - YouTube


And don't forget about RAKE!! It is a HUGE factor!
A friend of mine plays poker online in New Jersey. Plays lower stakes, and plays almost everyday recreationally but takes the game very seriously. Last year he had a net profit of $3,000. But he spent around $30k in rake. Yes, 30k...


Sometimes it is harder to beat smaller stakes over time because the rake is so great.


Bart Hanson (owner of UpSwing poker, regular face on TV high stakes poker games) said in a video once that even Phil Ivey could not beat small stakes casino games because the rake/drop makes them unbeatable.


LASTLY,
Tournament math doesn't make sense in the long run.


Check this ~*informative*~ article which breaks it down: https://deadspin.com/why-its-hard-for-poker-pros-to-make-a-living-playing-l-1526098295


You need to risk something like $240k to make $60k, and that's if you are one of the top players travelling around the world constantly. And you run good.


Vanessa Selbst, the highest-ranked female tournament player in the world, only cashed for $120k in 2016-2017 COMBINED, and god knows how much she put down for buy-ins. https://www.pokernews.com/news/2018/01/vanessa-selbst-retires-pro-poker-player-29628.htm


--


Of course there are poker players who beat the odds. I know a few grinders who do reasonably well and are able to support themselves comfortably. Just remember most aren't making as much as it seems, and the deck is stacked against you (pun intended!)

I was about to put a link of the Doug Polk video but you post it already. If pro players are stuggling to make even a positive return on their investments that should ring a bell to anybody dreaming tropical beaches and cocκtails.

I'll put that line from cardschat article about Negreanu, that "had he not managed two outright wins (in the WSOP APAC and WSOP High Roller) he would likely be in minus figures." and yours about Ivey that he couldn't beat micro stakes because of rake, in the back of my head.

I really don't know how much you can make from poker cause it truly depends on a lot of variables, but to close with a positive remark, in the end of the day any positive roi is a positive roi.

 

[Debi]

Well to be fair to Vanessa she quit playing to do something else.

 

[Poker Orifice]

i just started playing poker few months ago, and i can say it clearly, i will make lot of money from poker sooner and not later, i dont know why i have this feeling, but poker is really a life changer, and we had a lot of examples, then i ask my self why not me? its real that you need some time to approve your playing and learn more, but anyone can do that in a few months and level up his play, and i dont suggect no one to read books about players who won, do it your self, lose win play, you will get your own exparience and your own thoughts and may be, may be one day you will be one of those who write books about how they won so big in poker

So you don't suggest for anyone to read books? And anyone can do it in a few months? If true, then why are most losing and why haven't you gotten to that point yet?
Typically poker books aren't about poker players who've won... or are they necessarily even written by players who've won. Books are usually about helping the player to develop their own thinking. If you'd read any, you'd know this (& might not be sitting with a *54 rating on SS on both sites you play on).

 

[Grearix]

Let's put it that way, if you don't invest in your game on a daily basis the chances of winning big money will be very low. On the other hand if you do invest a lot and have the skills there is always a possibility to cash big sooner or later.