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Playing Poker Professionally

If you enjoy playing poker with your mates at the weekend, and you're the one whose always wining, then has if ever crossed your mind about playing poker professionally? Maybe it's the same story at the casino. You find yourself seated at the games table, and for one reason or another, are able to crucify all the other players. Surely, if you're good at something that you enjoy and can make good money from it, then should,'t you be doing it as a profession rather than as a hobby?

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Introduction: Playing Poker Professionally

Well, the answer is probably, “it depends”. We will need to drill down the numbers carefully and look at all aspects of playing poker professionally. But from the point of view as if it were a proper job. You know, with set hours and set taxes. Anyway, for the sake of argument, let’s assume that you’re playing $2 – $5 no-limit Texas Hold’em in your local casino. We’ll take this as an example simply because it’s the most regular game and stakes you’ll find across the majority of casinos. On the whole, if you’re able to beat others in this game, then you’re going to be a pretty good player. Anyhow, if you just want to gamble without thinking, just visit one of the online jackpot sites.

Hourly Pay

Now let’s have a look at the money. Let’s say that you bring in $50 per hour. Yes, we all know gamblers who make double that playing 10 big blinds per hour with a solid win rate. But sticking to our more realistic number, that’s 40 hours per week and a total of $8,000 per month at these $2 – $5 games. That sound’s like a great income. But let’s think about the practical nature of such a work ethic.

Can Be A Drag

It sounds great, pulling in $96,000 per year playing poker. What’s not to love? But there are a few issues that we should cover to bring our egos down to earth. The first thing is that nobody wants to be sat in a casino all day. Playing 40 hours per week is going to become a drag and quickly kill all the fun of playing. Whether you’re winning or losing, it doesn’t matter, as you’ll want to take a breather. So, to be more realistic, we suggest a working week of 30 hours. That’ll take your total salary down to $72,000. Still, not bad for playing poker professionally.

Playing Poker: Here’s The Taxman

Then there’s the taxman. Now, let’s assume that you’ll be handing over 20% to the tax office. That’ll still leave you with $57,600, which is, let’s face it, still a nice chunk of cash. Then we need to deduct health insurance (we’re assuming you’re in the US). And that comes in at around $250 per month, dragging our annual total down to $54,600. Let’s say that you need to save for your retirement fund. How about $10,000 per year, though this will be returned to you at a later date. But, never the less, it’s a valid deduction for the purposes of these sums. So that will leave you with around $45,000 to live on, as well as use as your bankroll.

Enough Bank Roll?

And this is the killer point, your bankroll. Over the course of a year, you’re going to need enough cash to cover at least 5,000 big blinds for no limit Hold’em or 100 buy-ins for tournaments. So, f we conservatively give ourselves $3,000 per month as playing money, then we’ll be needing at least $60,000 before we can even consider going professional. Also keep in mind, that it’ takes time to find your feet in any business. To that end we would certainly recommend nothing less that one years worth of living expenses in the kitty.

Playing Poker Professionally: Solo or With A Family?

Another factor that you should be thinking about before embarking on the pro route, is whether you have a family. if you do, then your ongoing expenses are only going to increase over time, more especially so if you have young children. Maybe your family life will suffer to some degree with you spending so much time at the casino.Of course, you’ll say that you can mitigate this by playing nonpeak hours. But keep in mind that these are periods where there’s less action going down, so your earnings will also suffer.

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Money Up And Down

If you presently enjoy having a regular job, then it’s going to be a tough call to throw it all in and start on a career based around gambling. If you have a set income coming into your household every month, then there’s really no reason to rely on poker. The thing is, that with all table games, your monthly earning from playing cards is going to vary widely. So though your present job may be a little “ordinary” and you have to report to a boss, at least you know more or less exactly the sum that will be appearing in your bank account each month.

Playing Poker Professionally: Are You Good Enough?

One point few players are willing to consider is whether they really are as good as they think they are. Rather like the husband, cooking dinner for some friends who all praise his efforts and suggest he open a restaurant. You will need to have a long and consistent career behind you at the games table. Along with a solid track record of winning, if you are even considering leaving your regular job for a seat in the poker room. Most pros reckon you’ll be needing at least 500 hours before you should consider the game as a salary earner. This time span will let you grind through a bankroll as well as see if the game is really for you. More importantly, you’ll be able to see your real win rate, from which you can extrapolate an annual wage.

Practice Time

We suggest that before you quit your regular job, you go off and spend some considerable time playing at the casino. This will give you a taste of what life would be like, if this was an everyday activity. Keep in mind, that playing with your friends for a laugh is a totally different mindset than playing poker professionally. The areas of focus needed to win require much greater concentration. If you want to become a successful tournament player, that requires a huge amount of table time in order to gain a sizable return. The small tournament stakes being played at regional and local casinos are barely profitable. This is due to their poorly structured games as well as a high house rake.

The Reality

Here’s the basic reality check…let’s say that you can play $200 buy-in plus a $30 rake tournament. This takes place at your local casino every day. The game is pretty fast and you can win around $50 per hour. Therefore in each tournament you can win $5 per hour ($50 game – $30 rake). So, even if your games are very soft, you may be at around $20 per hour. This is the amount any really good player (and that may not be you right now) could win playing $1 – $2 cash games.

Playing Poker Professionally: Not Gonna Be Rich

So, let’s suppose you put in a 4 hour day in order to play tournaments. Your win rate is $20 per hour. As such, playing poker at the casino is not going to make you rich! As you’ll see, most casinos don’t have a $500 buy-in or larger tournaments. That’s why we recommend that you stick with relatively smaller cash games. Tournaments may look juicy with their huge cash prizes, but keep in mind, that these prizes are only there in the first place thanks to massive buy-ins. If you have a big buy-in, but with a soft field, then yes, you can make some pretty serious bank.

At the end of the day, the decision about playing poker professionally is yours and yours alone. Just make sure that you really have the skills necessary otherwise you’ll quickly get burnt.