Sadly, earning in online poker to make a living requires being at the top 10% or at least the top 20% players on the platform you’re using. To do that, you need to have at least some talent. Apr 11, 2020 The Way to Win Online Poker – Can You Make A Living Playing Online Poker? By Terius Lewis April 11, 2020 April 14, 2020 Gambling Lots of men and women claim to earn a fulltime living playing online dewapoker, but to do so you want to win well over 50 percent of your palms. Then you can maybe become a winner in high-stakes poker games. In the early days of online poker, a fortune could be made with very little poker experience and knowledge. But these days it takes an incredible amount of hard work and natural ability to make a living playing any form of poker.

What better way to make a living than by playing casino games? Sounds too good to be true, right?

Wrong. Poker’s just about the only casino game where you can reasonably, and consistently, make money. Sure, there’s an element of luck, but there’s also a lot of skill, too. In this respect, it’s different to other casino games – even blackjack, where it’s possible to make a sizeable profit…although, that’s usually because they’re using underhand tactics, like card counting.

You can definitely make money on poker but is it enough to make a living? Let’s have a look at some big winners…

Jamie Gold – $12,000,000’s Enough to Make a Living, Isn’t It?

In 2006, Jamie Gold won the WSOP Main Event. Is $12m (~£8.4) enough to make a living? Any sensible person would say “yes!”. It’s easy enough never to work again, and all in a month’s work.

Imagine that? The tournament started on the 28th of July, and finished on the 10th of August; in two weeks, this guy earned enough to last more than one lifetime. In the UK, the average salary is £26K. He won £8.4m. That’s 323 and a bit years’ of salary. If life expectancy is 82 years, then that’s nearly four people’s worth of lifetime salary.

Not only can you make a living from poker, but you can also make 4 livings! And, Jamie Gold isn’t even the biggest winner of the WSOP. In 2012, Antonio Esfandiari overtook Gold for a whopping win of $18,000,000! That’s at least another 2 lifetimes of salary!

Gold is somewhat controversial in the world of poker. For some reason, he doesn’t feature in the Poker Hall of Fame. This could be because his somewhat erratic playing style contravenes the third rule “played consistently well”. It’s not that we know for certain that he plays badly sometimes, it’s just that rumours abound that he’s burned through that $12m already – mostly at the poker tables.

Johnny Chan – Not Too Famous, You Just Google the name “Johnny” and He’s Second Only to Depp, Nothing Special Here.

I hope you appreciate the sarcastic tone; Johnny Chan is one of the most famous poker players in the world. Over the course of many tournaments, Chan’s netted a huge $8.6m.

You don’t even have to come first in the completion to make a decent salary from poker. In 2014, he came 6th at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open $570 No-Limit Hold’Em Deep Stack and 17th in the World Poker Tour bestbet Jacksonville Bounty Scramble Main Event he won a combined $64K (£45K). That’s more than enough to last the year, and it only takes up a couple of weeks of work!

Joe Kuether – Ranked #15 in the World by the Global Poker Index, Still, Rich As You Like

Following on from the theme that you don’t have to be the best to make a decent living from poker, we have Joe Kuether, ranked number 15th in the world this year (43nd last year). At 28 years old, he’s already won at least $3.6m.

You don’t even have to leave your house to make a decent living – he’s made $1m from online poker tournaments alone.

Kuether lives in Las Vegas. In fact, many of the poker stars mentioned in this article live there, too. So, while you can make a decent living indoors, the really big pots are on the live tables of Las Vegas.

Fedor Holz –This Might Make You Feel a Bit Queasy, at 22, He’s Already a Multi-Millionaire

Can You Make A Living Playing Online Poker

Yep, this dude was born in the ‘90s! I wasn’t even sure those guys could talk properly yet, let alone far exceed me in many areas of life!

He’s made at least $12m from playing poker, with $4.5m of that being won in the last two months! (May 2016 to July 2016).

It’s not all good news though. Earlier last month he took a big hit from Jason Mercier, but the light-hearted Twitter ribbing show that he’s taken it all in a day’s work; a $200K loss doesn’t seem to bother him too much.

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Daniel Negreanu – We Can’t Mention Big Winners without Mentioning the Biggest Winner of All

Negreanu has won at least $30m playing poker – with $14.5m of that from the WSOP alone. With that much money, he can definitely live the jet-setter lifestyle.

Negreanu hasn’t just kept himself to the poker tables, though. He’s a well know philanthropists and he’s appeared in various Hollywood films, like X-Men Origins: Wolverine, where he plays – surprisingly enough – a poker player.

So, can you make a living from playing poker? Yes!

Anyone who has shown a significant appreciation for online poker has asked themselves if they can turn their hobby into a viable career path. After all, many people have been able to amass respectable amounts pursuing poker as a little more than a hobby.

Some, have played mostly outside the United States, where the traffic is slightly better in the offshore card rooms, while others have tried to persevere playing on home turf in places like New Jersey and Nevada.

In any event, making poker into a viable career would require you to be smart, pick your playing hours well, probably hold down a day 9-5 job, and most importantly – know your poker. What does it take exactly to make it as a poker high-flyer?

Love Your Poker

If money is the sole motivation to your actions, you might want to reconsider your strategy. Most of the people who enjoy poker have an honest passion for it. They like studying it and actively improving themselves to be better at it.

Reading strategy books, doing research, visiting forums is all part of the equation. Understandably, finding your passion for poker at first might take you a little while, as people, including today’s pros, mostly suck when faced with new tasks.

This is where a set of distinct qualities comes into play. According to Michael Shinzaki, one of the noteworthy professionals of our time, poker takes endurance, creativity and a level head. Mastering the game and turning it into a viable career path would require quite a bit of concentrated effort and only those willing to soldier on through the difficult patches might have a shot at it, Shinzaki notes.

Find Role Models

There have been many great examples of poker players making a living without playing on “the big poker stage” or in events such as WSOP.com. Some people just have it, as it turns out. Dale Philip, a UK player who was winning £10,000 a month, roughly $13,000 is a good example.

While Dale is not from the United States, his story can serve as an example of how even low-profile players can quickly turn their knowledge of the game into sustainable way of life.

Of course, Dale had access to slightly better markets than most US players do online, hence his quick way of turning a profit. To repeat his success in the United States, any player would need to show even stronger determination and very possibly attend some of the bigger land-based events.

Some professionals, including Phil Galfond, have moved to Canada to be able to play competitively and continue to operate in big money territory. Others are still soldiering it on. The potential for online poker is immense, though, and it has been somewhat of a hot topic since May, 2018 when PASPA was finally repealed.

Understand the Market

Perseverance is all very well, but you will certainly need to study the market and the opportunities available thereof. Presently, three states allow online poker, namely New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware. A fourth state, Pennsylvania, has announced an official launch on July 15. With its 12 million people, the Keystone State may join the compact that the previous three states have signed in order to pool their players and prize pools.

If Pennsylvania does join, this will poor a lot of fresh blood into the online industry, allowing better opportunities for players to make a living without having to hustle at illegal website located outside the country.

Even better yet, a growing number of states in the US is now entertaining the idea of introducing their own legal online poker. The landscape is quite patchy, though so making sense could take some effort. For more information on legal online poker in the US, visit this website and stay up to date with legislation updates across all states.

What Other Legal Challenges Are There?

In 2019, choosing a career as an online poker player is slightly more demanding and even uncertain. At the beginning of this year, the Department of Justice issued a new opinion on the Wire Act whereby online gambling across state-borders may become illegal in the summer.

This can very possibly throw a spanner in the works for states looking to legalize online poker and join the compact with other states in a bid to create a national network that can finally compete with the offshore options.

However, the long hand of casino mogul Sheldon Adelson could be felt in the latest turn of events, re-purposing the Wire Act once again. DOJ is nowhere near banning online poker for now and the states potentially affected by the move are already gearing up for a fight. Yet, you need to factor these possible limitations should you choose to drop your day job to pursue a career of online poker in America.

Relocating to Play Online Poker?

Can I Make A Living From Online Poker

Some Americans have opted for this option, temporarily leaving home to gain access to bigger and more profitable markets. This could be a career move that is worth more attention and a great way into diving into somewhat better poker options. Some players, though, prefer to entertain poker as a hobby and stick to the legal options home, hopeful that the introduction of Pennsylvania to the poker fold would expand the play field and give even better opportunities to turn a profit.

More states are entertaining poker, too, with Michigan and New York having been trying to introduce legislation for years now. Despite numerous failures, there are enough lawmakers in both states to keep pushing. Kentucky is also hopeful of a change, although, New Hampshire just got a draft bill that would have introduced online casinos shot down.

A Final Word and Considerations

Online poker is very popular in the US. Some of the world’s best players come from the country and despite the somewhat limited options to learn and most importantly – practice the game, many players have succeeded to conquer not only the online world, but also some of the most prestigious land-based events in the entire country.