How Much Do Professional Poker Players Make? Astonishing Incomes!

Do you ever wonder how much do professional poker players make?  Poker is a game of skills and if you are a professional in it, your wins are inevitable, and more wins mean more money. However, the answer to this specific question is quite broad as there are several different factors on which the amount of money a poker player earns. These factors include skill level, playing time, and how high the stakes are.

Poker is one of the most popular card games in the world and attracts many players. Its overwhelming popularity invites more people to come and invest in it. The game has helped many people to become rich from nothing. All one needs to win in Poker are good skills and an active mind.

How Much Money Do Poker Players Earn?

From 2000 dollars per year to 200 thousand dollars per year is how much professional poker players make in a year. As I said before, the answer to this question is very extensive and depends on different circumstances. A professional poker player will obviously earn more than an average poker player. This is because a professional player will get wins more often than someone who is not much familiar with the game. Likewise, a poker player who makes low stakes will definitely earn less than a high stakes player.

If a poker player decides to participate in tournaments and wins first place in a large field, their income might be altered substantially. To play winning poker, you must be sharp, extremely bright, rational, and able to thoroughly immerse yourself in whatever your interest is. On average, a competent player may be dealt 800 hands each hour.  You can also play a good portion of them. Many dedicated poker players play 20 tables at once online, receiving about 1900 hands every hour. As a professional player, the more hands you play, the more money you will make.

Cash Game Professional Poker Players Salary

The sum of money cash game players make is determined by the number of big blinds every hour. If you are a really good poker player, you should be making between 15–20 big blinds per hour for the game you play. That being said, it also comes down to how much money one needs to start making per month. Everyone is unique and has different needs. The need for money is what drives people to stay dedicated to the game and earn more. A single person with few or no expenses can live on less, whereas someone with a family and more expenses needs to earn more, and hence will try to earn more. Regardless, the 15 to 20 big blinds rule is a good starting point for determining how much a pro should be paid on average.

Low Stakes Poker Players Income

On PokerStars, low stakes games like a penny, nickel, and quarter no-limit hold’em games would profit the player $600 to $3000 monthly and around 8000$ to $36000 yearly. This is assuming you make 30 Big Blinds in 100 hands of NL2 poker. It is not difficult to achieve this target because the average win rate for NL2 Poker is 30 Big Blinds every 100 hands. The $2 maximum buying no limit Holdem cash games online are known as 2NL. It’s also commonly known as NL2, which stands for the same thing. At 2NL, the small blind is always one cent and the big blind is always two cents. A professional player should be able to make more than this. Hence, by doing some calculations we can see how much a poker player would earn.

The higher the NL game, the higher the stake game it is going to be, and the higher amount of cash you may lose or win depending on your skill level. NL5 is the second-lowest stake cash game online. It has a max Buyin of $5. The small blinds are always 2 cents while the Big Blind is 5 cents. The win rate for an Nl5 game is 17 Big Blinds per 100 hands and one Big Bling is 5 cents. Hence, the total monthly income would be between $950 to $2000.

Similarly, NL10 would make you between $1300 to $1500 monthly, and with NL25 you can make $2500 monthly considering you win 8 Big Blinds per 100 hands. However, it is important to note that this amount of cash from the NL25 cash game is only won by the most professional poker players. The others do not even make close to this amount.

NL50 Cash Game Earning

Now, this is the one from which you can finally earn a decent amount of cash. The amount of money one can make from NL5 is more than an average salary in the West. However, only the best Poker players are able to win a decent number of hands in this game. NL50 cash game has a max Buyin of $50 with small blinds of 25 cents and Bigblinds of 50 cents. The average win rate of an NL50 game is 6 Big Blinds per 100 hands. You will be making between $3500 to $4000 monthly if you are an exceptionally good poker player.

NL100 Cash Game

If you manage to be one of the best NL100 players, you are going to get rich in no time. Not only are your friends and family are going to be impressed but you will also earn a name in the poker world. NL100 is a cash game whose Big Blind is $1 and the win rate is 4 Big Blinds per 100 hands. A professional poker player should be able to make $5000 monthly and a total of $60000 yearly. The hourly income from an NL100 Cash Game is somewhere close to $40 which is more than a good hourly wage in rich countries like Canada.

Mid Stake Poker Cash Game Income

Low-stakes poker cash games range from NL2 to 100NL. No-Limit Hold’em games from 200NL to 600NL are considered mid stakes. A game with a stake of more than 600NL is referred to be a high stakes game. To make it even clearer what mid-stakes games are, let us give you an easier description of them. The cash games with $1 Small Blinds and $2 Big Blinds to $3 Small Blinds to $6 Big Blinds are all middle stake games. These would be the stakes where the majority of the game’s greatest players concentrate. In reality, the only occasion a truly excellent player will play higher than mid-stakes is when a known terrible player is present on a higher stake table.

Mid-stakes is when most online poker casinos start to see very skilled players emerge who can earn a livelihood playing professionally. At 200NL, the win rate is roughly 8 large blinds every 100 hands. Since a Big Blind in a 200 NL game is 6$, you will be earning $6 x 8 = $48 every 100 hands. Now considering you play 100,000 hands a month, you will be making 1000 x $48 = $48,000 monthly.

High-Stakes Game Wages

$5 small blinds and $10 large blinds, $10 small blinds and $20 big blinds, $25 small blinds and $50 big blinds, and $50 small blinds and $100 big blinds are all examples of high stakes poker games available online. In other words, 400 NL, 600 NL, 1000 NL, and 2000NL are all high stake games. Although it is not rare or surprising to see reg poker players playing high stakes, most of them opt to play mid stake games.  If you do not know what a reg player is, let us explain it to you. A player that plays poker on a regular basis is referred to as a “reg.” It typically denotes a player who is better than average in poker. How much do professional poker players in high-stakes games make depends on the number of hands they play in a month.

One thing that is hard to believe on the High Stakes table is that most of the players follow the same strategy as those who play low-stakes games. High-stakes players devote a great deal of time and effort to ensuring that they have an advantage in every game they play. This is all they do. The only difference in the skill level of a mid-stake player and high stake player is usually that a high stake player does bankroll management much better and efficient than the other.

High stake games are difficult to win and require a lot of skills. Only very few people are actually able to win and not lose all their money from it. It is highly recommended that you do not play high stake games. Unless there is a terrible player on the table or you have what it takes to be a high-stakes player. However, if you manage to become a successful high stake player, even $100,000 in a year would be a piece of cake for you.

Poker Dealers Income

Dealers can earn up to $100,000 in a single year. At a small casino, the typical dealing position pays half of that ($50,000). However, several casinos pay more than $25 per hour which is a pretty good salary to start at. The national average salary of Poker dealers in the United States of America is around $40,000 yearly. The spectrum is very broad. You may find poker dealers with salaries as low as $10,000 and as high as $100,000 yearly.

You might be wondering which city in the United States pays the most to poker dealers. The employment market for Professional Poker Dealers in San Francisco, CA is rather active, with just a few companies now hiring for this role. However, these are the cities where a Professional Poker Dealer’s average salary is higher than the national average.

Life of a Professional Poker Player with Good Income

You must be wondering how the life of a poker player might be. No matter the skill level, the answer will be the same. Unless you’re one of the lucky ones or have extraordinarily excellent poker abilities, the life of a poker player is a genuine grind. The majority of them are attempting to get a little advantage over the ordinary casual player. People on the internet may make poker appear to be a simple and enjoyable method to generate money. Only 10 to 15% of poker players, on the other hand, are successful.

The basic idea is that the cards balance out for everyone i.e., everyone will ultimately receive an equal number of good and terrible cards. As a result, hand selection is crucial. Furthermore, the key to success is to maximize your earnings while limiting your losses. Patience and discipline are also valuable assets. While the position is crucial, being the last to act offers its own set of benefits.

If you want to play poker to make a living and depend completely on its earning, you will have to struggle a lot. Professional poker players have a very tough and busy schedule. Professional poker players work a lot of hours. You’d have to work 10-12 hours a day as a professional grinder to earn a decent hourly wage in cash games. If you’re playing live poker, here is what you’ll need to know. Long hours and 10-hour days are expected of a live tournament pro. If you’re good at multi-tabling without sacrificing your win rate, playing online might cut down on your hours.

Sleep Pattern and Weekends Depending on How Much You Play to Earn

In any case, you’ll be playing poker for a long time. The sleeping pattern is strange. Professional players are required to play at night. That’s when the bulk of the table’s casual players are present, which is who you want to be playing with most of the time. Because most recreational players work during the day, it is impossible to play throughout the day.

Weekends, if they have them, are only available in the working weeks. The best days to take off are probably Mondays and Tuesdays. As a pro, you’ll need to play on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays since that’s when the tables are full of rookies. You won’t have the same weekends as people who have regular jobs.

Conclusion

How much do poker player makes is a matter of skill, dedication, and talent. Although a lot of people would say that luck matters, the reality is that if you know how to play with bad cards you will win. Luck only matters 10% in poker. If you are looking to become a professional poker player to make money, go for it! A professional poker player can make 6 figures in a year if they play high stake games. Good luck! Hopefully, this guide was of help to you.

FAQ

Is poker an efficient way to earn money?

In a short answer, YES. It is one of the best casino games to make money. Being a game of skill of the best quality, poker is the only casino game that does not depend on luck at all. The only thing that matters is your skill level. However, if your skills are not exceptionally good, you may not make enough money and might actually lose what you have.

What percent of poker players make a living?

15% to 20% of overall are able to make decent earnings out of poker. This is because poker is a difficult game and it is very difficult to master it. The few people who have mastered the game are now immensely rich. Remember that, unlike other games where you may win with luck, poker depends purely on a player’s skills. If there is someone more skilled than you on the table, your loss is inevitable.