Playing poker for a living: live or online, and where is your ideal place to live while playing?

chicbulls2 · Oct 22, 2025

vegas and live, would be nice

dompoker · Oct 22, 2025

I would like to be able to make a living playing poker, I am retired but the money is not enough for me, so I am a farmer too and I am trying to win some money in poker.

bablovod · Oct 23, 2025

I would live in the Canary Islands, which is a heavenly place with constant temperatures almost all year round.

Fallenglory · Oct 23, 2025

Interesting questions.

As an introvert I'm probably better off online, I do like some live poker however. If I played full time, I probably would do 80/20 or 70/30 online-live ratio.

Though tax could be an issue, for me staying in a country I'm comfortable in surrounded by the people and pets I love is more important though. If you are in the right state of mind it reflects on your game too.

So I'd either stay where I am or go somewhere comfy (nice and warm) with the fam.

pep12343 · Oct 23, 2025

I think that even playing online, at some point you'll have to make the leap to live poker. I don't know what would be the ideal place for this.

NKGB13 · Oct 23, 2025

Propane Goat said:
If you were to play poker for a living, would it be live or online and where would be your ideal place to live and play?

For me, I would lean toward at least 80% live, and it wouldn't be in the desert because I cannot tolerate low humidity so I would have to pass on Las Vegas.

I think for volume sake it's impossible to be a pro playing live nowadays, maybe if you live in vegas or other poker paradise.

Emily Trott · Oct 24, 2025

Definitely live, and since I love the southwest it would be Las Vegas. ❤️

Mig32 · Oct 24, 2025

If I ever played poker for a living, I’d choose online for flexibility — being able to grind from anywhere is a huge advantage. My ideal place would be somewhere peaceful and affordable, maybe near the beach, with good internet and a relaxed vibe to stay focused and balanced.

Rldetheflop · Oct 25, 2025

Online would definitely be my preference. As far as where, it would certainly be in a state where poker stars is available although the site may be totally different now.

Skot_Gy · Oct 25, 2025

I'd prefer online, and live on a remote lonely island with best internet

tagece · Oct 25, 2025

I would play 90% online, to work with my own schedule.
If I was a pro, I would love to live in several countries in a year, what is possible with online poker.

Four Dogs · Oct 25, 2025

I'm actually considering doing this. My live poker hourly at 2/5 and 5/10 is more than I make from my real job. I've been a traveling construction superintendent for years and I'm getting a little burned out. The problem is there aren't too many local card rooms that spread 2/5+ consistently enough to keep me busy the 30-40 hours/week I'd need to keep up with the bills. What I might do is either drive down to Parx and play an insane amount for two weeks out of every month or, take cheap direct flights to Austin and Uber back and forth to The Lodge.

As far as on-line goes I think those days are past. I still play some at ACR but mostly for practice or just to try out a different game, PLO, or playing style. I'm not sure it's possible to make much more than 3-4bb/100 online anymore.

dangbaonguyen93 · Oct 25, 2025

I think it will be a 50/50 choice. Vietnam is also developing the trend of live and online poker competitions. I will complete this goal in the near future.

ms_attack · Oct 26, 2025

If I didn't currently have young children, which I am very happy about and would not want to miss, I would rather play live and probably in Cyprus, because, firstly, it is simply easy for Europeans to stay there, secondly, it is pleasantly warm all year round, and thirdly, there are no taxes on winnings. From my point of view, it is therefore an ideal country to play poker and live.

Gutshot Gus · Oct 26, 2025

I am retired and for a period of 6 months at the start of the year, I devoted to playing live, mostly tournaments. I live in North Carolina and the closest casinos to me are a three hour drive one way to Virginia. I played at The River Casino in Portsmouth, Pop's Poker in Richmond, and Caesars in Danville.
I had some success placing ITM in the tournaments. The downside for me was the time and travel involved with six hours road time on average for each casino trip. For me, even though I was making money, the time and travel involved was just not worth it. I still go and play on a limited basis for the fun of it, but not on a full time basis as a job.
As far as where to live while playing live the location does not matter, it would just have to be close to take the travel out of play. If I could just pop in instead of a six hour trip that would be fine.
For me, the experience of playing live is more fulfilling than playing online. I love observing my opponents and the live experience.

successlaw · Oct 26, 2025

I think for a living you have to play online 80% and also go for live in 20% of time.
I would chose to live in Tenerife for their whole year summer time.

Snikern · Oct 28, 2025

I think the best is online, then you can play wherever you are, whatever time you want and multiple tables at the same time with lower buyins so you can learn faster! I would say live poker is harder because the expierenced players will notice tells you give on the table

if i could choose a place i would go somewhere warmer because its pretty cold here in norway

hobojim1247 · Oct 30, 2025

Probably a mixture of live cash and tournaments and some online tourneys. Since I am retired and don't need to play full time I could buy me a small motor home and travel to tournaments. Or I could move back to my hometown and travel to tournaments, when not playing live cash in my hometown casino. I would like to travel to couple of circuit events a year.

Balou1982 · Oct 30, 2025

In my mind to play professional poker would be 75% live poker, i would love to play the main events @EPT. At home i would prefer small tournaments online where i reach the money over 65%, so i can pay the bills by this income. It would be nice to live at the coast like Nice or Monte Carlo but Malta is also nice and attractive because of the tax regulations.

M6O6U6 · Oct 30, 2025

Complex question. If you play poker to make a living, playing online means you can live anywhere to do it. However, if it's live events, the preference is that at least the environment where it will take place is comfortable.

jordyyyyys · Oct 31, 2025

I just play poker as a distraction to the real world

TeUnit · Oct 31, 2025

People tend to romanticize live poker, but between the travel, the long hours, and the shear monotony of playing 50 hands an hour for 14 hours - it wears on you quickly. Its also much harder live because you have to concentrate on live tells- both yours and your opponents. Live poker also tends to foster a less than healthy lifestyle.

If I had to do either I much rather play online, its way easier to multi-table and you do not have to worry about if your airplane is delayed. Its also much easier to maintain a balanced life playing online, its easier to schedule around your family, manage things like doctor appointments, get enough exercise, and eat right.

Prophet · Oct 31, 2025

First step is winning a major tournament , so I can afford moving.
And after I would move to Malta , cause there are no taxes on gambling , and I like the place
(pokerstars and GGpoker also operate from Malta)

you also have similar choices depending on what's closer to you :

Europe : Andorra , Malta , Monaco , Gibraltar , Isle of Man

Asia : Malaysia , Singapore , Dubai

Close to America : Bahamas, Cayman, Bermuda, Antigua ..... and everywhere else John McAfee used to live

As a high-stakes or professional gambler, living in a true tax haven is the single biggest edge you can give yourself.

In USA for example you have 37% federal tax and 5% state tax..... If you win 1 million you take home 580k

Rahul P Gopal · Nov 1, 2025

I would like to grind online, if I am considering to run my life with the income from Poker alone. Because, casino may not be always profitable and I consider Casino experience to be my leisure time as well.

Dzill_230 · Nov 1, 2025

If I were to earn a living playing poker, I would primarily choose **online play** with the option to participate in **live games when possible**. This allows me flexibility in my schedule and the ability to play from anywhere.
As for the ideal place to live and play, I think it can be a tough choice. Many people believe that **Nevada** is one of the best options due to favorable tax conditions and the wide availability of live games, especially in Las Vegas.
### Other Options:
1. **California**: Has many live games and tournaments, but taxes can be higher.
2. **Florida**: No state income tax, making it attractive for players.
3. **New Jersey**: One of the first states to legalize online poker.
4. **Texas**: Popular due to home games and low taxes.
### Countries for Playing Poker
1. **Malta**: Developed poker infrastructure with favorable taxation.
2. **Georgia**: Low living costs and favorable conditions for players.
3. **Spain**: Many large tournaments and active poker rooms.
4. **canada**: Lenient taxes on winnings and a developed poker scene.
5. **Australia**: A large number of poker tournaments.
However, I choose to live in Ukraine and hope that my country will adopt the positive experiences of other countries to develop the gambling business and create favorable conditions for players. This could include legalizing online poker, developing infrastructure, and improving legislation.

Playing poker for a living: live or online, and where is your ideal place to live while playing?

chicbulls2

Rock Star

dompoker

Legend

bablovod

stupid parody of the game

Fallenglory

Rock Star

pep12343

Rock Star

NKGB13

Legend

Emily Trott

Legend

Mig32

Rock Star

Rldetheflop

Head Ranger

Skot_Gy

Visionary

tagece

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Four Dogs

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dangbaonguyen93

Rock Star

ms_attack

Visionary

Gutshot Gus

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successlaw

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Snikern

Rising Star

hobojim1247

Legend

Balou1982

Visionary

M6O6U6

Enthusiast

jordyyyyys

Rising Star

TeUnit

Legend

Prophet

Rock Star

Rahul P Gopal

Rock Star

Dzill_230

Legend

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