How profitable is poker actually?

[aaa.]

I debated about an hour about this topic with a friend and we couldn’t reach an agreement. I once heard 5-10% of players consistently make money.

How about you, has poker been a profitable hobby?

 

[puzzlefish]

What does profitable mean to you? Make more than you spend? Or does an hourly rate over a certain amount also matter? I can say I made more money than I paid, but it's definitely just a hobby.

 

[andron205]

sometimes you can multiply your investment by 10 to 40 times

 

[Colbefc]

Highly unlikely that more than 1% make a living or decent money out of poker.

 

[pentazepam]

It was down to 13% winning players in MTTs on PokerStars 2013.

Probably even lower now (maybe someone can use sharkscope).

Of the player that wins only a small part can live off it so maybe 1-2% professionals in Tournaments.

Interesting decline in percentage of profitable players on Pokerstars - MTT Poker Strategy - Multi Table Tournament Poker Forum

Originally Posted by jjyykk The equivalent analogy would be me telling mediocre NFL qbs to step up more in the pocket and correct their mechanics inste

forumserver.twoplustwo.com

 

[Canaldo Kao]

It will depend on how much you focus on poker and also on your patience!

 

[Poker Orifice]

I debated about an hour about this topic with a friend and we couldn’t reach an agreement. I once heard 5-10% of players consistently make money.

How about you, has poker been a profitable hobby?

It is 100% profitable 'if' you're willing to do the work. These days it takes much more work than say 10-15yrs. ago.

 

[s0ftdumps]

Depends on what your time is worth. your investment. and if you're on the cutting edge of stat's and tech

 

[Styx]

Some people can consistently win and make poker a source of income, while others may lose money if they don't have a solid strategy.

 

[xOneCoolHandx]

It is not. There are lots of pros who are millionaires one day and asking for stakes the next. No one is profitable in the long run unless you make a big score and then walk away. The so-called pros who are rich are always selling coaching or poker books or getting sponsors...THAT'S how they are making their money, not from actually playing.

 

[amonlima]

It is not. There are lots of pros who are millionaires one day and asking for stakes the next. No one is profitable in the long run unless you make a big score and then walk away. The so-called pros who are rich are always selling coaching or poker books or getting sponsors...THAT'S how they are making their money, not from actually playing.

There are a lot of scams selling courses too, the guys who study constantly are always winning! Just look at the top players, they don't sell courses, however, some provide coaching...

 

[amonlima]

It was down to 13% winning players in MTTs on PokerStars 2013.

Probably even lower now (maybe someone can use Sharkscope).

Of the player that wins only a small part can live off it so maybe 1-2% professionals in Tournaments.

Interesting decline in percentage of profitable players on Pokerstars - MTT Poker Strategy - Multi Table Tournament Poker Forum

Originally Posted by jjyykk The equivalent analogy would be me telling mediocre NFL qbs to step up more in the pocket and correct their mechanics inste

forumserver.twoplustwo.com

This is because pokerstars is the most difficult field, sites like partypoker, Acrpoker, tigergaming the percentage can be higher.

 

[amonlima]

I debated about an hour about this topic with a friend and we couldn’t reach an agreement. I once heard 5-10% of players consistently make money.

How about you, has poker been a profitable hobby?

Poker is profitable for me, however, nowadays, it is much more difficult to be profitable, because there is a lot of access to content and study software, however, the majority do not care about evolving, they play more as a hobby, including here in the community, where there is content and players with experience to share.

 

[amonlima]

It is 100% profitable 'if' you're willing to do the work. These days it takes much more work than say 10-15yrs. ago.

Exactly, example: in that period, a cbet flop was an advanced move, nowadays, it is a widely used move.

 

[fundiver199]

As others have said, it depends on your definition of "profitable". Its not that difficult to win in online poker. You just need to invest time in study and practice, and perhaps have a bit of talent as well as emotional control. But its not easy to have an hourly winrate, which can compete with a regular job in a high income country. So if you live in Canada or Germany or any such place, its generally more "profitable" to go to work. But most jobs cant be done sitting in your couch, when it suits you, and they are not as fun as playing poker.

As for the percentage of winning players it might only be 10%. But this is missing the fact, that the winners tend to play way more than the losers. People come in to poker, play for awhile, and lose for awhile. And then they either stop, or they begin to study and improve, so that they eventually become winners. Of course there are exceptions to this, but that is the general pattern.

 

[Pityesz1974]

I don't think it's profitable, it can only be someone who performs well in a 1-1 big tournament.

 

[dzsire]

Seeing how many people take part in the announced big tournaments series, it can be said that it is profitable.
At least for the top 10-50 for sure. More 10,000 people enter, and many times they re-enter, so those who take it seriously will definitely find poker profitable.
It's not for me, I'm just a hobbyist. If I had more time, I would better focus on poker, but it is not an option currently.

 

[Ruslan L]

I debated about an hour about this topic with a friend and we couldn’t reach an agreement. I once heard 5-10% of players consistently make money.

How about you, has poker been a profitable hobby?

Yes, of course, poker is profitable for me. I think poker makes money for the majority of players - members of our community, primarily because of our great freerolls. I think, even more, I'm sure that if it wasn't for my membership in CardsChat I wouldn't have had such good results. So once again I would like to thank the CardsChat community for the great opportunities

 

[Misanthrop]

On 1$/2$ tables the best players can aparently make up to 10 bb per hour...

 

[Gallarado777]

I think you and your friend have different views on poker, so your opinion was different from each other, but everyone thinks because he plays poker, good poker players always make money at a distance and withdraw money from poker wins. I also withdraw money from poker, at least not big, but the conclusions are constant

 

[Kenzie 96]

Like most when it dawned on me that my folks had no interest in supporting me for the rest of my life & standing at stud seemed iffy, I got a job. Financially I have won more than I have invested, but wouldn't have been able to feed the family cats, much less the family on my winnings. From an enjoyment standpoint it has been a rewarding pastime indeed.

 

[IADaveMark]

Aside from rake, it is a 0-sum game. That is, for ever dollar won by someone there is a dollar lost by someone. Therefore, it is a perfectly neutral game as far as profitability. Now is that all coin flips? No. Talent matters (as well as a bit of luck).

So the answer to your question is "it is not profitable in the big picture." On a person by person basis? "It depends."

 

[greenlarrow]

Poker is my hobby. Lately I've been winning, but I don't have any cool skids

 

[s0ftdumps]

there has to be a calculable to how much money you can make. assuming you don't use tools to assist with multitabling.

 

[iceheart888]

It depends on why you play, cash or mtt, in cash if you have a solid game it can be profitable from 50 NL upwards, on the other hand in mtt it is more complicated, but it is certain that you have to put in volume.