Poker as a hobby – how much do you spend per month?

[Kasztor007]

This question is for non-professional players who play poker for a hobby.
Roughly how much money do you spend per month on poker (entrants, cash games, post-freerolls, etc.)?
Do you have a fixed budget or is the situation developing spontaneously?

 

[successlaw]

I usually spend around 70-80 hours every month and I keep a good bankroll management

 

[Flyer35]

I like to play cash games with post-freeroll winnings. Tournaments are always a gamble.

 

[Rachidao]

Zero, just playing freerolls and with bankroll from them.

 

[pltelles]

I don't invest anything in poker, only profit. I play all the free games possible and use the tickets I win. With my winnings, I play some micro tournaments. I'm making $500 a month. I need at least $1000/month to make it worthwhile.

 

[LUKADONCICMVP]

nothing at all started with 50$ when poker was not dead tho.

 

[nabmom]

About $50 a month at home league tournaments (since I can’t play real money games online because of where I live).

I view what I spend as entertainment (like a subscription to a streaming service or going out to a movie or restaurant).

 

[Propane Goat]

Nothing for quite a while now, I just have so many other things going on that I barely even have time to play CardsChat freerolls.

 

[fernandovr]

I don’t spend my own money on poker. I only play freerolls, and when I win something, I use that money to play buy-in tournaments. So I don’t really have a fixed monthly cost, it depends on how I do.

 

[martDdart]

I usually play cashgame half an hour each day buyin 10$.In a month I usually break even.Never made a deposit. I build my bankroll from freerolls.

 

[theoxy]

I spend 0 $ per year , because i play only freerolls . So anyway i always in ++++ bankroll . Good luck .

 

[Ruslan L]

This question is for non-professional players who play poker for a hobby.
Roughly how much money do you spend per month on poker (entrants, cash games, post-freerolls, etc.)?
Do you have a fixed budget or is the situation developing spontaneously?

I don't spend my own money and haven't spent any since I became a member of the CardsChat community. Our community saves our members money. Thanks to our freerolls, you can build up a decent bankroll in just a few months.

 

[Shadow6969]

As a hobby player, I treat poker like any other form of entertainment.
I usually spend 200$ - 300$ per month, covering small cash games, low-buy-in tournaments, and the occasional shot after a freeroll win. I keep a soft monthly budget rather than a strict one — if I hit my limit, I step back and review instead of reloading emotionally.
Some months I spend less, some almost nothing if I’m running bad or busy. The key for me is that poker money is “fun money,” not life money. If it stops being fun or starts affecting decisions, that’s my signal to pause.
Curious how others handle it — strict bankroll rules or more go-with-the-flow?

 

[userX]

This question is for non-professional players who play poker for a hobby.
Roughly how much money do you spend per month on poker (entrants, cash games, post-freerolls, etc.)?
Do you have a fixed budget or is the situation developing spontaneously?

Thanks to freerolls, I have about $30-50 every month. I spend no more than $30 a month on the game. This approach allows me to achieve stable growth in my bankroll.

 

[888NOX888]

Of course, every month is different, sometimes you make a profit, sometimes you make a loss, it all depends on the amount of time spent in the game, usually I don't spend a lot of money, I have money - I play for them, if I don't have money - I play in freerolls.

 

[dreamer13]

Poker is a game of variance, not a guaranteed return. I haven't invested anything in a long time; I play freerolls.To have fun and avoid stress, set a limit you don't mind losing and don't gamble with your last money.

 

[aorodrigo]

Years without spending a dime.
Just "burn" money at tournaments when I get something from freerolls

 

[Nicolas Lacerda]

I usually play freerolls.

 

[Mag_P1e]

I usually only play freerolls and try not to register for real money tournaments, since money is already very hard to come by, especially lately after all the cuts in prizes, payouts, promotions, etc. at various poker rooms.

 

[nihilleo]

This question is for non-professional players who play poker for a hobby.
Roughly how much money do you spend per month on poker (entrants, cash games, post-freerolls, etc.)?
Do you have a fixed budget or is the situation developing spontaneously?

im not working rn so i spend like 8~12 hours playing freerolls and sometimes cheap tourneys

 

[istbno]

As a hobby player, I try to treat poker like any other form of entertainment, so I set a clear monthly budget and stick to it. For me that’s usually an amount I’m comfortable losing without affecting bills or savings, roughly what someone might spend on dining out or other leisure activities. Some months I don’t spend it all, other months variance means I use most of it, but having a fixed limit keeps the game enjoyable and stress-free. Poker stops being fun the moment the money involved feels meaningful to everyday life, so discipline off the table matters just as much as decisions on it.

 

[Kasztor007]

Thanks everyone for the great answers lots of different perspectives.
It’s motivating to see how differently people approach poker, yet with similar core values: awareness, discipline, and enjoyment.


From my side: until now I mostly played with occasional deposits and longer or shorter breaks. Recently, I’ve been trying to play as many CardsChat freerolls as my time allows. It’s inspiring to see how many players started here and later achieved bigger goals, and for recreational players it’s also a great way to learn and build without pressure.


Alongside that, I’m focusing more on improving my cash game fundamentals in a more structured way.
Instead of a monthly budget, I’ve set an annual limit of around $300, which helps me keep poker in the “hobby and learning” zone rather than turning it into stress.

 

[burba]

Wow.
Out of 20 people, only about 3 actually deposit some money, and only one seems to be making a meaningful profit.

I’m a hobby player. I’ve only deposited once — $50 on GG — mainly to unlock their first-month challenges. I did okay overall, but I recently realized that most of my current bankroll actually came from an automatic flip tournament tied to those challenges, not from consistent profit at the tables.

What worries me is that I might be “spending” around $800 a month — not in cash, but in time.

 

[RALF_AK]

...i only play tournaments, so the only thing I do is manage my names and my bankroll...

 

[dino]

for past 18 years, didn't spend a dime.
Mostly because I play a bunch of freerolls and get some money from it.
Most of those freerolls play here at CardsChat, and thanks to the CardsChat forum got some money in past few years playing great freerolls, and winning some.