You have a good life.
It's actually almost guaranteed that you will spend a fair amount of time losing money before your game gets to the point where you're going to show a profit. But, with practice and the right mindset, yes, it is possible to make money playing poker as a hobby. There are tons of people making serious money playing online poker. I myself approach it as a part-time job and know quite a few heads-up players like myself that grind out some significant coin.
You have a supportive family, a nice set of friends, and a decent job.
Whenever you find free time, you play poker with your friends and relatives and for some strange reason, you get to kill the game and win almost every time.
Although it's impossible to win each hand you're dealt with (even Phil Ivey has to fold a hand from time to time), you have a sense of what's going on at the poker table.
You think you have the steel to win poker matches, especially in your home games, but have you ever thought about earning a second income from poker?
If this is the first time you've heard of playing poker as a source of secondary income then you're in for a treat. A fair warning though, I don't suggest that you gamble your lifesaving's away.
All you need to do is be smart about it and plan in advance.
Start off with the extra cash that you have and make sure you don't blow your hard-earned money away.
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Don't give poker a bad name
Can You Bet Money Online Poker
Bull going all-in!
You've cards flying up in the air together with limped bodies and cowboy boots.
Poker is often associated with cowboys and westerns thanks to much Hollywood movies we've seen.
If not westerns, poker (and other card games) is often played in sleazy and dingy card rooms.
Rats won't stand a chance in these filthy places much less you, the poker player.
Whether we like it or not, that's the poker environment we've grown accustomed to: polluted, covered with cigar smoke, and dangerous.
Let's thank the poker gods (and ESPN) because the descriptions above aren't close to real card rooms and casinos.
You don't see dudes from the ‘hood with guns toting at you. Instead, you're more likely to find businessmen, math professors, MBA degree holders, and more plain average Joes.
Of course there are sharks (professional poker players who make a living out of the game), but with the right preparation and steady bankroll, the idea of earning a second income from poker is very possible.
The Reality of Poker: Gambling versus Sport
'Guys around here will tell ya, you play for a living, it's like any other job. You don't gamble, you grind it out. Your goal is to win one big bet an hour, that's it. Get your money in when you have the best of it. Protect it when you don't. Don't give anything away. That's how I paid my way through half of law school. A true grinder. You see, I learned how to win a little at a time' – Mike McDermott.
Are those lines familiar to you?
If they're not, they're from the opening scene of the movie Rounders.
We can get a lot of card philosophy from the movie if you're considering earning a second income from poker.
The debate whether poker is gambling or sport remains unresolved and to the uninitiated, poker players are often frowned upon.
But one thing should be clear: Poker only becomes gambling if you play with reckless abandon like a boxer who throws punches with his eyes closed. What goes on at the poker table – how you you're your cool, how you react, and how you decide – is a microcosm of real life.
Poker is no different from a sought-after business deal. It's no different from war (or the threat of it) and brinkmanship is crucial. And just like the many aspects of our professional and private lives, poker is about making decisions.
Poker is not for the faint of heart. It's for adventurers, thrill-seekers, and especially those with entrepreneurial spirits. It's about taking risks and calculated chances.
You must have the heart and soul to appreciate victories and the humility to accept defeat without going crazy.
Earning a Secondary Source of Income FROM POKER: How to Prepare
The Art of Poker
'Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.' – Sun Tzu, Art of War.
It's a scary thought, but I have to admit that poker's a tough sport.
What's easy these days anyway?
With that in mind, in wouldn't hurt if you prepare before you rush into the sport.
Here's another tip: treat poker as an investment.
If you look at poker as an investment, you won't squander your cash in casinos and online card rooms like you have a cash flow that never runs out. Every investment has risk and to keep that always in mind will help you protect it.
Play within your means. Don't be blinded by a pipe dream. Sure, it's sweet to see yourself at the final table of the World Series of Poker with Phil Ivey on your left and Tom Dwan on your right.
Don't mistake the money you win for fame, glory, and wealth. Think of your winnings as windfalls that could help pay the bills or the vacation you've been longing for.
What's important is to play the blinds that won't hurt your wallet.
Remember: your objective is to make poker a source of secondary income, not make you poorer. You have to grind it out.
Set Targets
Set yourself a goal each time you play.
Put a reasonable monetary target.
There's no shame if your goal is to win $100 per four or five hours of playing poker every day.
The point is to build your bankroll big enough to augment your current income to support your family's or friends' financial needs.
Here's another Rounders treat for you: 'You can't lose what you don't put in the middle.'
Be wise when you play poker and make it a source of secondary income.
All the other players sitting with you at the table are out there to take your money, too.
Can You Make Money Playing Online Poker Reddit
Variance and bad beats will show their terrible heads from time to time, but you can control your losses if you leave yourself outs.
Who knows? Maybe the next time you re-read this article in front of you – this article that spawned your desire to consider earning a second income from poker – your monetary target is no longer $100 per night, but $5,000 or $10,000 or more!
Live Poker Games
Playing poker live does have some advantages.
I don't know where you live or from which part of the world you come, but there are plenty of places you can go to find a good poker game.
- Search for local card rooms within your vicinity.
- Check out the tables and their swings.
- Observing how the regulars play will give you an idea how strong the players are.
You can use what you observed and assess whether your game is good enough to play head-on with the veterans of the card rooms. You can have a feel of what's going on around you by playing face-to-face with other poker players.
However, live poker games in card rooms and casinos have disadvantages.
Here they are:
- Gas money – with the economy plummeting, the price of petrol fuel is a pain in the neck. The objective why you want to play poker is because you want to earn a secondary income. If driving around town to find the best card rooms would result in additional cost then playing live poker may not be a good idea.
- Food money – Although there are card rooms that give free drinks and sodas to their clients, you need to eat, too, while you play for hours. However, food choices in card rooms and casinos can be pricey. You can't play on an empty stomach because it can affect your judgment.
- Physical distance – travelling can be very exhausting. Apart from the gas and food costs, and depending where you are, the physical distance can take a toll on your game and decisions.
Online Poker Games
If you can't handle the distance and you want to avoid additional cost, don't worry.
Online poker games abound it's like choosing from live card rooms, too. Below are three examples of online poker sites that you can try if you prefer to save more money:
- PokerStars.com – this is considered one of the largest poker sites worldwide. You can browse the site and you'll find more tournaments and games than any other poker site. It has 24/7 customer support with secure deposits and fast cash outs.
- FullTiltPoker.com – Full Tilt Poker is an online poker room conceived and designed by some of the world's leading professional poker players. Notable poker players that play in this site are Phil Ivey and Tom Dwan. You can start playing with beginners at small stakes tables or you can rough it out with the best players in the site.
- Bodog Poker – Bodog has plenty of tournaments and you can play in sit and go tournaments, multi-table and even WSOP qualifiers. All you need to do is to create an account and download the free poker software.
Learn More Poker
Learn more poker.
Finally, learn from the masters of the game.
Sure you can beat your buddies at home even when blindfolded. You can rip them off and take their barbecue money.
However, when you go pro – at least from earning a secondary income standpoint – it wouldn't hurt to read about the game.
Chess grandmasters would spend thousands of hours playing. They also spend loads of time reading and studying chess books to up their game.
Go grab a poker e-book. Read Doyle Brunson's Super System. My personal favorites, for some strange reason, include Phil Gordon's Little Green Book of Poker and Daneil Negreaneu's Hold'em Wisdom for All Players. You could also try the books of Phil Helmuth, Barry Greenstein, and Gus Hansen.
They're all worth reading.
Watch videos how the pros play and bluff their way. Watch Ivey, Dwan, Esfandiari, Mizracchi. Sooner or later all else will become clear and you'll have an arsenal of tricks that could help you increase your bankroll.
Besides, when you're just starting with the game, you learned the rules and felt it as you went along.
This time, you have to be smart. Really smart.
That's how you prepare if earning a second income from poker is what you want.
Can You Bet Money Online Poker
Bull going all-in!
You've cards flying up in the air together with limped bodies and cowboy boots.
Poker is often associated with cowboys and westerns thanks to much Hollywood movies we've seen.
If not westerns, poker (and other card games) is often played in sleazy and dingy card rooms.
Rats won't stand a chance in these filthy places much less you, the poker player.
Whether we like it or not, that's the poker environment we've grown accustomed to: polluted, covered with cigar smoke, and dangerous.
Let's thank the poker gods (and ESPN) because the descriptions above aren't close to real card rooms and casinos.
You don't see dudes from the ‘hood with guns toting at you. Instead, you're more likely to find businessmen, math professors, MBA degree holders, and more plain average Joes.
Of course there are sharks (professional poker players who make a living out of the game), but with the right preparation and steady bankroll, the idea of earning a second income from poker is very possible.
The Reality of Poker: Gambling versus Sport
'Guys around here will tell ya, you play for a living, it's like any other job. You don't gamble, you grind it out. Your goal is to win one big bet an hour, that's it. Get your money in when you have the best of it. Protect it when you don't. Don't give anything away. That's how I paid my way through half of law school. A true grinder. You see, I learned how to win a little at a time' – Mike McDermott.
Are those lines familiar to you?
If they're not, they're from the opening scene of the movie Rounders.
We can get a lot of card philosophy from the movie if you're considering earning a second income from poker.
The debate whether poker is gambling or sport remains unresolved and to the uninitiated, poker players are often frowned upon.
But one thing should be clear: Poker only becomes gambling if you play with reckless abandon like a boxer who throws punches with his eyes closed. What goes on at the poker table – how you you're your cool, how you react, and how you decide – is a microcosm of real life.
Poker is no different from a sought-after business deal. It's no different from war (or the threat of it) and brinkmanship is crucial. And just like the many aspects of our professional and private lives, poker is about making decisions.
Poker is not for the faint of heart. It's for adventurers, thrill-seekers, and especially those with entrepreneurial spirits. It's about taking risks and calculated chances.
You must have the heart and soul to appreciate victories and the humility to accept defeat without going crazy.
Earning a Secondary Source of Income FROM POKER: How to Prepare
The Art of Poker
'Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.' – Sun Tzu, Art of War.
It's a scary thought, but I have to admit that poker's a tough sport.
What's easy these days anyway?
With that in mind, in wouldn't hurt if you prepare before you rush into the sport.
Here's another tip: treat poker as an investment.
If you look at poker as an investment, you won't squander your cash in casinos and online card rooms like you have a cash flow that never runs out. Every investment has risk and to keep that always in mind will help you protect it.
Play within your means. Don't be blinded by a pipe dream. Sure, it's sweet to see yourself at the final table of the World Series of Poker with Phil Ivey on your left and Tom Dwan on your right.
Don't mistake the money you win for fame, glory, and wealth. Think of your winnings as windfalls that could help pay the bills or the vacation you've been longing for.
What's important is to play the blinds that won't hurt your wallet.
Remember: your objective is to make poker a source of secondary income, not make you poorer. You have to grind it out.
Set Targets
Set yourself a goal each time you play.
Put a reasonable monetary target.
There's no shame if your goal is to win $100 per four or five hours of playing poker every day.
The point is to build your bankroll big enough to augment your current income to support your family's or friends' financial needs.
Here's another Rounders treat for you: 'You can't lose what you don't put in the middle.'
Be wise when you play poker and make it a source of secondary income.
All the other players sitting with you at the table are out there to take your money, too.
Can You Make Money Playing Online Poker Reddit
Variance and bad beats will show their terrible heads from time to time, but you can control your losses if you leave yourself outs.
Who knows? Maybe the next time you re-read this article in front of you – this article that spawned your desire to consider earning a second income from poker – your monetary target is no longer $100 per night, but $5,000 or $10,000 or more!
Live Poker Games
Playing poker live does have some advantages.
I don't know where you live or from which part of the world you come, but there are plenty of places you can go to find a good poker game.
- Search for local card rooms within your vicinity.
- Check out the tables and their swings.
- Observing how the regulars play will give you an idea how strong the players are.
You can use what you observed and assess whether your game is good enough to play head-on with the veterans of the card rooms. You can have a feel of what's going on around you by playing face-to-face with other poker players.
However, live poker games in card rooms and casinos have disadvantages.
Here they are:
- Gas money – with the economy plummeting, the price of petrol fuel is a pain in the neck. The objective why you want to play poker is because you want to earn a secondary income. If driving around town to find the best card rooms would result in additional cost then playing live poker may not be a good idea.
- Food money – Although there are card rooms that give free drinks and sodas to their clients, you need to eat, too, while you play for hours. However, food choices in card rooms and casinos can be pricey. You can't play on an empty stomach because it can affect your judgment.
- Physical distance – travelling can be very exhausting. Apart from the gas and food costs, and depending where you are, the physical distance can take a toll on your game and decisions.
Online Poker Games
If you can't handle the distance and you want to avoid additional cost, don't worry.
Online poker games abound it's like choosing from live card rooms, too. Below are three examples of online poker sites that you can try if you prefer to save more money:
- PokerStars.com – this is considered one of the largest poker sites worldwide. You can browse the site and you'll find more tournaments and games than any other poker site. It has 24/7 customer support with secure deposits and fast cash outs.
- FullTiltPoker.com – Full Tilt Poker is an online poker room conceived and designed by some of the world's leading professional poker players. Notable poker players that play in this site are Phil Ivey and Tom Dwan. You can start playing with beginners at small stakes tables or you can rough it out with the best players in the site.
- Bodog Poker – Bodog has plenty of tournaments and you can play in sit and go tournaments, multi-table and even WSOP qualifiers. All you need to do is to create an account and download the free poker software.
Learn More Poker
Learn more poker.
Finally, learn from the masters of the game.
Sure you can beat your buddies at home even when blindfolded. You can rip them off and take their barbecue money.
However, when you go pro – at least from earning a secondary income standpoint – it wouldn't hurt to read about the game.
Chess grandmasters would spend thousands of hours playing. They also spend loads of time reading and studying chess books to up their game.
Go grab a poker e-book. Read Doyle Brunson's Super System. My personal favorites, for some strange reason, include Phil Gordon's Little Green Book of Poker and Daneil Negreaneu's Hold'em Wisdom for All Players. You could also try the books of Phil Helmuth, Barry Greenstein, and Gus Hansen.
They're all worth reading.
Watch videos how the pros play and bluff their way. Watch Ivey, Dwan, Esfandiari, Mizracchi. Sooner or later all else will become clear and you'll have an arsenal of tricks that could help you increase your bankroll.
Besides, when you're just starting with the game, you learned the rules and felt it as you went along.
This time, you have to be smart. Really smart.
That's how you prepare if earning a second income from poker is what you want.
I will leave you with an inspirational video from Doyle Brunson and after you can start playing some real poker.
Many different paths carry first-timers to the poker table. Some come to poker via other card games, while others find poker after having sampled other gambling games in the casino such as blackjack, craps, or roulette. Sports bettors also sometimes wander from the sportsbook over to the poker room and find themselves in a game — and perhaps find poker intriguing thanks to the sports-resembling competition the game provides.
Those who stick with the game do so for many reasons as well, although most are motivated by the prospect of making a profit at poker. Especially those who win at first — which happens quite a lot — will keep playing to try to win more, with some even being encouraged to think about winning a lot more and perhaps even to become professional poker players.
But while poker is a game that rewards skill, luck plays a role, too. Those who initially win at poker likely do so in part because of getting dealt good cards, hitting draws when they need to and avoiding others' hitting theirs. Only those who take some time to learn poker strategy and gain experience are usually able to sustain that success over longer periods.
In other words, the short answer to the question 'Can I make money playing poker?' Roulette tips jacks casino. is obviously that you can, but you also need to be willing to put in the work to increase your skills and have an advantage over your opponents. The fact is, while it's certainly possible to win at a single cash game session or go deep and win a lot in a single tournament, only a small percentage of players remain profitable long term, and invariably those players are better skilled than those who do not.
Let's look a little more closely at the question, however, by asking a few other questions addressing factors that will affect the likelihood of your being able to make money at poker as well as how much money you can make.
1. What is your win rate?
The generic term 'win rate' is used to refer to how much someone is winning at poker over a given period of time or hands played, although in truth the term is also used when referring to how much a player is losing, too. A player with a positive win rate is profiting at poker while a player with a negative win rate is not. Calculating your win rate is done differently in cash games and in tournaments.
In cash games, a win rate is usually expressed as the amount won per hour or 100 hands. In no-limit hold'em or pot-limit Omaha, the unit of measurement is often converted to big blinds — e.g., in a $1/$2 NLHE game, making a profit of $10 = winning 5 big blinds.
Meanwhile in limit hold'em, stud games, and others with fixed-limit betting the amount won is usually measured by the number of 'big bets' it represents. For instance, in a limit hold'em game where the small bet is $2 (preflop and flop) and the big bet is $4 (turn and river), a player who makes $100 is said to have won 25 'big bets.' (Somewhat confusingly, both 'big blinds' and 'big bets' are often abbreviated as 'BB.')
Meanwhile in tournaments a win rate is usually expressed as a player's 'return on investment' or 'ROI.' Divide your profits by your expenses and multiply by 100, and you get a percentage representing your ROI. For instance, if you spend $200 in buy-ins and cash for $220 total, your ROI is $20 (the profit) / $200 = 0.1 * 100 = 10%.
Obviously if your win rate or ROI is negative, you aren't making money playing poker. But even if you enjoy a positive win rate or ROI, you need to consider other expenses related to playing poker and look at whether or not your winnings are exceeding them. If it costs you $10 in gas every night to get to and from a poker room and you're only averaging winning $5 per session, your win rate is positive but you aren't making money. Or if you spend $10,000 over the course of a year traveling to poker tournaments but only have an ROI good enough to earn you $8,000 worth of cashes during that time, you're technically 'winning at poker' but losing money overall.
The biggest point to take away here is that if you are interested in making money at poker and don't keep track of your wins and losses, start doing so right now. Find out what your win rate or ROI is, take into account other possible expenses associated with playing poker, then you'll see whether or not you are making money at poker. You'll also likely be encouraged to sharpen your study of the game in order to try to increase your profit if you're winning (or to become profitable if you're losing).
2. How much do you play?
Another question to ask when addressing the larger question of whether or not you can make money playing poker is to consider just how much poker you're playing.
If you're strictly a recreational player who only joins a home game once per week or who plays online poker for an hour or two here and there, you can still win at poker but only a limited amount. Also, those who play poker only sparingly aren't necessarily gaining experience and knowledge that will help them build their skills and win more consistently.
A number of serious players who put in a lot of 'volume' at the tables are able to increase their profit steadily even if their win rates are somewhat low. Most tend to consider cash games a more reliable way to make money at poker given the higher variance of poker tournaments.
If you think about it, in most poker tournaments only the top 10 or 15 percent of finishers enjoy any profit at all, so it logically follows that the majority of players finish out of the money most of the time they play. Really only the most successful tournament players are able to cash enough to sustain an ROI as high as 10 or 20 percent (or more), with most who are profitable sitting in the 5-10 percent range.
That means when playing tournaments even good players lose money more often than they win money. But when they win they win enough to more than make up for the losses, sometimes hitting especially big scores when finishing at a final table or winning the entire tournament and getting back 10, 20, 50, or even 100 times the buy-in.
Cash games tend to be less volatile that way, although even there good players will frequently have losing sessions. They may even have more losing sessions than winning ones, although they manage to enjoy larger profits than losses, generally speaking, and thus have positive win rates. Even so, if you don't practice sound bankroll management, you can experience one very bad cash game session and lose everything you've won and then some.
Once you've figured out your win rate, you can think about how much you need to play in order to make a desired amount over a given period of time.
You should also try to gauge what is the best amount of time to play poker for you in order to increase your chances of remaining profitable. Some are better of playing, say, only 10-20 hours per week than 40-50 hours per week, or shorter sessions instead of long ones, because they have trouble focusing and thus playing well over longer periods. Meanwhile others can put in those extra hours and not suffer as a result.
3. What stakes are you playing (and are they right for you)?
Probably the most important question to answer when delving more deeply into whether or not you can make money at poker is to look at the stakes for which you are playing. And — importantly — whether you are choosing well when deciding upon your stakes and sitting down in games in which you can win and win consistently.
One common misconception among new players is that the best way to win more money at poker is to play for higher stakes. A player who wins consistently at the $1/$2 NLHE cash game might imagine simply picking up and moving over to the $10/$20 game will result in winning 10 times as much money, but more often than not such ideas turn out to be foolhardy.
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Games of different stakes attract differently skilled players. While the lowest stakes games almost always include the least-skilled and least-experienced, they attract strong players sometimes, too. Similarly, many of the best players can be found in the higher stakes games, but there also will inexperienced or poor players sometimes sitting around the table.
On average, though, the higher the stakes the tougher the games. Thus do the profitable players' win rates actually go down as the buy-ins and/or stakes go up. In online cash games (just to cite one example), NLHE players of the lowest stakes including the 'micros' have been known to sustain win rates of as much as 20-40 BB/100 hands over large sample sizes, while the best players in the higher NLHE games online generally top out at around 3-8 BB/100 hands.
That's one reason to be realistic about moving up in stakes in poker — even if you're great and better than most in the games, you aren't going to win at the same rate you did at the lower stakes.
But you also need to be practical about your own ability as a poker player and recognize when the competition is too tough to beat. As you move around and test out which stakes work for you, continue keeping accurate records and note at which stakes (for cash games) or buy-ins (for tournaments) you are winning most consistently, and where you are winning less or losing.
Sometimes you might find it hard to win in a lower stakes game than in one a notch or two above, simply because of your particular skill set and how well you respond to the styles and tendencies of others. More often, though, there will be a stakes 'threshold' (of sorts) above which you might take shots now and then but probably shouldn't go on a regular basis.
In any case, be honest with yourself and smart with your bankroll, and your chances of making money at poker will increase as a result.
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cash game strategytournament strategyno-limit hold'embankroll managementwin rateROIgame selectionmixed gameshome gamesvariancerecord-keepingRelated Room
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