Hi. Come on in. I've broiled salmon steaks. They're a good source of Omega-3 fatty acids. That brown stuff is wild rice, harvested in Northern Minnesota. It's gourmet chow. Dig in.
Lately I've had a lot more calls than usual from people asking about playing poker as a profession. The calls are mostly from those who are newly drawn to playing serious poker, because of the recent poker explosion. They want to know,
"Can a person make a living playing low- and medium-limit poker?"
Answer: Yes - and no. To be more specific, if you are single, have few debts, are a very good, solid, disciplined player, and have some luck - yes, marginally. If you have a mortgage, two car payments, and three kids - no, you won't make it. What most winning players are doing at these limits is augmenting their income or pension.
For example, a person retires and gets a Social Security check each month. Using round numbers, let's say it's $1,000 a month. He plays low-limit poker and grinds out $50 a day, five days a week. That's another $1,000 a month. That can make quite a difference in his standard of living during retirement. I know this because many such retirees in the Las Vegas valley are my students.
Playing poker well enough every day to make a living is not as easy as it looks or seems. And as for making lots of money? Maybe, maybe not. It's tough to make your entire living playing low- and medium-limit poker. It's easier to just augment your income or pension, if you play a solid game. We have a saying here in Las Vegas: "It's a tough way to make an easy living."
I got a call from a guy in Topeka, Kansas who was wondering
how many poker professionals there are in Las Vegas. What's my guess as to how many
true professional poker players there are in my town? Not very many, from a percentage standpoint.
How many poker players are there in the entire U.S.? It depends on whom you ask. The range of estimates is 60 million to 90 million people who play at least once a month. How many are true professionals? Relatively few.
My criterion is, making a living from
poker only. Many pros have successfully invested their money, or have family money, so they aren't strictly playing for a living.
There are many more players making
part of their living from poker than there are true professionals. If a person doesn't win rather consistently, he then has to make a living elsewhere.
If a guy is making $60,000 a year playing poker, but his main source of income is from a tire factory he owns back home, by my definition, he's
good enough to play professionally, but he isn't doing so. Also consider that he isn't under the pressure that a medium-limit professional player is to win his gasoline money. If he didn't have that tire factory income, would he be calm and steady enough to win consistently? There's another old saying that we have: "Don't play with the rent money."
Semiprofessionals outnumber true professional players in all areas where there is public poker. These people have a moderate, non-poker source of main income. They play to augment it. It's extra money that they can rather well count on. One guy has a regular 9-to-5 job as a salesman selling in an auto-parts store. He goes to bed early in the evening, gets up and plays overnight, and then goes to his day job. Another guy works as a waiter. After work, he takes a nap in the back of his van in the parking garage and then goes inside and plays winning poker.
Their ages range from 21 to 81, these college students, housewives, military people, doctors, and retirees. These people are all
semipros who augment their incomes or pensions at the poker tables. There are many others doing the same thing.
About 85 percent to 90 percent of all poker players are losers. They lose a little each month. But that's enough for the other 10 percent to 15 percent of more skillful players to augment their incomes or pensions.
My grandma's recipes came through again. Now I tire and seek the solace of my sofa for a pleasant nap. Take that last salmon steak for your breakfast and kill the light on your way out.
Roy West, best-selling poker author, continues giving his successful poker lessons in Las Vegas for tourists and locals. Ladies are welcome.
