Do Poker Players Really Make Money

1. Do Poker Players Really Make Money
2. Poker Sites For Us Players Real Money

Doug Polk takes to YouTube to take on the “tricky subject” that is money in poker. Polk said in the description that earnings in news articles and on websites only reflect multi-table tournaments and don’t account for losses, so some players can appear to be broke while others make millions.

Money in poker can a tricky subject. The earnings you see reported in news articles and ranking websites only apply to MTTs, and don't account for losses. The very fact that there are professional poker players tells you that there is indeed a legitimate way to make money at the game. The trick is that you have to be better than the vast majority of your opponents and that’s not easy (depending on where you play, of course).

Polk breaks this down and shares how much some online players are making in a variety of games. He said that if you’re trying to make money, online tournaments may be your least effective option. He goes on to say that mid-stakes grinders make around $150K to $200K (possibly, more reasonably $130K after rakeback).

High-stakes poker players have a tougher time, with the best making around $1.5 to $2 million a year because there are fewer hands, tougher competition and less money to go around.

He gives 'OTB_RedBaron' as an example and says that he may only make about $5 to $10 million in the last three to four years. He said it’s safe to say most online players in mid-to-high stakes come in between $0 and $1 million.

Either way, the top players aren’t making what it seems.

From there he delves into a full analysis of why playing poker is so expensive and how you can make more money in the world of live poker (despite all the hurdles and vices that accompany the poker lifestyle).

Do Poker Players Really Make Money

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  Doug PolkHigh Stakes PokerOnline PokerPoker PlayersVideoPoker Tournaments

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Poker Sites For Us Players Real Money

We’ve all got steamed up after losing to one outers or been on the wrong side of a coin flip so many times on the trot that its made your toes curl.
It doesn’t take long scouring the net to come upon reams of posts belonging to disgruntled poker players decrying their bad luck and the pitfalls of internet poker.
Many of the more extreme explainations dealing with an extended losing streak often question the fairness of internet poker and whether the programming is fundementally flawed in some way.
Mostly, however, the online threads venting their angst usually come from players who lack poker pedigree and so usually act as a collective ‘bad beat’ sympathy club.
That’s why it was interesting to read a 2008 WSOP winner’s blog recently, who’d just had a terrible run online and starting suggesting a whole lot of unwholesome reasons for his losses.
Jason “JBY” Young is a 28 year-old bricks and mortar pro with $690,744 in live tournament cashes, including a WSOP Bracelet in the $ 1,500 No Limit Hold’em – Shootout, to his name.
However, after losing $35k online in 2 days Young confesses to feeling like Tim Robbins entering Shawshank and goes on to question the integrity of online poker, stating:
“They are trying to jam it in me around every corner. The biggest joke ever….I’m deleting the word (F**K) as often as I can, but I’m literally steaming while I right this…Broken computer and all…I’ve been playing 500-1k heads up holdem, o8 and Omaha Hi the past 2 days I have lost to 2 outters no less than 50 times. Im not kidding.”
Jason “JBY” Young then goes on to talk about online players he says are nothing special but run like gods all of the time, while many good live poker pros he knows can’t even buy a break online.
“There is a theme here that cannot be questioned…getting it in with AK or AQ vs Ax and they hit x…every time…getting it in with top 2 against bottom 2, and they hit there bottom pair again?!?! it happened 9 times in the past 2 days…i just checked…Pair over pair forget it…now I have chalked up losing sessions and all that to variance in the past, but someone needs to explain to me how this is even possible.”
One explanination he suggests for his bad beats involve “hot” IP addresses, which act as a lottery and favour particular players. He also mentions falling victim to the infamous ‘cash-out curse’ at various times in the past.
For those of you interested in a top poker pro tilting and talking about the perceived injustices of online poker should check out his blog here.
In the meantime its quite refreshing to hear a pro lose his rag and let off steam once in a while, like the rest of us.