What better way to make a living than by playing casino games? Sounds too good to be true, right?

Wrong. Poker’s just about the only casino game where you can reasonably, and consistently, make money. Sure, there’s an element of luck, but there’s also a lot of skill, too. In this respect, it’s different to other casino games – even blackjack, where it’s possible to make a sizeable profit…although, that’s usually because they’re using underhand tactics, like card counting.

• I played online Poker nearly every day from the age of 15 to 18. When I started, I had several years of competitive Magic: the Gathering under my belt, so I understood the systematic process of learning a card game.
• Similarly, there are many reasons why few casino and online players can win, long-term, and why even fewer can make a 'decent living' at the game. 1.) Lack of technical knowledge.

Poker is a skill game in the long run. Therefore, if you use a fundamentally solid poker strategy and consistently play against people who are worse than you, then you will win in the end. However, making a living from poker is not something that anyone can do. I mean after all, if it were so easy, then everybody would be doing it.

You can definitely make money on poker but is it enough to make a living? Let’s have a look at some big winners…

Jamie Gold – $12,000,000’s Enough to Make a Living, Isn’t It?

In 2006, Jamie Gold won the WSOP Main Event. Is $12m (~£8.4) enough to make a living? Any sensible person would say “yes!”. It’s easy enough never to work again, and all in a month’s work.

Imagine that? The tournament started on the 28th of July, and finished on the 10th of August; in two weeks, this guy earned enough to last more than one lifetime. In the UK, the average salary is £26K. He won £8.4m. That’s 323 and a bit years’ of salary. If life expectancy is 82 years, then that’s nearly four people’s worth of lifetime salary.

Not only can you make a living from poker, but you can also make 4 livings! And, Jamie Gold isn’t even the biggest winner of the WSOP. In 2012, Antonio Esfandiari overtook Gold for a whopping win of $18,000,000! That’s at least another 2 lifetimes of salary!

Gold is somewhat controversial in the world of poker. For some reason, he doesn’t feature in the Poker Hall of Fame. This could be because his somewhat erratic playing style contravenes the third rule “played consistently well”. It’s not that we know for certain that he plays badly sometimes, it’s just that rumours abound that he’s burned through that $12m already – mostly at the poker tables.

Johnny Chan – Not Too Famous, You Just Google the name “Johnny” and He’s Second Only to Depp, Nothing Special Here.

I hope you appreciate the sarcastic tone; Johnny Chan is one of the most famous poker players in the world. Over the course of many tournaments, Chan’s netted a huge $8.6m.

You don’t even have to come first in the completion to make a decent salary from poker. In 2014, he came 6th at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open $570 No-Limit Hold’Em Deep Stack and 17th in the World Poker Tour bestbet Jacksonville Bounty Scramble Main Event he won a combined $64K (£45K). That’s more than enough to last the year, and it only takes up a couple of weeks of work!

Can You Earn A Living Playing Online Poker

Joe Kuether – Ranked #15 in the World by the Global Poker Index, Still, Rich As You Like

Following on from the theme that you don’t have to be the best to make a decent living from poker, we have Joe Kuether, ranked number 15th in the world this year (43nd last year). At 28 years old, he’s already won at least $3.6m.

You don’t even have to leave your house to make a decent living – he’s made $1m from online poker tournaments alone.

Kuether lives in Las Vegas. In fact, many of the poker stars mentioned in this article live there, too. So, while you can make a decent living indoors, the really big pots are on the live tables of Las Vegas.

Fedor Holz –This Might Make You Feel a Bit Queasy, at 22, He’s Already a Multi-Millionaire

Yep, this dude was born in the ‘90s! I wasn’t even sure those guys could talk properly yet, let alone far exceed me in many areas of life!

He’s made at least $12m from playing poker, with $4.5m of that being won in the last two months! (May 2016 to July 2016).

It’s not all good news though. Earlier last month he took a big hit from Jason Mercier, but the light-hearted Twitter ribbing show that he’s taken it all in a day’s work; a $200K loss doesn’t seem to bother him too much.

Daniel Negreanu – We Can’t Mention Big Winners without Mentioning the Biggest Winner of All

Negreanu has won at least $30m playing poker – with $14.5m of that from the WSOP alone. With that much money, he can definitely live the jet-setter lifestyle.

Can You Earn A Living From Online Poker Tournaments

Negreanu hasn’t just kept himself to the poker tables, though. He’s a well know philanthropists and he’s appeared in various Hollywood films, like X-Men Origins: Wolverine, where he plays – surprisingly enough – a poker player.

So, can you make a living from playing poker? Yes!

Making the transition

Brolly Carrier

Here at AustralianGambling we get what you’re going through, as experienced poker players ourselves, we know how demanding just the thought of making a living off poker may seem. It requires patience, and of course a bankroll sufficient to withstand your pocket aces getting cracked ten hands consecutively, but that’s just part of the fun. Profit can hold different meanings, but we’re looking to take your ‘I want to break even’ attitude into ‘I want to play for the riches’ and that’s extremely achievable, just ask the 1000’s of pro’s who consistently make a living off poker, all in the comfort of their home.

Why you should sign up now

Free money! Who can say no to that? Simply make a deposit to any of our recommended poker sites and they will give you a 100% First Deposit Bonus up to the value of $600. Just by signing up you have already made a decent profit and you haven’t even played a hand. Depositing into your poker account is as easy as the click of a button and all funds are fully protected and safe. Along with your deposit bonus you will also receive free tournament tickets which can be great ways to building a bankroll for a limited cost.

Where to go from here – You now have your poker account locked and loaded but you’re not sure how to manage your money and that’s a common problem that strikes new online players. With a wealth of poker tables to choose from, you must first decide on your limits. The small and big blind bets are clearly displayed in the lobby, alongside the amount of players at the table, average size of pot and speed of play. This is all vital information as a fast-paced player would prefer a table where over 200 hands are played in an hour. As time goes on you will familiarise yourself with poker players who you constantly see at the tables and this added information can only help your game in the future.

Making a profit

Once you have started to get a good rhythm at the tables, poker can become very profitable, very quickly. There is no telling when an action hand will be played out, but that’s all part of the game. Poker enables both patient and impatient players to thrive and it’s the reason why this former recreational game has become a world wide money making machine. A tip 99% of poker players will give is to play aggressive when you’re on a hot streak, and we couldn’t agree more. You are the dominant chip stack at the table and the word ‘bully’ is running through your opponents head. That puts you in a position of power whether or not you have AA or 2-7, and that’s a great way to chip away at the shorter stacks who simply can’t compete with your dominance.

Once you start to feel comfortable with the current level of blinds, it’s probably time to start moving up the ladder and increasing your potential value. Play bigger blinds and you’ll likely see players play a more timid style of poker. Why is this? Risk plays a major factor in everyone’s poker game and the more you bet, the more you are risking, naturally. But, in terms of making a short or long term profit, then increasing your bet size won’t negatively affect your bankroll if you play to your strengths. Conversely, if you’re riding out a cold streak, don’t fret, hang in there and the cards will take a turn for the better.

Multi-tabling and tournament play

Can You Earn A Living From Online Poker Vegas World

Don’t feel as though you have to limit yourself to playing one table at a time. Some of the best players in the world play multiple tables, some even going as high as 18. As ridiculous as that sounds, that’s the extend some players go to ensure they make a profit and whilst playing 18 tables is hard to manage, playing 2-3 is perfectly manageable and it will increase your profit margin over time. When you have folded and you are waiting for the action to return, that time wasted is potential profit lost. Playing multiple tables will enable you to constantly look for the best positions to attack and therefore increasing your chances of winning.

Tournament play is another aspect of online poker and it can reap big rewards. You don’t need to fly to Las Vegas to play for the big prize, you can do it in your pajamas if you so wish. Tournaments are a great way to turn a small outlay into a massive payout and the one-off payment is good for managing your account

Who makes a living off poker?

If you have ever watched poker on your T.V then you’d probably reach the conclusion that most poker players are university graduates with massive bank balances. But we all know of the financial struggles that students face, so just how did these guys make their millions? At one stage of their lives they were just like you, reading an article on the internet wondering how they can take their poker game to the next level. Without doubt or hesitation they launched into the game and they never looked back. Like any sport there have been players who haven’t made the cut, but if you are reading this article then you already have the passion to succeed.

The beauty of playing online is that anyone can play – the dream never dies – and you don’t find that in many other sports involving skill. The great names of poker are still playing strong but the new wave has stamped their authority on the poker world and it’s about time you joined them. Poker is a multi-million dollar industry where players are reaping the rewards that online poker produces. Since the online poker boom started the number of professional players has skyrocketed and nothing has since changed, so don’t miss out when you have the chance.

If you seek advice on how to properly manage your poker career then leave a comment and we will be happy to assist.