Poker Semi Pro
'Semi-professionals' enjoy poker as a side income and hobby without relying on it as a stable source of income. They also avoid the anti-social, monotonous nature of professional poker playing. Some semi-pros make a very significant income from playing cards, even more than many professionals!
floatingflops
over 5 years ago
Although I agree that you have to treat poker as a business if you are going pro, let's paint a more realistic picture of what expenses really look life for those that don't have their own personal chef.
Rent for a one bedroom in Las Vegas: $700
Utilities: elec, internet, etc. $300
Food: $400, less if you eat with your comps
Car + insurance + gas: $400
Total: $1800
The life of a semi-pro poker player seems like a great way to earn money to pay bills and get to travel at the same time. If you’ve ever thought of going into poker as more of a professional endeavor here are some practical tips on how to get started. Just like an athlete or an artist, in order to excel at your craft, you have to practice. A: A lot of things about poker are best left to the legal experts. It’s a bit of a grey area. Q: What’s the difference between pro and semi-pro? A: Poker players span a continuum of recreational players, who are clearly just doing it for fun, and elite professionals, who make millions a year. In between are semi-pros. Over 1 year of playing poker semi-pro (and way more than 500 hours), I make x5 of what I earn at my office job. So don’t tell me how “hard” it is. I’ve read your books, Jonathan, you can call me a dreamer or whatever, but for me 30 hours a week at the poker table is NOT enough. Shameless self-promotion leads to more variance-free income, which in turn leads to happier semi-pro poker players. Lesson 4: Try New Strategies When basketball doesn't go well for Jackie, he's not.
If you make $20 hr x 2080 hrs (full work year) you get $41,600
Taxes are not 30% in this bracket but for sake of argument we will use it. Gross after taxes: about $29,000
Monthly income: about $2,400.
Income - nut = $800 disposable income every month.
Poker Semi Bluff
Anyone working their tail off now at a job they hate have an extra $800 at the end of every month? Me neither.
Reply
trentbridge
over 5 years ago
Semi Pro Poker Scene
Except floating flops - if you worked at a regular job that pays $20/hr - you get a paycheck every two weeks - the income tax is already taken out and your employer pays half of your social security. (6.65%) Plus you might even get two weeks paid vacation to go to the WSOP in Las Vegas.
Self-employed as a pro poker player, you aren't guaranteed any income and you owe 15.3% self-employment tax in lieu of social security.
You can't reduce a decision like this to accounting - you have to be comfortable making your living in a skill/talent based business that has nine folks at your place of business who believe they are as talented/skilled as you are - all wanting to take your money. It's the same world faced by writers, actors, musicians, comedians, artists, and professional golfers. The rewards at the top are extreme but there are no guarantees that more than 2% will ever reach those heights. Even established players are eager to take on sponsors - write books / do commercials/ sell teaching videos etc to make some income away from the felt.
ReplySemi Pro Poker Game Scene
skippy01
over 5 years ago
$1,000 per month for food? And you are a vegan?
http://www.amazon.com/Eat-Vegan-4-00-Day-Conscious/dp/1570672571