09:10
07 Feb
It used to be the dream for many beginners to one day be able to give up their job and dive into the world of professional poker. They imagined if they worked hard enough they would collect untold riches and their image would be published in poker publications all around the world. What wasn't to like?
Being a professional poker player doesn't mean having your name in lights: it means playing poker as your job. You don't need to travel circuits around the world to be a professional poker player – you just need to make it your main source of income. If you find a place or two you jive with, stick with those places. Daniel Negreanu is the most famous poker player of all time. His personality has made him a huge hit with fans, and his skill has ensured he's one of the richest poker players around. ABOUT CARDPLAYER, THE POKER AUTHORITY CardPlayer.com is the world's oldest and most well respected poker magazine and online poker guide.Since 1988, CardPlayer has provided poker players with. High stakes professional poker players on the other hand will typically make much more than this because they play poker for a lot more money. As for the yearly salary of a poker pro. Once again a small or mid stakes professional poker player.
In years gone by the likes of Phil Ivey and Gus Hansen were known for their multi-million dollar swings both at the poker tables as well as on casino games. A lot of the high stakes regs were often seen blowing off some steam on the table games when the poker had gone wrong.
Poker might be known as an easy way to make a hard living but that doesn't put people off at the start. After all unless you have experienced what it really means to be a professional player it's impossible to know for sure how you will take to it.
So what does it take to make a card game your main source of income in 2021? What kind of life will you really lead behind the public scenes? Here are some points to consider if you harbour ambition to one day be a professional poker player.
Dedication: There's no doubt about it. If you're not dedicated then you stand no chance of ever reaching your potential as a player. Almost two decades after the poker boom began we now have a wealth of information about the game and how the best players achieved their goals.
Without exception, all of these players were dedicated. People never see the long hours put in behind the scenes, they only see the pros when they're actually grinding. Natural ability will get a player only so far, but even the most gifted will still have to dedicate countless hours in pursuit of success.
Study routine: It's a fact that once a player has rounded off all the rough edges in their game then they must take a detailed approach towards fine-tuning their skill set. This isn't the most fun part of poker by any stretch of the imagination.
Many players find after a while that they only really enjoy playing and studying is just a chore. This will, of course, cause problems later on when they start to plateau and don't work hard enough to overcome their deficiencies as players.
Travel: Players who are more inclined towards the live game will have to get used to travelling to and from the playing venues. There is no way around it. Live tournament specialists can spend most of the year cooped up in hotel rooms while they are on the circuit. This is particularly the case in the US where online poker is still not fully legalised throughout the country.
Health factors: Poker players of yesteryear were not known for their physical prowess. The poker tables of Las Vegas were mostly filled with specimens that hadn't taken any kind of physical exercise in a long time.
Today, keeping fit is seen as a prerequisite to success. Take a look at the top tournament players you see on the high stakes circuit. The vast majority are in great shape.
So not only are you looking at a schedule full of studying, travel, and playing, you also ended to make time for the gym.
Summary
Professional Poker Players List
It is common for players new to the game to underestimate just how busy a professional player's schedule can be. It is far more work than pleasure, for sure.
This isn't meant to kill anybody's dreams, but hopefully it will make some readers think twice before taking the plunge and giving up their day job.
- Want poker news as it breaks? Join the Poker News and Gossip Telegram channel!
Commercial content | T&C apply | Please play responsibly | 18+
Bear in mind that poker games are prohibited in Australia. Therefore, this is solely informative content and no poker offers can be found on this website.
What would poker be without the spine-chilling feeling of possibly losing it all in the blink of an eye?
Craps video game. For all players, this emotional and financial roller-coaster is what makes the game worth playing. But only professional ones can bust thousands of dollars while keeping it totally cool.
If you're freaking out when you lose a couple hundred bucks while gambling, wait until you find out how much these five professional players lost!
Estimated losses: $5 million
Gavin Griffin marked poker history as the youngest player to win a WSOP tournament, snagging the Pot Limit Hold'Em in 2004. He also won the prestigious Triple Crown, followed by an EPT in 2007 and 2008. In 2012, his total live winnings approached $5 million.
However, Griffin fired out most of this money. Alongside the cost of playing in live tournaments and the high Californian taxes, he developed a gambling addiction that cost him heavily.
He eventually had to step down several levels and go back to the lower stakes tables in order not to go completely broke.
Estimated losses: $18 million
Gus ‘The Great Dane' Hansen has always been famous for his crazy swings: after having won four WPT's in a year and made six final tables, amassing over $11 million, the Danish player hit rock bottom in 2014.
His losses on Full Tilt surpassed $20 million in September, losing as much as $630,000 in a week alone! He managed to get a little bit ($1.2 million) back, but with total losses of -$18 million, the man set the record of online poker losses.
If a reasonable reaction would be to curl up in fetal position and start crying, the Great Dane kept it cool, declaring : 'I still have money in my pocket. My online numbers aren't looking too pretty, but I can still afford a sandwich.'
Many professional players might have gone broke, but few with quite the same laid-back attitude.
Estimated losses: $20 millions
Of all the poker pros who went broke, Scotty Nguyen embodies the genuine old school poker legend: weird gambling superstitions, memorable punchlines, amazing bluffing skills and terrible drinking habit.
When he emigrated from Vietnam in the eighties, Scotty started earning a living by bussing tables at a restaurant. Tired of being treated poorly by his employer, he eventually decided to quit, with a $270 pay check in his backpack. He took his money to Lake Tahoe where he started playing poker and turned it into a six figures bankroll within a week.
Professional Poker Players From Texas
Poker might be known as an easy way to make a hard living but that doesn't put people off at the start. After all unless you have experienced what it really means to be a professional player it's impossible to know for sure how you will take to it.
So what does it take to make a card game your main source of income in 2021? What kind of life will you really lead behind the public scenes? Here are some points to consider if you harbour ambition to one day be a professional poker player.
Dedication: There's no doubt about it. If you're not dedicated then you stand no chance of ever reaching your potential as a player. Almost two decades after the poker boom began we now have a wealth of information about the game and how the best players achieved their goals.
Without exception, all of these players were dedicated. People never see the long hours put in behind the scenes, they only see the pros when they're actually grinding. Natural ability will get a player only so far, but even the most gifted will still have to dedicate countless hours in pursuit of success.
Study routine: It's a fact that once a player has rounded off all the rough edges in their game then they must take a detailed approach towards fine-tuning their skill set. This isn't the most fun part of poker by any stretch of the imagination.
Many players find after a while that they only really enjoy playing and studying is just a chore. This will, of course, cause problems later on when they start to plateau and don't work hard enough to overcome their deficiencies as players.
Travel: Players who are more inclined towards the live game will have to get used to travelling to and from the playing venues. There is no way around it. Live tournament specialists can spend most of the year cooped up in hotel rooms while they are on the circuit. This is particularly the case in the US where online poker is still not fully legalised throughout the country.
Health factors: Poker players of yesteryear were not known for their physical prowess. The poker tables of Las Vegas were mostly filled with specimens that hadn't taken any kind of physical exercise in a long time.
Today, keeping fit is seen as a prerequisite to success. Take a look at the top tournament players you see on the high stakes circuit. The vast majority are in great shape.
So not only are you looking at a schedule full of studying, travel, and playing, you also ended to make time for the gym.
Summary
Professional Poker Players List
It is common for players new to the game to underestimate just how busy a professional player's schedule can be. It is far more work than pleasure, for sure.
This isn't meant to kill anybody's dreams, but hopefully it will make some readers think twice before taking the plunge and giving up their day job.
- Want poker news as it breaks? Join the Poker News and Gossip Telegram channel!
Commercial content | T&C apply | Please play responsibly | 18+
Bear in mind that poker games are prohibited in Australia. Therefore, this is solely informative content and no poker offers can be found on this website.
What would poker be without the spine-chilling feeling of possibly losing it all in the blink of an eye?
Craps video game. For all players, this emotional and financial roller-coaster is what makes the game worth playing. But only professional ones can bust thousands of dollars while keeping it totally cool.
If you're freaking out when you lose a couple hundred bucks while gambling, wait until you find out how much these five professional players lost!
Estimated losses: $5 million
Gavin Griffin marked poker history as the youngest player to win a WSOP tournament, snagging the Pot Limit Hold'Em in 2004. He also won the prestigious Triple Crown, followed by an EPT in 2007 and 2008. In 2012, his total live winnings approached $5 million.
However, Griffin fired out most of this money. Alongside the cost of playing in live tournaments and the high Californian taxes, he developed a gambling addiction that cost him heavily.
He eventually had to step down several levels and go back to the lower stakes tables in order not to go completely broke.
Estimated losses: $18 million
Gus ‘The Great Dane' Hansen has always been famous for his crazy swings: after having won four WPT's in a year and made six final tables, amassing over $11 million, the Danish player hit rock bottom in 2014.
His losses on Full Tilt surpassed $20 million in September, losing as much as $630,000 in a week alone! He managed to get a little bit ($1.2 million) back, but with total losses of -$18 million, the man set the record of online poker losses.
If a reasonable reaction would be to curl up in fetal position and start crying, the Great Dane kept it cool, declaring : 'I still have money in my pocket. My online numbers aren't looking too pretty, but I can still afford a sandwich.'
Many professional players might have gone broke, but few with quite the same laid-back attitude.
Estimated losses: $20 millions
Of all the poker pros who went broke, Scotty Nguyen embodies the genuine old school poker legend: weird gambling superstitions, memorable punchlines, amazing bluffing skills and terrible drinking habit.
When he emigrated from Vietnam in the eighties, Scotty started earning a living by bussing tables at a restaurant. Tired of being treated poorly by his employer, he eventually decided to quit, with a $270 pay check in his backpack. He took his money to Lake Tahoe where he started playing poker and turned it into a six figures bankroll within a week.
Professional Poker Players From Texas
Until the end of the nineties, Scotty reached the poker heights, winning over $11 million in career tournament earnings. Unfortunately, his multiple addiction problems started to take over and he soon hit a losing streak that left him broke.
Estimated losses: $25 millions
Former member of Team Full Tilt and two-time WSOP and WPT winner, Erick 'E-dog' Lindgren counts among the poker players who made the most money of all time: as of 2016, he ranks 38th in the All Time Money List of poker with over $10 million in tournament earnings.
Professional Poker Players John Bailey
Unlike other poker legends often known for their excesses, Lindgren impersonated, with his friendly demeanor and pleasant table manners, the average Joe who was living the poker dream.
Sadly, Lindgren developed a severe gambling addiction which lead him to file bankruptcy several times and become. He is deeply indebted to Pokerstars (-$2.5 million), the IRS (-$3.8 million), Andy Bloch (-$1.1 million) and many other players (-$5 million).
In 2013, Erick Lindgren entered a rehab program for gambling addicts in California.
Professional Poker Players
Estimated losses: $30 millions
Stu Ungar is widely regarded as the best poker player of all times. Thanks to his uncredible I.Q. and photographic memory, 'The Kid' managed to win the WSOP Maint Event three times in 1980, 1981 and 1997.
However, because of poor money-management skills and a devastating addiction to cocaine, he fired out all of his earnings.
Despite having won about $30 million during his poker career, The Kid died with no assets to his name, making him the ultimate king of all the professional players who went broke!
