A cardroom exists to make money, in the form of drop, rake, timecharges, whatever.

Pros want to make money in the form of winning more than they lose, and cashing out at the cage.

Recreational players hope to win money, and some of them (not many) are good enough to win, but most of them lose money to the drop.

The money that pros take away from the table is money that otherwise would go down the slot. In some important sense, cardroom management and pros are in competition for the recreational players' money.

It's in the interest of the pros to respect this competition; after all, the games wouldn't go down if the cardrooms didn't exist to spread them.

But is it in the interest of the cardrooms as well? What do they get out of having a population of regulars who take money out of the games?

A lot of pros also gamble in the pit.

Not in California they don't; no pit.

The recreational gambler probably prefers variety.
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They might also like the social and competitive environment of a poker table.
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It might be a meaningful differentiation from their competition.

The amount they take out might actually be quite small within the total casino ecosystem.

It's two mosquitoes on the back of an elephant. No need to get into it with each other - there's plenty to go around.

(Imperfect metaphor ftw)

If I'm understanding you correctly wouldn't the pros also fall under the category of regs? If so I would assert that the card room views this as a cost of doing business in the sense that a lot of games may not be spread unless it was for their regs/pros.

As I understand it, they pay nearly as much rake as everyone else.

Nothing draws a crowd like a crowd...

This basically. Regs, even winning regs, help keep games going.

A good room will master catering to both. Cater to one side too much and the room can lose out in the end, unless they are able to bring in a constant string of recreational players, but this rare.

What about the Cardrooms keeping a pool of Props? They pay them to keep the games going so pros/regs/rec players can all sit at all hours of the day and night.

Just like in Casino; as long as they keep players at the tables they are winning. Over time- everyone loses.

Some just lose slower than others.

Edit: reread OP, and I guess while Props should be considered in the overall question- that is not really the question posed.

The Pros are just the cost of doing business I suppose. A necessary evil (in the eyes of management), much like Prop players?

I'm sure the casino really hates the $10k in rake I pay them a year.

Props are a special case. Props play at management's pleasure, not their own. They don't get to game-select. Props keep games going, whether or not they are actually any good.

And, assuming they are paid a reasonable wage (the props at my local club are), they don't even have to be winning players.

Only $10K? Either the rake at CAZ is really low, or you aren't putting in many hours. (I estimate my action is worth $20-25k/year to the club where I play.)

I get 50-60 hours a month. I have a full time non poker related job.

60 hours times 12 months times 14 dollars an hour = 10k

Then you aren't a pro; you're a recreational player, and management ought to love you unconditionally.[1]

Me, I play for a living, so I'm parasitically attached to the money-making opportunity the owner of my local club has made for himself.

But the argument you were making was regarding people taking money out of the poker economy before they can rake it.

Like a mosquito? Hmmmm?

More like a tapeworm.

So Alan, I guess the management puts up with pros because they are still making money off them, since the rake doesn't differentiate between players?

It's got to do w/ the player pool. Pros are a small percentage of the pool and some of them aren't big winners. If we were talking about Joe's Bar in a small town w/ 2 tables in the backroom, or a home game w/ a limited number of players then it's certainly possible that the player who is crushing the game will get barred or be told to kick back some percent of winnings.

I'm thinking about your basic premise above, which is very interesting. Your point is that, by winning consistently, the good pros drive the rec (losing) players away more rapidly than otherwise, thus eliminating the rake they would have paid if they'd lasted longer in a more even game (over weeks, months, and years).
I think there's some validity to this: it's why uncapped low-stakes NL games never lasted very long (years ago), and capping the buyins was the key to building and sustaining them.
But I don't think most cardrooms think of it this way.
From the cardroom's POV, anyone who plays 1500-2000 hours/year, and is generating roughly $15-30,000/year in rake, seems pretty desirable, even if they're taking more than that out of the local poker economy. They don't really have good info on who wins and loses, and how much, but they do know who's there 4-5 days/week. (And a lot of "pros" start out hot, last about 1-2 years, are net losers, and disappear.)
Also, the reg's are the ones who ensure that there will be a game there for the rec players and tourists to join.
As posted above, in a really small room, if one player is visibly just crushing it week after week, he's probably going to be asked to leave (or to cut the house in for a % if he wants to keep playing in a private game).

I think, for a lot of recreational players, the limiting factor for time in a poker room isn't their bankroll - since recreational players don't have bankrolls, per se - but time.

I've got a friend, for example, who can only get out of his house on alternating Friday nights because that's when his wife "lets" him get out. He could lose $300 every alternating Friday for the rest of eternity, and it still won't be the limiting factor on his play.

I think it's the "enthusiast" level player that you have to worry about bankrupting.

i think of it as a business partnership not a competition as it is really a win-win arrangement for me

i pay rake and in return get safe place to grind, free food, free box, and sometimes free rooms

also consider at the 2/5 and 5/10 NLH level that i play at - half the table thinks they are "pros" either full or partime and without these guys/gals there would be a lot few games running

I think this is correct.

Cardrooms and pros are only competing for fishy money only in the case where it's assumed fishy money goes to one of the two. But for most people, there's plenty of other competition for your money - other cardrooms, at the very least, but also other hobbies.

Above a certain level (> FL 15/30?), I don't think people have any illusions about playing at a table full of horrible players. It's probably better that the regs keep those games going rather than not have the game go at all.

Has anyone heard of this ever happening in a public room??!!

The funny thing is, most recreational players seem to appreciate the style of play a pro plays (over that of a fish) even though it's killing them over time. As long as a pro has the good sense to be a good guy at the table, rec and fishy players seem to welcome his presence over a fish who puts "bad beats" on them. I can't even count how often I've seen rec players drive away truly terrible fish and then celebrate the outcome b/c the table is back to playing solid.

I think you've got this all backwards. If they're willing to play a prop to sit in games like you do, they have to love the fact that you do it for free. Since you don't berate the customers, are willing to start games, and are willing to play short, you basically follow the most important propping rules. If I owned the joint, I'd love to have you around and would try to make sure you were aware that we valued your business.

I'm a big believer in what Mason wrote in his Essays books about the relationship of the card room to the pros. A good cardroom should love you. Since games won't start without players, you are the reason there are games. You pay full rake. You play fast, so games you're in tend to rake well. Your posts make you seem like a nice guy. Why in the world would the room not want you around? I'd guess as an experienced player you even do little things like help the game run faster/smoother, and help newer dealers out when they're confused/lost.

Uh, no. TBH, even doing this in a home game doesn't tend to get you not invited. Nice people get invited back everywhere. I've never heard of a public card room asking a big winner not to come back. Card throwing jerks might get asked to stay away, though I hear in CA it is fine/standard/good to do so.