OK Mods please move this if this isn't in the apprioate thread maybe this should just of been posted in the official dumb questions but any how lets move on.

Right i got asked today what do you do now? college? working?

I said im playing poker now, they say gambling, obv i explain about the long run of things etc...

But here's the thing they said about paying national insurances, and pension planes etc.... does anybody have any idea on this, i will probably asked more questions later in the thread as i understand a bit more about the subject,

Thanks

Most things in life fit on something called a normal distribution (Gaussian distribution) curve where ~2/3 of things will be 'average' (near 0):



I suspect poker players are not exempt from this general principle. The monetary gains and losses of ~2/3 of all poker players will be 'average', namely, most will not lose or win much (near 0), with very few losing (-2, -3 SD) or winning (+2, +3 SD) large amounts of money.

If you want to make playing poker as your main source of income, you will have to figure out how to get ahead of the curve in terms of luck and skill (approaching +2, +3 SD): cream rises to the top.

The key to success at poker is bankroll management. I would recommend getting a reliable job (hopefully one you can enjoy), and play poker as a hobby in your free time. If you're able to build and maintain a bankroll that would support you, then you could consider playing poker professionally.

dont play poker for a living if u have to ask if u can

I agree if you were ready to play for a living then you probably wouldnt need to ask the question IMO