I don't play poker professionally and this question may sound stupid. I've seen on sites like cardplayer.com that some players have a record and in the casino and online winnings they have millions. I am just wondering is that how much money they won and kept? or is that just how much they won without the losses? so if somebody has one million of winning in their career, is that after the losses and what they have in their pocket?

My friend said he knows someone who has been playing for about 6 years and says he has up to 6 millions in winning since he started he's a professional poker player but the site says he has 1.5 million for his career. So I am just wondering how much money he would really have based on the winning. As far as I know he spends 40k to 80k on some games.

The main reason I am asking this is I am wondering if people make that much money and their total winnings shows 2-3 millions +, then why do they spend a lot of money playing when poker is the only way for their income? beside playing for fun and trying to win more because there is a chance of losing. Because I've always thought most poker players who win 250k a year for example make about 100k for their pocket to spend.

Again sorry for the dumb question. I've just never realized so many people have poker as their only income. I've never thought that's a secured way of living, so I was surprised that a lot of them make at least 100k of winnings when i saw it on the site.

It's immaterial.... sooner or later Tony G wins everyfing!!!!!

As far as I know, not one of the tracking sites subtracts the costs of playing from the amount won.
And a player might have sold shares, or be staked by people, so whatever is won has to be split with the backers.
Then there are taxes and other unavoidable costs of doing business...

While a few may love the game and would play regardless, I doubt many millionaires are grinding their lives away playing poker all the time. It's hard work, long hours and as you say, there's a good chance of losing it.

if you gamble you will have lots of wins and lots of loses and for most it evens out to make them losers. for some they get way ahead then blow it all. actually that is for most that get way ahead.

then there is the plodders that keep what they make a little at a time.

Don't think that's right. Sharkscope certainly shows net winnings...no idea how accurate it is.

Thanks,I kind of figured that. It just surprised me when I first heard it, because someone who plays poker for a couple years has a couple of 100k and could retire early, while others work a hard job their entire life to retire old. I know it's possible to win big with gambling, but I just don't see it as the sole income for a person, since even though it requires skills, it's still mostly luck. I am not a gambler myself, I might take some money and go play at a casino every now and then, but it's mostly for fun, and if I win it's great if not then oh well.

Poker is one of the only "gambling games" that rely's on "skill" and therefore can be "beaten in the long run".
If you play roulette long enough, you will be a loser
If you play blackjack (without counting cards) you will be a loser etc.

The idea that if someone wins enough money to retire they will stop playing is just not how it works. All of the great players that are legends on 2p2 have won enough to retire and still risked a huge chunk of their net worth to win more.
Tom Dwan won millions and lost 4+ million agains Isuldur.
Isuldir won 5+million from Dwan and lost 4+million in a day. It is all about what each player wants, and most people regardless of how much they win just want more.

Your friend may very well have won alot of money, but just cuz they have a few 100k in the bank doesnt mean they can or will stop gambling.

Poker is gambling but not in the same light as roulette or slot machines which are all luck. Two things are certain in poker:
-if you consistently make better decisions than you opponents you will win in the long run.
-the long run is very long.

I am not saying that it doesn't require skill, I am just saying any card game in general needs luck including poker. Which is why I don't really consider gambling as my main source of income even though it could be profitable. No offense to anybody who does it, but if somebody wins thousands or millions just to blow it all the next day is just dumb, which is why i dont want to get too deep into poker or any other game.

Actually, in the long run, it's mostly skill, although the short-term luck factor (about 30% by most estimates) is what makes it so profitable for the skilled player.

As has often been noted, it is very difficult to make a living at a pure skill game like chess. Why? The skilled players almost always win, so there are no bad players willing to play them for money, at least not for long. In poker, the luck factor keeps marginal players coming back for more, and that's the source of a professional's earnings.

There are thousands of professional poker players in the world, most of whose names you'll never hear, because they earn moderate incomes online and in casinos, much like the thousands of professional musicians in the world you've never heard on the radio, who play in small local and regional venues and make a reasonable living doing something they enjoy.

It's not always about the "mega-stars" that drive TV ratings and concert tours.

The verb "to gamble" is one of the most abused in the English language. Very few things in life (especially those involving money) are risk free. And all gambling is, is taking risks in the expectation of rewards. Sometimes intelligently and sometimes degenerately.

There is very little difference between poker and a great many other sorts of financial transaction which take place every day.

I am reminded of a something which occurred on the Isle of Skye a year or so back....

My mountain guide was just back from Yosemite, where he had shinned up El Capitan, which made my stomach churn just listening to him (it's 1500 foot sheer wall, for those that don't know). Later he asked what did in my time off, and I told him I played poker. I asked him if he ever played.

"Hell no, he replied...I could never gamble". Think about it.

True, but they can't know how much of those winnings end up in a player's pocket.

Take someone like Dwan. I don't know him.. have no idea about his finances... Can he retire if he wanted to? Or does he play with other people's money?

The top of this poker-mountain is maybe a few million dollars. Once you're there it seems pointless to keep plugging away. You won't become richer playing these days, and things can only get financially worse.

I have doubts that any of the best of the active players are playing for fun, except those who have established businesses and various investments on the side, and support themselves in ways other than by playing.

Probably depends if he manages to avoid Jungleman for the rest of his life.

This belays a lack of understanding about poker, skill and luck.

Give you an example. Lets say we are playing a game in which one card is dealt face up on the table.

If the card is red, you win $5 from me.

If the card is black, I win $15 from you.

I have a +$10 EV (expected value) advantage over you.

Is it "luck" for me to play this game against you? I mean, what if I get "unlucky" and there are 5 red cards in a row and I lose $25. I guess I shouldn't have "gambled" should I???

That is the mindset of rec-fish that just don't understand basic mathematics and expected value.

The edge I have over you is ridiculously large and over time I will make a significant amount of money with that +$EV advantage.

Well, in poker, the more skill player has a +$EV advantage over the lessor skilled players just as the advantage I have over you in our hypothetical game.

Does it become "gambling" just because cards are in play? No. Its not gambling, its a clear mathematical advantage that has a probability component in our favor.

See the difference???

Site that show players winning vary widely, depending on that they are tracking.

Live Tournament trackers - CardPlayer, Bluff, Hendon Mob, Global Poker Index etc etc - are accurate for the tournaments that they track, which is most of the medium to large buy-in tourneys, but they only show the winnings without subtracting buy-ins. Some players could show a healthy amount of winnings for the year, but in fact be a loser overall in tournaments because of all the buy-ins to tournaments where they won nothing which are not tracked.

Live Cash game trackers - as far as I know, there is no such thing. you occasionally her stories of huge pots/sessions, but there is no reliable way to know if a live cash player is winning or losing (short of stalking them 24/7)

Online tournament trackers - OPR, Sharkscope and others - these are mostly very accurate as it is fairly easy to track tournaments online. And they include the players complete record - wins and losses so you can see how much someone is doing in online tournaments.

Online cash trackers - PTR, highstakesdb (others?) - somewhat inaccurate. They do miss a lot of hands, especially at the lower stakes, so take anything they say with a good dose of skepticism.