anyone making a living from SSNL?

teamdonkey · #1 11-15-2005, 07:31 PM

i don't mean as your summer job or paying the rent in college, i'm talking about small stakes no limit poker as your full time employment. It's definately possible... i'm convinced you could live quite comfortably without going above 200NL, without playing more than 4 tables, and without playing 40+ hrs/week.

any small stakes pros out there?

DCWGaming · #2 11-15-2005, 07:35 PM

5PTBB/100 at 200NL is...20$/hr per table?

Not including rakeback, thats 80$/hr 4 tabling. Add in rakeback and thats probably another 10-15$ an hour.

Anybody good enough to pull that win rate and willing to put in the hours could very easily make a living.

DCWGaming · #3 11-15-2005, 07:38 PM

As a side note - if you're self employed you can find lots of ways to pay way less taxes than you would in a 9-5. So if a SSNL player is pulling 50k/year from the tables, it might be the equivelant of someone making 60-65k a year at a regular job.

#4 11-15-2005, 07:42 PM

[ QUOTE ]
As a side note - if you're self employed you can find lots of ways to pay way less taxes than you would in a 9-5. So if a SSNL player is pulling 50k/year from the tables, it might be the equivelant of someone making 60-65k a year at a regular job.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think at 200NL, it is certainly possible, but I would not want to do it.

You may pay less taxes, but poker does not offer health, dental, or a retirement plan, so that may be awash.

DCWGaming · #5 11-15-2005, 07:43 PM

You can get those things yourself...extremely easily.

teamdonkey · #6 11-15-2005, 07:48 PM

[ QUOTE ]
As a side note - if you're self employed you can find lots of ways to pay way less taxes than you would in a 9-5. So if a SSNL player is pulling 50k/year from the tables, it might be the equivelant of someone making 60-65k a year at a regular job.

[/ QUOTE ]

i would say the opposite. if i'm making 50k at my regular job, to equal the pay and the benefits i'd want to be making 60-65k from poker to call it even money-wise. Although there's some balancing out the other way to, with no commute / cheaper meals etc.

#7 11-15-2005, 08:02 PM

incorrect. You would need to make a lot less because you're not giving 30%+ of your income away in federal/sate/local taxes. Further, you're not spending as much on Gas, dry cleaning, etc. So to net it all out, increase your tax free income by 40%, subtract out what health insurance is going to cost you and do the comparison.

Godfather80 · #8 11-15-2005, 08:08 PM

[ QUOTE ]
incorrect. You would need to make a lot less because you're not giving 30%+ of your income away in federal/sate/local taxes. Further, you're not spending as much on Gas, dry cleaning, etc. So to net it all out, increase your tax free income by 40%, subtract out what health insurance is going to cost you and do the comparison.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not gonna pay taxes, huh? Great plan. You'll be a pro in no time.

DesertCat · #9 11-15-2005, 08:08 PM

[ QUOTE ]

i would say the opposite. if i'm making 50k at my regular job, to equal the pay and the benefits i'd want to be making 60-65k from poker to call it even money-wise. Although there's some balancing out the other way to, with no commute / cheaper meals etc.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you'd be surprised out how cheaply you can get benefits. Any healthy male in his 20s should be able to get a high deductible ($2500) health plan for less than $100 per month. Assume you spend $1,000 per year on medical expense, your total out of pocket is $2k.

Add up your other benefit costs, and unless your company is extremely generous, I'd bet you'd trade three or four thousand a year for no benefits.

DCWGaming · #10 11-15-2005, 08:08 PM

[ QUOTE ]
incorrect. You would need to make a lot less because you're not giving 30%+ of your income away in federal/sate/local taxes. Further, you're not spending as much on Gas, dry cleaning, etc. So to net it all out, increase your tax free income by 40%, subtract out what health insurance is going to cost you and do the comparison.

[/ QUOTE ]

All this + wirteoffs are your friend. Write off your cable internet because thats where you play poker. You could probably get away with cable TV, any poker-related gas mileage, new computers/monitors/software, etc etc. All sorts of options are available to you when you're your own boss.