It’s no secret that the best poker players (playing online or live) make crazy sums of money, often earning millions of dollars for winning a single event.

However, not every poker player achieves that level of success, and many finally have to quit and recognize that being a professional poker player isn’t the right job for them.

On average, how much money do professional poker players make, and how much money have the game’s great stars, such as Bryn Kenney and Daniel Negreanu, made during their careers?

Additionally, how likely are you to become a professional poker player?

As you go through this article on the income of poker players, you’ll find the answers to these questions and many more!

What is the average professional poker player salary

The average professional poker player earns roughly $36,000 per year, or little more than $3000 per month.

That figure is far lower than many people anticipate – yet there are no advantages such as holidays or healthcare to play poker.

What’s the deal with it being so low?

Remember that the average poker player does not reside in affluent locations like the United States or Western Europe.

They are based in low-cost locations, such as Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa, and South America.

This permits them to go pro while not winning a lot of money.

Moreover, despite its modest level, the average salary is inflated by the players at the very top, who are raking in six-figure sums.

The media may focus on a tiny handful of exceptional winners, but the great majority of professional poker players are journeymen.

Do Professional Poker Players Keep Everything They Win?

This is a great question since most people believe that poker players keep whatever they win, which isn’t necessarily the case, especially when it comes to the high stakes games.

This is due to the fact that many of the top professional poker players will be staked by those who recognize their skill.

For example, someone may pay 20% of a tournament’s buy-in for a player, but then insist that they earn 20% of whatever the player wins during the event.

Cash game players can also be staked, which means that people will invest money in them in exchange for a percentage of the money they make.

Of course, staking does not occur at the lowest levels of the professional game, where the bulk of pros work.

Instead, the player will pay the full tournament entry fee and will only play cash games with their own money.

This increases the danger of the game, but it also means that players get to retain all of the money they earn.

Highest earners that play poker professionally

Justin Bonomo ($60,222,954)

If you’ve been following poker for any length of time, especially the high stakes game, you’ve undoubtedly seen Bonomo on TV or a live-stream, most likely in a high roller tournament.

He began playing poker online in his early twenties on PokerStars, as did millions of other players worldwide throughout the years, particularly during the poker boom era.

Bonomo rose to prominence online as “ZeeJustin,” one of the most successful online poker accounts in history.

On PokerStars, he made millions mostly through tournaments and heads-up games. Later he began to enter the live tournament scene, where he swiftly rose to fame and money.

Bonomo is one of poker’s all-time greats with the highest poker winnings in history and is a sure-fire Poker Hall of Famer in future.

Bryn Kenney ($57,265,665)

Although bad bankroll management cost him everything, there is no doubt that Bryn Kenney is one of the highest earning professional poker players as well as one of Poker’s all-time greats.

He has two important poker records. The first is that he is the all-time winningest live tournament player, having won $56.4 million in cashes.

This includes a $20.5 million payday for finishing second in the $1 million buy-in Triton Super High Roller in 2019.

When the players agreed to a heads-up chop before the tournament concluded, Anton Zhang won the event but got a reduced payment ($16.8 million).

Daniel Negreanu ($50,297,798)

Negreanu is regarded as one of the greatest poker players of all time. He has six World Series of Poker bracelets, two World Poker Tour championships, and was a high stakes cash game beast in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

“Kid Poker” is one of the rare players who has dominated the field for decades.

He’s still successful in his forties. He cashed in 37 of the 85 events in the 2020 WSOP Online Bracelet Series.

His admission into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2017 is his highest achievement as a poker player.

Stephen Chidwick ($44,665,132)

The former WSOP main event winner is arguably the greatest British Poker player of all time. Chidwick has been a big winner in several live cash games.

He is a prolific poker player on both live tournaments and online poker tournaments as well.

Erik Seidel ($42,469,394)

Erik Seidel is one of the most successful players in poker history despite being one of the quietest.

Seidel has a lengthy history of success in online poker.

During the poker boom, he was a member of Team Full Tilt, which represented one of the world’s major online poker sites.

The former Wall Street trader now invests his money in himself by participating in some of the world’s highest-stakes poker tournaments.

His love of poker is all the more apparent when combined with his humble and soft-spoken demeanor.

His $42.4M winnings speak for themselves, as do his constant high ranks on the World Poker Index.

Other ways Poker Pros earn money without playing poker

Signing sponsorship deals with poker sites and other brands

The best professional poker players will be able to make a large amount of money through other means other than when they play poker.

One of these is sponsorship deals, in which online poker companies pay substantial sums of money to the greatest players to advertise their brand.

The value of these sponsorship deals varies according to the individual; the more renowned they are, the more money they will receive.

Other companies can employ poker players for advertising as well, particularly if their product is related to the poker industry.

Coaching

Some poker players also earn considerable sums of money through coaching.

There are many who will pay handsomely for the knowledge a top professional player can impart, and they see hiring a coach as an investment, which will be paid back when they start to consistently earn money from playing poker.