Is This Really A Valid Estimate

Professional Poker Players Only Make $27,959 a Year?

Recently came across a statistic claiming that the average professional poker player in the United States earns just $27,959 per year, or about $13.44 an hour.

And the conclusion ?

"Don't quit your day job."

Honestly, I think that misses the point entirely.

If ten poker players sit in a room and nine of them are losing players while one is crushing six figures, the average tells you very little about what skilled players are actually capable of earning.

Poker isn't like a traditional job where everyone doing the same role earns roughly the same salary.

It's a performance-based game.

The gap between a losing player and a winning player can be enormous.

Also, not everyone has a job, this is what other players do for a living. Even if you have a job that pays as much as this, the stress alone is nothing compared to playing poker.

You even get to have fun and relax during game play....

Using an average salary figure as proof that poker isn't worth pursuing feels like judging entrepreneurship based on the number of failed businesses.

So In my opinion, "Don't quit your day job until you've proven you can beat the game consistently."

That's a very different and more meaningful message.