You should also have a bare minimum of 6 months living expenses saved up that is completely separate from your poker bankroll. So I always recommend having at least 30 buy-ins if you play cash games and at least 100+ buy-ins if you play tournaments. Many professional poker players have losing months and sometimes even losing years in the case of tournament pros. What I mean by that is having a large poker bankroll and a solid amount of savings in the bank/investments, that will sustain you through the tough times.īecause poker simply isn't like a regular job where you can show up each day and expect to have a steady paycheque for your bills every month. This is one of the biggest reasons why relying on poker as a sustainable income is difficult.īut as somebody who has relied on poker to pay my bills, I can tell you that the top pros know that the key to success is good bankroll management. You will have large wins followed by (hopefully not as large) losses. Is Poker a Good Way to Make a Sustainable Income?Īs I just mentioned, the biggest problem with making money from poker is that there is a ton of variance involved.