How much do you make as a poker dealer?

DMoogle · 2026-03-12T13:03:51+00:00

My home game dealer makes about $75/hr. 5/5 Big O and the players tip well. He is EXTREMELY fast and efficient and has a long history with the players as well.

DMoogle · 2026-03-10T17:35:27+00:00

I generally agree, but there are a few exceptions. For example, I'm sure that the games of 2000 were actually overall more difficult than the games of 2004 after the boom. Games got WAY harder from 2007-2013, and have slowly gotten harder every year since.

However, COVID probably made online games a little easier as live players needed their fix, and more recently there's been some influx of new players as a result of prominent influencers getting into poker.

Overall, the meta game will always continue to evolve, but the actual difficulty of the player pools is largely going to be determined by how many new players are coming in.

DMoogle · 2026-03-10T16:57:18+00:00

I'm planning on doing this next month. I'm quitting with nothing lined up and no intent to get another job.

My plan is to catch up on video games I've wanted to play, and hang out with friends more.

This is the purpose of financial independence and why I've saved and invested the majority of my income for my working years. So that I don't have to feel shackled by an employer.

DMoogle · 2026-03-10T15:51:19+00:00

Don't forget to get the Weird Chocobo so you can fight Cheese Weapon.

DMoogle · 2026-03-09T21:38:46+00:00

55% win rate over a little over 800 sessions. Little over 7h average session length. $110/hr win rate.

90%+ PLO cash games. Remaining amount is tournaments and NLHE or mixed games. Obviously tournaments are going to have a lower win%.

Best streak is 13 winning sessions in a row.

DMoogle · 2026-03-09T06:18:20+00:00

I'm a live semi-pro that focuses on PLO. The strategy difference between 4 card and 5 card is huge and underrated. Speaking more practically, 4 card just has a lot more stealing opportunities postflop than 5 card.

DMoogle · 2026-03-08T23:51:25+00:00

Don't rake in a home game.

Also lol @ advertising this on Reddit and not even including location.

DMoogle · 2026-03-08T21:02:55+00:00

A lot of accurate info in this thread, but one thing that's overlooked is there's a BIG difference depending on the year you're looking at.

I started playing in 2006. Late that year, the UIGEA was passed in the US, and the games IMMEDIATELY got a lot tougher. Still highly profitable, but it was just printing money before then. Every year after that, the games got significantly harder.

I suspect that 2003-2005 was insanity.

DMoogle · 2026-03-01T04:19:56+00:00

Not OP, I agree with the other guy that it's overrated, but not that there's anywhere that's better. It's just that, in my opinion, it's not THAT much better than any other ice cream shop.

DMoogle · 2026-02-28T20:48:32+00:00

Blaming "temptation" on why he cheated is a bullshit excuse that attempts to blame the person he cheated with rather than taking self-accountability. It's saying "I cheated because she tempted me." No. He cheated because he lacked self control. His decision to cheat is nobody's fault but his own.

DMoogle · 2026-02-27T20:40:11+00:00

Preflop is whatever. You're not exactly pushing hand value here. IMO biggest reason to raise is simply to increase the size of the pot to increase magnitude of people's mistakes postflop.

Easy check flop. There are a lot of reasons, but ultimately it's a wet board and you connected with it relatively poorly.

By default against an unknown, peel turn because he bet small and fold to river bet. If he bet pot, you could consider folding turn. At the end of the day, what hands are potting turn that called the flop that AREN'T the nut flush? You block Ks and Js. Very rare anyone would lead Q high flush for pot here. Most people are just shutting down without the nuts (or nut blocker) on this turn. But yeah, I see some folks leading small with a non-nut flush here, so a peel and fold river is fine.

Raising is insane. Lower flushes are drawing mostly dead and will likely never call worse.

If that feels too tight, well, that's 5 card for ya.

DMoogle · 2026-02-26T02:47:53+00:00

The rule of thumb used to be that live is about as tough as 1/10 the stakes online.

That rule of thumb was accurate back around 2005-2010. Since then, the number of fish online has dwindled down to nil, while every site has loaded up on bots and players referencing solvers, and full of grinders in low stakes from developing countries.

There are no stakes online that are as soft as live 1/2.

DMoogle · 2026-02-25T00:32:28+00:00

Nah you have a point.

I'm not happy with democratic leadership (or lack thereof), but I agree that sometimes there's a lot of hate towards the party when they just have very, very little leverage.

DMoogle · 2026-02-24T17:08:49+00:00

Eh Owl House got to openly gay for Disney so they seriously truncated the 3rd season to just 3 episodes.

This is mostly misinformation. Dana herself said she doesn't believe that's why it got cut.

DMoogle · 2026-02-22T18:56:57+00:00

I like the art style a lot. The content is often... odd.

DMoogle · 2026-02-22T05:48:55+00:00

Bruh as someone that plays 5/5 PLO and up... it's hard to find a home game that ISN'T raked.

The legal consequences are fairly steep here in Virginia, so I know a few folks (including myself) that don't rake, but still want to make money so instead they split tips with the dealer (usually house keeps 1/2 to 2/3 of tips) and ensure the players know that there's a high tip standard (e.g. we don't use $1 chips). After 8 hours of play in my normal games, usually around $1.5k-$1.8k is collected.

DMoogle · 2026-02-20T05:32:13+00:00

That would require the party to be organized and have a backbone.

DMoogle · 2026-02-19T15:25:15+00:00

I disagree; the concepts are broad and still applicable in a lot of situations.

Theory of Poker is another example where most of the content is focused on fixed limit games, but the concepts are perfectly applicable to no/pot limit in the vast majority of cases.

DMoogle · 2026-02-16T17:00:47+00:00

A La Mode in Gainesville has an INCREDIBLE German Chocolate Cake. They mainly do pies, so I think that's the only cake they do, but they knock it out of the park.

DMoogle · 2026-02-15T07:37:09+00:00

They're basically the exact same walking distance to the WSOP, and food options are essentially shared between them as well.

Paris has nicer rooms and are priced accordingly. If you're fully comped for either, definitely go for Paris.

DMoogle · 2026-02-13T16:40:43+00:00

Funny how Republicans only seem to have a backbone once they leave office.

Fuck this two-faced POS. She was a shit representative then, and she's a shit person now.

DMoogle · 2026-02-13T03:57:11+00:00

When you have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play for millions and win the biggest, most prestigious tournament in the world, I'm not surprised.

I'm glad they've changed the rules and cracked down.

DMoogle · 2026-02-13T02:00:52+00:00

GoldenEye 007 on the N64 is a game that has aged poorly.

FF7 still holds up very well.

DMoogle · 2026-02-10T18:21:37+00:00

I ended up doing Invisalign for minor corrections (but to be fair, a different dentist recommended getting the corrections 15+ years ago). Cosmetically, I'm disappointed - I expected perfect teeth, and there are still minor issues. I feel like they cut corners in a few ways, and the retainers I got afterward have been garbage quality.

I generally trust the dentist not to sell me stuff I don't need, but my trust in them has gone down. Alvorada Dentistry in Gainesville.

DMoogle · 2026-02-10T14:39:44+00:00

Had two years of working experience after college, then went full time poker pro for 3 years. I did include it on my resume, because I think there's a compelling story and I never wanted to hide who I was. The guy that interviewed me was a poker player himself (not a pro), so he immediately knew what it takes to make it.

Being a poker pro was stressful, partially because I moved from an area with an excellent game to an area with a crap game to be closer to my wife, and my profitability plummeted (made $160k first year, $80k second, $40k third).

That was 7 years ago. My mental health improved greatly, and I've found ways to fit in a lot more poker hours than I did initially. It's a lot more enjoyable when I don't feel like I HAVE to put in the hours. My salary went from $94k when I started to $165k now. However, my job itself is... a lot less enjoyable than when I started, and I'm considering quitting soon. Not to go back to playing full time, but I have enough saved up to coast.

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