Disecting a Huge Poker Cash
There’s a reason why people want to become pro poker players and are willing to risk tons of money and hours to fulfill this dream. And that reason is the glamorous lifestyle that poker players are depicted as having by the media.
We constantly see poker players toting stack of money, and hanging out in luxurious Las Vegas casinos (whether playing or partying). It’s no wonder why millions of people around the world risk so much to try and become the next big thing in poker.
Unfortunately, poker isn’t truly as glamorous as it’s made out to be for some of those who’ve supposedly made it. For every Daniel Negreanu who’s doing commercials for PokerStars and appearing in movies there is a broken-down TJ Cloutier who has to go around to fellow pros asking to borrow money all of the time.
You’d think people like Cloutier would have it made since he’s won and made numerous huge cashes in lots of poker tournaments. However, those who look at the size of the cashes don’t always stop to think about what all gets taken away from them.
Consider that a person who cashes for $300,000 in a tournament will already have about $100,000 taken out in taxes. Okay, that leaves them with $200,000 which is still a nice sum of money - as long as they plan on quitting poker. But nobody wants to quit after cashing for $300k so a pro player will take their $200k of the winnings and re-invest it back into tournament buy-ins.
Considering that even great players will go on cold streaks where they don’t cash for 15 or more events in a row and that $200k doesn’t sound so amazing anymore, now does it? The truth is that few players are ever set after any kind of win in poker and must constantly strive for the next big win.