One of my friends from childhood is one of the founders of a large poker training site, and also a high stakes cash player (up to 500/1000 blinds), and after talking to him and a few other professional poker players, what has been said in this thread is pretty accurate. The level of play has increased dramatically over the last few years, due largely to the vast proliferation of poker knowledge and the rise of online training sites. Back in the day, I heard it was absolutely insanely easy to make tons of money playing online poker. I guess it was the equivalent of banking $1M+/year by selling MySpace layouts on teh Adwerdz. But now, not so much. Play for fun, but don't assume it'll turn into a full-time six-figure a year career. The only way I would get into online poker is through some sort of marketing partnership with the established poker training sites.