I originally started playing poker so I could make a bit of money on the side to buy more Go lessons from a professional. True story.

Molina,

I'm just guessing, but there are probably <1200 active professionals, and <3000 professionals overall.
Almost all of these are in Asia.
If you are a top professional capable of winning a major tournament, the biggest tournaments pay ~$200k, with $50k-$75k top payouts being average.
But there are only a handful of players of this caliber.
Most active pros are paid a wage by their professional organization and then provide private lessons to supplement that income.
You don't become a professional for the money, unless you are one of the best.


Zmej,

I followed my plan for a while and spent a good chunk of time studying under some professionals. But realizing how lucrative poker can be, and the virtual impossibility of becoming anything more than a strong amateur player (in Asia, most professionals started playing when they were extremely young, some even turning professional by the time they are in their mid-teens), I stopped taking lessons and now only play a little in my spare time. Lately I'm lucky if I put in 10 hours a month.

Edit to clarify: I play Go entirely because I enjoy it, but I enjoy poker too and it has more benefits beyond enjoyment of the game. So it won over the majority of my game playing time.