Line #93 Main/ProfessionalGambler


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5	%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
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10	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/riverboat_g_new_400.jpeg]]
11
12	->''He said, "Son, I've made a life\
13	Out of reading people's faces\
14	And knowing what the cards were\
15	By the way they held their eyes..."''
16	-->-- '''Music/KennyRogers''', "The Gambler"
17
18	Someone whose primary source of income is gambling. Risking money on games of chance and skill is a pastime that has been around since the dawn of civilization. The Professional Gambler is someone who emphasizes the "skill" part of the equation. Unlike the foolish country bumpkin who [[AFoolAndHisNewMoneyAreSoonParted eagerly rushes to the gambling hall after payday and promptly loses everything]], the professional gambler plays it cool. They know the odds, can read the other players' intentions and resources, and know the best strategies. They may not always win, but they win often enough and avoid losses enough to make a living and stay in "business."
19
20	As this way of earning an income only works with games that reward logical thinking, experience, careful reasoning, focus and applied psychology and acting ability, the professional gambler does not play at purely luck-based games, like roulette or slot machines. Favoured games are TabletopGame/{{poker}}, TabletopGame/{{blackjack}}, and other CardGames; more rarely seen are sports betting, dice games or billiards. In modern times, some will even try their chances at online casinos. The exact skills required of a professional gambler vary from game to game: in blackjack, savant-like memory and counting skills help to make the game profitable, and poker requires practical psychology and acting (hiding emotional responses).
21
22	A professional gambler may not actually cheat or do TheCon, but certainly knows how to, and how to spot another cheat. Some games may come down to who can cheat the best. Expect to see TheMagicPokerEquation come up in stories involving this character--though often for their less-professional targets.
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24	In the {{Western}}, professional gamblers are usually dressed in fancy clothes, looking quite prosperous but a bit tacky. Thus the adjective "[[CitySlicker tinhorn]]" often attaches to them. Many will wear a fair amount of jewellery, both to show off, and to have something to toss into the pot if the night is not going well. The gambler's weapon of choice is a Derringer or other small hold-out gun; this can make it hazardous to check his sleeve for concealed aces.
25	A frequent trope in Westerns is for someone on the losing end of a TabletopGame/{{poker}} game to lose their temper and accuse the pro of cheating--this can start a GamblingBrawl, and the gambling pro may have to pull his Derringer out.
26
27	Despite his sometimes glamorous lifestyle, the professional gambler is usually a disreputable figure, because even if they aren't doing TheCon they do have to choose less-skilled partners and take their money. As such, authors like to do AnAesop with the professional gambler and have them get payback. The professional gambler will often come to a bad end in fiction, such as being exiled from town or jailed. If the professional gambler is crooked and is caught FixingTheGame they may meet up with a HangingJudge and their career will be [[{{Pun}} suspended]]...from the county gallows.
28
29	Compare TheGambler, who uses a gambling motif in his or her fighting style. See also the CardSharp, who uses cheating and sleight of hand to win, and HustlingTheMark, feigning poor playing skills to draw others to play against him. And if you're trying this but ''losing'' most of your money, then you might be TheGamblingAddict. Skillful players can also demonstrate that CunningPeoplePlayPoker.
30	----
31	!!Examples:
32
33	[[foldercontrol]]
34
35	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
36	* ''Manga/{{Akagi}}'' sure makes a shocking amount of money from gambling, managing to bankrupt one {{Yakuza}} boss after another. He isn't good at spending, however.
37	* Firo Prochainezo of ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'', as part of his duties as a [[TheMafia camorrista]], manages the Family's casinos (which often involves breaking people's fingers for cheating). As a result, he's picked up enough tricks both honest and [[CardSharp dishonest]] over the last seventy-two years of [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld perpetual teenagerdom]] to rain hell on casinos. As a SelfImposedChallenge he once decided to see what he could do with $100 solely through smart betting. He called it quits after two hours because he managed to multiply his original sum by over a thousand and was worried continuing would raise suspicion even with his occasional deliberate losses.
38	* Mitchal, a minor character from ''Anime/HeatGuyJ'' is implied to be this, alongside being a bodyguard (and friend) to [[SmugSnake Clair]]. Mitchal always carries a pair of pink dice he believes are "lucky." [[spoiler: [[TragicKeepsake They become Clair's after Mitchal blows himself up to protect him.]]]]
39	* The D'Arby brothers in the third part of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure''...well, at least Daniel. Both enjoy gambling, but while Daniel is an expert gambler, Terence isn't so great at it. Their skillsets are opposites as well: where Daniel plays games of chance and cheats whenever he can, Terrence relies more on games of skill and generally plays fair, though they share the mindset that "It's not cheating if you don't get caught". Daniel partially, and Terence completely, look for another kind of payment as well: ''[[LostHimInACardGame souls]]''. Daniel runs afoul of Jotaro's incredible poker face; Terence runs afoul of Joseph's legendary skill at ''cheating his ass off''.
40	* Hiroshi Nikaidou in ''Manga/PokerKing'' aka ''Million Dollar Kid'', is a professional gambler decided to play against other professional gamblers around the world.
41	* The Gambling King from ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', who is actually a terrible gambler.
42	* Gojyo in ''Manga/{{Saiyuki}}''. His main source of income before he joined the others on their journey.
43	* Suguroku Mutou ("Solomon" in the dub) of ''Anime/YuGiOh'' was a professional gambler in his youth, and apparently very successful until he retired. Mai Kujaku ("Valentine") is also a pro (she works cruise ships), but no match for the gifted amateurs of the story.
44	** In a filler episode of ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', one of these who went to school with Alexis when they were kids shows up to settle the score with her. However, most of his success (at least as a kid) was due to the fact that he had enough money to keep gambling until he finally won. Alexis got sick of it and won everything back through Duel Monsters, but he was a sore loser and stole the scarf she wagered anyway, which leads to their present day game. He uses a deck based on coin tosses and has Alexis on the ropes, owing to the fact that he had a card which allowed him to re-toss bad coin flips. When Alexis destroys the card, he botches the coin flip that would have protected him from the game winning attack.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Comic Books]]
48	* ComicBook/BatLash, a Western character from Franchise/TheDCU.
49	* ''Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse'': In one of ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'''s backup strips, the [[EldritchAbomination Celestial Toymaker]] once played poker with a riverboat gambler. The gambler endured defeat after defeat, until he resorted to putting holes in his opponent's cards so as to declare the game forfeit. Imagine his surprise when he found [[RealityWarper holes in ''his'' cards as well!]]
50	* "Cutting Cards", an Creator/ECComics story, had two extremely competitive professional gamblers playing ToThePain.
51	* Scat Thumbs from the ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'' album "The Stagecoach".
52	** This is a recurring character type in the Lucky Luke albums. Scat stands out by being one of the good guys, while most professional gamblers that Lucky Luke encounters are bad guys.
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Fan Works]]
56	* A trio of these appear in ''FanFic/ManehattansLoneGuardian'', with them being four to five times older than the filly they're playing cards against. They note that said filly, Fiver, has the potential to be one of these when she grows up, considering her generally good playing ability and excellent poker face. As such, none of them are upset when Fiver accidentally wins a hand against them.
57	[[/folder]]
58
59	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
60	* In ''Film/FiveCardStud'', Van Morgan is a professional gambler who runs a little card game in town but one night things get out of hand. A stranger amateurishly tries to cheat and, though Morgan tries to stop it, his fellow players string him up. Morgan leaves town but returns when he hears that the other players are being killed off one by one.
61	* ''Film/TheAppleDumplingGang'': Donovan is a sophisticated, traveling gambler who is unhappy at being forced to stay in town to take care of several kids. Interestingly, despite Donovan's skill at cards, the local bank president is an even better card player and beats Donovan on multiple occasions. The two develop a fairly FriendlyRivalry.
62	* The title character of ''Film/BarryLyndon'' gambles his way across the courts of Europe with his companion, "the Chevalier de Balibari". The pair often cheat along the way, and duel with any man who refuses to pay his debts. Despite their winnings, their transient lifestyle yields little more than some fine clothes and a few trinkets. Towards the conclusion of the story, we are told that Barry has "resumed his former profession of a gambler, without his former success".
63	* In ''Film/CanyonPassage'', Lestrade is a professional gambler who makes his living skinning the miners in Jacksonville. He holds George's [=IOUs=] and keeps dragging him in deeper.
64	* Sam "Ace" Rothstein from ''Film/{{Casino}}''. He is professional to the point of analysing the types of wood different baseball bats are made of, or checking the windspeed during a game in order to analyse every variable of his gambling, so that, overall, he makes much more money than he loses. His associate Nicky, however, feels that he's missing the point of gambling by never having any fun with it.
65	** PlayedForLaughs when Nicky himself figures out a way where he can’t lose when he gambles. His way? [[spoiler: Collecting when he wins and telling the bookies to go fuck themselves when he loses.]]
66	* Creator/SteveMcQueenActor is "The Kid" and Creator/EdwardGRobinson is "The Man" in ''Film/TheCincinnatiKid''. Both aspire to be the best professional poker player in the country if not the world. [[{{Foreshadowing}} Care to lay a few bucks]] [[SignificantName on who wins?]]
67	* In ''Film/GhostTown1988'', Dealer is a blind gambler who has spent so much time handling the cards that he can ''feel'' what they are. Also acts as BlindSeer.
68	* The protagonists from the ''Film/GodOfGamblers'' series are all...well, gambling masters. It's never shown specifically what tricks they use except for one guy who's a psychic that simply changes the cards to his favour [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment with psychic powers]], but it's presumably counting cards. In one movie, the BigBad used a computer to count the chances, which was countered by the protagonist using a black toothpick to fool the overhead camera.
69	* ''Film/HardEight'' has a strange example in that the two main characters somehow manage to make a living mostly playing casino games like craps, though such games always carry a house advantage in real life.
70	* "Fast Eddie" Felson in ''Film/TheHustler1961'' [[{{Hustler}} plays pool for money,]] but he's dwarfed by Bert Gordon, a ManipulativeBastard whose lavish lifestyle is sustained by his winnings alone.
71	* In the first "Kenny Rogers as The Gambler" made-for-TV movie, Brady Hawks (Rogers) plays this pretty straight: he's a sharp dresser and he carries a [[LittleUselessGun hidden Derringer handgun]] for emergencies. He doesn't wear much visible jewelry, but he does have an expensive-looking cane and quite a lot of cash. He's very good at spotting cheats, and smacking them down for it too. He plays only poker, and he's very good at it. Not much changes in the four sequels, save that Hawks starts carrying a typical-for-the-period [[RevolversAreJustBetter .45 single-action revolver]] in addition to the Derringer.
72	* Father Time from ''Film/{{Posse}}''.
73	* ''Film/PrairieFever'': Monte James is a crooked one, and Olivia is his partner-in-crime, until Olivia decides she has had enough and blows town.
74	* In ''Film/{{Rimfire}}'', [[TheTropeKid The Abilene Kid]] is a professional gambler whose knowledge of a federal gold heist gets him [[FrameUp framed]] for [[FixingTheGame using marked cards]] and hanged following a KangarooCourt.
75	* ''Film/{{Rounders}}'' is set in the world of professional poker.
76	* ''Film/{{Silverado}}'' has [[SmugSnake Slick]], who introduces himself as "a gambler looking to run [[BlatantLies an honest game]]." His [[spoiler: FaceHeelTurn]] comes as no surprise.
77	* ''Franchise/StarWars'': Lando Calrissian, part of the time. Other times he's either like Han and hunting treasure or smuggling, or trying to go legit and generally failing after a while. When he became the Baron-Administrator to Cloud City, it's because he won it in a card game.
78	** Han too, winning the Millennium Falcon from Lando.
79	* John "Lucky" Garnett of ''Film/SwingTime.'' He also [[Creator/FredAstaire dances a bit,]] but he insists that gambling is his real talent.
80	* In ''Film/TodayWeKillTomorrowWedie'', Francis 'Colt' Moran is a professional gambler who is also an [[TheGunslinger expert gunslinger]] and [[BladeEnthusiast knife thrower]] who will work as a ProfessionalKiller if the money is right.
81	* "Doc" Holliday from ''Film/{{Tombstone}}'', though his first scene has him sticking up the game.
82	[[/folder]]
83
84	[[folder:Literature]]
85	* Jason [=dinAlt=] in Creator/HarryHarrison's ''Literature/{{Deathworld}}'' makes his money by gambling at various casinos all over the galaxy. It helps that he possesses weak and fickle PsychicPowers, and his MindOverMatter ability can be used to adjust the path of thrown dice and even nudge a roulette wheel. This stops after he moves to [[DeathWorld Pyrrus]].
86	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
87	** The Gamblers' Guild of Ankh-Morpork. Their Guild House is situated right across the street from the Guild House of the Alchemists, which [[StuffBlowingUp explodes]] often enough to be worth betting on. (When people ask why they built their guild house across from a building that explodes so often, they reply "did you read the sign above the door?")
88	** In ''Literature/WitchesAbroad'', after Nanny loses her broomstick and all the witches' money to some card sharps, Granny proceeds to beat said card sharps at their own game.
89	* Professional gamblers appear in many of the novels of Creator/JTEdson. Frank Derringer is one who is a recurring character.
90	* Rafe Adova of ''Literature/ElementalBlessings''.
91	* Creator/BretHarte created many Western tropes, and had a defining example of this one in the character John Oakhurst.
92	* In ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'', Hornblower is forced to do this after his promotion is cancelled in the Peace of Amiens and the Navy puts him under pay stoppage until he "repays" the salary he drew during that time. He makes himself a "permanent fourth" at whist in a high-class gambling house, where the owner gives him a small stipend for doing so (along with his winnings).
93	* Creator/MichaelChabon, in his semi-autobiographical novel''Moonglow'', depicts his mother's Uncle Ray as having given up the rabbinate for making his living as a pool hustler and poker player.
94	* Many of these appear in Creator/DamonRunyon's "Broadway" stories, including Big Nig the crap shooter, Regret the horse player, and Sky Masterson, who will bet on just about anything.
95	* ''Literature/TheSavant'' has Snodgrass and Minx, two men who make a living betting on horse races and rob Arlo because he's better at predicting winners than they are. [[spoiler:Arlo gets his revenge by tricking them into betting all their money on a horse he knows will lose. The incident shocks Snodgrass into going straight, but Minx continues on his destructive path.]]
96	* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', this is one way to view how Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish plays the game of thrones. Others focus on pure XanatosSpeedChess or just being the best damned {{Chessmaster}} they can be: he's too busy getting rich and moving forward while playing poker or backgammon with the both the markets and politics. He is a ''very'' good Master of Coin -- everybody with a POV concerning him is very quick to point that out. But, part of it is not just being better than most lords at complex mathematics, bookkeeping and keeping a cool head, but also by being willing to stack the deck his way using very underhanded methods. He plays with probability and people's psychology while spiking other player's hands whenever he gets a chance. And, all of Westeros is his hustle.
97	* Phaid from the sci-fi novel ''Literature/TheSongOfPhaidTheGambler'' by Mick Farren.
98	* Several of Creator/WilliamMakepeaceThackeray's characters, generally [[ImpoverishedPatrician impoverished patricians]] spent time as cardsharps. The VillainProtagonist of ''Film/BarryLyndon'' was one, as was [[TheVamp Becky Sharp's]] husband Rawdon in ''Literature/VanityFair''. Throughout his novels, there is an entire family named [[MeaningfulName Deuceace]] who have this as their "hat".
99	* In Walter L. Kleine's ''The Wolf and the Panther Were Lovers'' (published in ''Magazine/{{Analog}}''), the protagonist, Ace Craddock, is such a one.
100	* In ''Literature/TimeScout'', this is one of Skeeter's many vices.
101	* Mat Cauthon from ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' is an unusual case who doesn't actually need much skill: he's [[BornLucky so lucky]] he can reliably support not only himself but also (during one period) his ''private army'' with the gold he's won playing at dice.
102	** His own soldiers and officers continue to play with him throughout the series, feeling it's worth the steady loss of money for the reassurance of how phenomenal their commander's luck is.
103	* ''Literature/XandriCorelel'' spent years as one. She would study the other gamblers until she learned all their tells, then win as much money from them as possible. She only barely made enough to survive, but it was excellent training for her job aboard a FirstContact ship, where reading the body language of aliens is an important ability.
104	[[/folder]]
105
106	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
107	* ''Series/DeadMansGun'': In "The Gambler", luck finally smiles on a down-and-out gambler when he becomes the gun's latest owner, and has a winning streak. The only catches are that his luck has a time limit...and is only activated when he uses the gun to kill.
108	* Ben from ''Series/FrontierCircus'' was a professional gambler at some time in his past. In "Quick Shuffle", he runs into another professional gambler he knew from the old days who uses a doctored IOU to try and claim half of the circus.
109	* Kit O’Brady in ''{{Series/Highlander}}'' was one who had an apparent allergy to other immortals. He’d always sneeze when sensing them. He owned a casino in the flashback until Amanda won it from him, and was trying to buy a racehorse in the present day part.
110	* Ezra Standish of ''Series/TheMagnificentSeven'' TV series is a Professional Gambler drafted into law enforcement; he doesn't give up his cards, but he does sometimes have to put them down to go arrest someone.
111	* The TV show ''Series/{{Maverick}}'' had a whole family of them. Bret, Bart, Beau and Brent. The little seen sequel ''Series/YoungMaverick'' had Beau's son Ben Maverick. Oh, and naturally TheMovie ''Film/{{Maverick}}'' had a passel of professional gamblers.
112	** Beau "Pappy" Maverick (played by the same actor as Bret and appeared on the same screen as him, a neat trick back then) and Bentley Maverick, Pappy Maverick's brother (played by Bart's actor) appeared as well. Of course, those two only appeared in one episode.
113	*** [[Film/{{Maverick}} The Movie]] revolved around a high-stakes poker game full of these (and plenty of {{Card Sharp}}s) at the climax. Oh, and Pappy was again played by the actor who played Bret...in the TV series.
114	* When forced to it, ''Series/MrLucky'' can make his living this way, though he generally prefers to ''run'' casinos rather than gamble in them.
115	* The short-lived ESPN scripted series ''Series/{{Tilt}}'' featured a new meat professional gambler (played by Creator/EddieCibrian) learning the ropes from a hardened Vegas pro (played by Series/MichaelMadsen).
116	* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'':
117	** "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S3E5AGameOfPool A Game of Pool]]" involves a small-time "pool shark" challenging a legendary (and dead) player, with the stakes being life or death for the challenger.
118	** In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S3E7TheGrave The Grave]]", Steinhart is a poker player who bets the protagonist he won't go to his enemy's grave at night.
119	** In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S3E31TheTradeIns The Trade-Ins]]", in the hope of winning enough money to afford a second procedure so that he and his wife Marie can both be young again, John Holt takes part in a high-stakes poker game run by the professional gambler Mr. Farraday. He loses most of his money over several hands. Farraday is moved when he learns why John is playing and by the fact that he is desperate to have the procedure done due to the terrible pain that he is experiencing. John has three kings and hopes to win back the $5,000 that he lost. Although Farraday has three aces, he takes sympathy and allows John to win.
120	* Professional poker tournaments were broadcast on reality TV, usually for Texas Hold 'em. They were usually professional players that tended to be already skilled, sometimes with a well-performing amateur that did well on an online tournament.
121	** Speaking of reality TV, poker pro Jean-Robert Bellande was a contestant on ''Series/{{Survivor}}: China''. Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle, who were also professional poker players, competed in season 15 of ''Series/TheAmazingRace''. Then there was sports bettor James “the high roller” Holzhauer who was one of the few ''{{Series/Jeopardy}}'' to equal Ken Jenning’s winnings total and threaten his win record. He later became a regular on ''{{Series/The Chase}}''
122	[[/folder]]
123
124	[[folder:Music]]
125	* The Clockwork Dolls' "The Ballad of Black Jack Jezabel" is about a professional gambler who hunts down the one man to ever defeat her.
126	* The song "Life's Other Side" has a verse about a gambler who is finally reduced to throwing his mother's ring into the pot--and dies, presumably from shame.
127	* The Kenny Rogers song, "The Gambler", and the five TV movies derived from it.
128	* [[Music/ThePolice Sting's]] "Shape of My Heart" is (at least, in its most literal interpretation) about a professional gambler who seeks to comprehend "the sacred geometry of chance".
129	[[/folder]]
130
131	[[folder:Pinball]]
132	* The main character in Creator/SternPinball's ''Pinball/HighRollerCasino'', for obvious reasons.
133	* Bret Maverick and the player in ''Pinball/MaverickTheMovie'', who face off at a poker table.
134	[[/folder]]
135
136	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
137	* ''TabletopGame/SpiritOfTheCentury'' lets you play this sort of character if you want -- Gambling is its own distinct skill (in a game where those are generally fairly broad) and comes with its own set of stunts to expand on the concept (say, by letting one apply that skill even in games of pure chance, use one's gambling experience to see through bluffs in other contexts, or having a convenient network of gambling buddies).
138	[[/folder]]
139
140	[[folder:Theatre]]
141	* In ''Theatre/TheGirlOfTheGoldenWest'', the Girl invokes this trope to Rance as a rationale for settling Mr. Johnson's fate by a game of straight poker:
142	-->"You're a gambler--he was, too--so am I. I live on chance money--drink money--card money--saloon money. We're gamblers--we're all gamblers!"
143	* ''Theatre/GuysAndDolls'' is focused on the lives of a few professional gamblers (the "guys") and two of their girlfriends (the "dolls"). Based on several Creator/DamonRunyon stories.
144	[[/folder]]
145
146	[[folder:Video Games]]
147	* The protagonist of ''Videogame/CardShark'' is an illiterate mute who gets recruited to be an aide to the Compte de Saint Germaine as he helps him cheat at cards. Through his tutelage, he eventually becomes a proficient enough gambler in his own right to cheat his way into high society.
148	* Ace Visconti of ''VideoGame/DeadByDaylight'' made a career out of gambling and pulled himself out of poverty this way, though he did rack up some major debt before the Entity abducted him. The official role given to him by the game is "lucky gambler", and naturally, his unique perks are based around traits that would benefit someone in his profession, such as high luck and increased perceptiveness.
149	* It's unclear whether Setzer of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' actually earns a living this way before joining the party, but he certainly fits the archetype. After joining up, he earns a living by beating up [[MoneySpider Money Spiders]] like everyone else.
150	* Claire Majoram in ''VideoGame/MitsumeteKnight'', who becomes the Blackjack croupier of Dolphan City's Bar after [[spoiler: her husband Yang has died in the battlefield]], in order to make a living. She's thus the character in charge of [[BettingMiniGame the Blackjack mini-game]].
151	* Big Gamester from the ''VideoGame/{{Richman}}'' series is a gambler who wins every bet by manipulating his opponents, making them panic and lose as a result. He'll try to make the opponent lose in all costs! However, this is subverted in ''7'''s ending, where he faces the God of Gamblers and loses...
152	[[/folder]]
153
154	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
155	* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'': Phoenix Wright winds up forced to become a variation for a time after losing his license to practice law. When we see him in ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'', he makes a living playing poker, though he doesn't actually gamble any real money on the games he plays, he just gets paid to use his status as an undefeated poker player to attract customers to the restaurant he works at.
156	* Celestia Ludenberg in ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'' earns her scholarship to Hopes Peak Academy for being "The Ultimate Gambler," renowned for cleaning out everyone who she's ever bet against. Since she's also known for being an incredible liar, it's hard to tell which of her stories are true; she still fits the motif quite well however (such as knowing immediately when other students are lying or showing off her vast knowledge of game theory frequently).
157	[[/folder]]
158
159	[[folder:Webcomics]]
160	* The protagonist of ''Webcomic/{{EV}}'' is a successful gambler, specializing in online poker. A fair number of the supporting cast are also professional gamblers, of varying levels of competency.
161	* In ''Webcomic/NextTownOver'', Hunter is introduced gambling with a woman of this type, who is indignate, and calls in her guards, to deal with the charge of being a hooker.
162	* In ''Webcomic/PoisonIvyGulch'', the protagonist Lotta Doler is one of these. Strips updating the first of each month usually show her playing cards against opponents at a saloon table.
163	* ''Webcomic/{{Widdershins}}'': When O'Malley and Wolfe are on the road, O'Malley gambles at cards for a living, [[https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/april-2nd-2012 reading the other players]] with his emotional AuraVision.
164	-->'''Captain Barber:''' So you cheat at cards for a living.\
165	'''O'Malley:''' S'not cheating, it's using a natural advantage, isn't it?
166	[[/folder]]
167
168	[[folder:Western Animation]]
169	* On the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "Mississippi Hare", WesternAnimation/BugsBunny passed himself off as one when he stowed away in a river boat, and locked horns with a real Professional Gambler, Colonel Shuffle. Bugs won.
170	[[/folder]]

Context Main / ProfessionalGambler