Sorry Bill, but this was the OP, which was not a question at all.

Like Guitpic, I have never met a home hobbyist player in all the years I've been playing an arranger keyboard. Just pro players who performed at a variety of venues throughout the USA.

Gary

There used to be a saying, "Truth is stranger than fiction". Apparently that has been reversed. But hey, it's a lot easier to believe what you WANT to believe.

If a hammy little six year old kid does a little dance at the family Thanksgiving get-together and Uncle Dumbass rewards him with a shiny new Quarter, is he a "Pro Performer" or a "home player". It's all in your definition of a "Pro" or a "performer". From my perspective, Bill (Abacus) is entirely correct. Besides, who cares how you label yourself as long as you're happy and having fun.

chas (happy home player who knows a "pro" when he sees one - which ain't often )

Damn ... it's Jim Thorpe all over again. Sigh

pro·fes·sion·al
prəˈfeSH(ə)n(ə)l/
adjective
adjective: professional

1.
relating to or connected with a profession.
"young professional people"
synonyms: white-collar, nonmanual
"people in professional occupations"
antonyms: blue-collar
2.
(of a person) engaged in a specified activity as one's main paid occupation rather than as a pastime.
"a professional boxer"
synonyms: paid, salaried
"a professional rugby player"
antonyms: amateur
having or showing the skill appropriate to a professional person; competent or skillful.
"their music is both memorable and professional"
synonyms: expert, accomplished, skillful, masterly, masterful, fine, polished, skilled, proficient, competent, able, experienced, practiced, trained, seasoned, businesslike, deft; More
informalace, crack, top-notch
"a thoroughly professional performance"
antonyms: amateurish
worthy of or appropriate to a professional person.
"his professional expertise"
informal•derogatory
denoting a person who persistently makes a feature of a particular activity or attribute.
"a professional naysayer"

noun
noun: professional; plural noun: professionals

1.
a person engaged or qualified in a profession.
"professionals such as lawyers and surveyors"
synonyms: white-collar worker, office worker
"affluent young professionals"
antonyms: blue-collar worker
a person engaged in a specified activity, especially a sport or branch of the performing arts, as a main paid occupation rather than as a pastime.
synonyms: professional player, paid player, salaried player; informalpro
"his first season as a professional"
antonyms: amateur
a person competent or skilled in a particular activity.
"she was a real professional on stage"
synonyms: expert, virtuoso, old hand, master, maestro, past master; More
informalpro, ace, wizard, whiz, hotshot, maven, crackerjack
"she was a real professional on stage"
antonyms: amateur: activity.
"she was a real professional on stage"
synonyms: expert, virtuoso, old hand, master, maestro, past master; More
informalpro, ace, wizard, whiz, hotshot, maven, crackerjack
"she was a real professional on stage"
antonym: amateur

So, nuff said, you are a pro if you get paid, even if you don't play like a pro.
Or you can play like a pro, but is not a pro if not get paid.

I'll ask my wife to pay me a coin or two, then I'm a 'pro' homeplayer.