I think its fair to say there must be very few pub gig players who do it for the money,
It seems easy money to the punters, a few hours set (they dont see the equipment packdown and lug home, practice, and 100 emails you have to read to figure out what the set is), but its clearly a labour of love
IMO you do it for so long, get fed up, take a break then miss it, then cycle continues
Some pubs this way have sunday night band nights, and yes, you do wonder if they make the band fee in profit, if I ran the pub, id use the bucket method