Quote:
Originally Posted by JK_ACNJ
I'll try to keep this as short as possible. I'm originally from AC, NJ. Living in SC now for past 2years, but ready to start being a rounder again and quit my dayjob as my bankroll has compiled up the past 2 years. I am very new to the south, and see there's FL poker rooms, I have a wife and a newborn. So i'd like to see if Jacksonville would be a better area and I see BestBet seems the poker room of choice because of it's size, or would Tampa be a better fit? Or maybe even somewhere else i'm unaware in the south? I have never been to either city, so don't know how many homes they have for rent in the immediate outskirts from where these two rooms are located. I'm a 1/2. 2/5 NL player, used to 300 or 500 max buy in's. Any help would be great guys, as i'm looking to make this move within the next month.
If you are looking at Florida you really have 3 main options, Jax, Tampa and S. Florida. I've played in all three, IMO you can't beat S. Florida.
Jacksonville has the new Best Best (Monument Rd.), it's a very large and really nice facility, but it's the only game in Jax (they actually have 3 facilities in Jax all owned by Best Bet but the two tracks are worthless IMO). Best Bet is a large property, lots of players, decent tournies. However their promos are non existent (I think you actually have to pay for water and sodas) and its in a somewhat sketchy area of town.
Tampa has Hard Rock, Derby Lane (St. Pete), Silks (Tampa Bay Downs) and Lucky's (Tampa Greyhound). Tampa Hard Rock (THR) is very poorly run/terrible management and not overly player friendly but overall it's the best room in Tampa (particularly for cash games) due to the traffic that the casino generates for the poker room. Derby Lane is a nice facility with good tournaments (best tournaments in Tampa but they lack the player traffic that THR has. Silks is a nice facility but has gone downhill due to poor management and has less traffic than Derby. Lucky's is a dump in the ghetto that is known for a wild PLO game, enough said. Sarasota Kennel Club has a room called One Eyed Jacks about 40 mins. south of Tampa, not really worth going there if you live in Tampa. The cost of living in Tampa is not bad although rental property costs have increased recently although you should be able to find a decent 3-4 bedroom for a reasonable price if you are willing to do some legwork.
S. Florida has several decent rooms to choose from all within a reasonable distance of one another, leading the way in my opinion are the Isle (Pompano) and Hollywood Hard Rock and then a number of smaller rooms. There is also a room to the north called Palm Beach Kennel Club, probably the only time it is worth it to play there is during the upcoming WSOPc event which they run every Feb. Cost of living in S. Florida is generally higher than Tampa or Jax but if you are willing to put in some time and leg work you should be able to find a decent deal on a rental.
I'd rank the markets as 1. S. Florida, 2. Tampa, 3. Jax.
If I had to rank the facilities alone without considering the area then the main Jax Best Bet (on Monument Rd.) would be in top two or three in the state with the Isle Pompano probably being the overall #1.
Good luck! PM me if you want to discuss...
Last edited by BirdofPrey; 01-30-2013 at 04:06 PM.