is this the Tampa Hard Rock? Do you know how Tampa is for 2/5 and 5/10? (max buy ins, deep games)

thanks man

I usually wouldn't say this, but get a job.

Multiple red flags and super unrealistic expectations.

Have you considered New Orleans? Low cost of living and tons of tourists come through Harrah's. Game plays very deep stacked. I've played everywhere mentioned in OP and haven't found better games than NO.

The Hard rock I was referring to was the Hollywood location.

there is less 2/5 action in Tampa overall but its available pretty much daily (by what I hear). can't say anything about 5/10 up there without making it up completely, sorry.

I would assume (perhaps incorrectly) that the max buy-ins are the same as the Hollywood HR (600 @ 2/5, 1k @ 2/5DS & 5/10)

The few times I have made the drive up there, I have played pretty juicy 1/2 games where they call down the whole way with almost any pair, so my patient (or you could say nit) game worked pretty well.

I've been a "live pro" in LV for about a year in a half and had a thread going for a while until readers lost interest and I had really nothing noteworthy to post for a while. The grind can get monotonous after a while if theres no tourney bink or high stake shot taking.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh....php?t=1433765

Cliff on my results:
1/2 $20/hr 220hrs
1/3 $4/hr 275hrs
2/5 $52/hr 1225hrs

Plethora of deepstack fish: 7/10
-yes, of course you can find it because theres always a new tourist, but its more a matter of if you decide to play in the deep games. (Wynn 2/5 is 1500 max compared to Bellagio 2/5 which is 500 max). Otherwise I think rate of "deepstack fish" is effectively equal to other locations.

Games running all hours: 10/10
-easily the most games running out of any location. I often play the super graveyard and always have a 2/5 and even a 5/T to hop in somewhere along the strip. During regular hours there are tons of games to choose from

Good game selection: varies
-so many tables to choose from, a typical day I'm at x casino and have 5 2/5 games to choose from. There are also 5+ other casinos with the same thing within the strip. However its what you make of it, are you really gonna hop table to table, then hop in the car, drive to the next casino, hop around until you find 4 dunks from a bachelor party? Realistically there will usually only be 1-2 really bad fish, 5 weak regs/casuals, 1-2 super nits senior citizens, and maybe 1-2 good recs/or pros. Each casino/stake has their typical mix of players. My typical reason for table changing is if there are too many shortstacks, nits, or if someone smells like they never heard of deodorant (more common than you'd think). You will have to be able to beat the avg Vegas nit pro to survive, there are a lot of them.

COL: 10/10
You can live in your very own **** hole apartment/studio on the strip (like I did when I first arrived) for $400 or live in some sicko towers on the strip for $2k+. The bus system is very easy to use on the strip if you have to cut costs. You'll have to enjoys bums and crackheads tho if your living in the busto part of the strip (stratosphere and beyond).

I would recommend looking for ppl renting rooms and you can live comfortably for about $500-600 (this will prob be off strip and a car would be required).

If you go bust theres the tunnels to live in and you can let tourist kick you in the balls for $20 (or handjobs/whatever) on the strip until you get back on your feet...

Extra thoughts:

-the games are considered tough from non LV ppl because there are more nits trying to make money from good hands which take up seats from LP fish. Not because there are bunch of TAG/LAGs 3bing and pwning ppl. I figured this out when I finally made a trip to a non LV spot and seen how much ppl call pre or pay off TPTK type hands that wouldn't fly in LV. Probably could have huge winrates elsewhere like MDlive or Cali

-If you have pit leaks, you probably gonna have a tough year. Its everywhere and 24/7. I've seen low stakes pros punt off half their roll in a a few bets. Same with drinking as its free and theres no last call.

-its HOT af during summer holy mother

-2/hr comps at most places regardless of stakes played. Random promotions running all the time (idk if they are all worth going after but i know I did when I played 1/2. Once I moved up I started playing at places with no promos).

This whole post is excellent however that^ is just pure gold.

Vegassssssss baby.

No matter where you land, put most of your hours in on the weekends and late nights and I think you'll be fine (if you're as good as you say of course)

my advice is to try to retain some sort of job because being a full time 2/5 nlh player is brutal way to make a living. you have to put in crazy hours to pay your bills, a downswing can quickly put you on life tilt. its just a bad idea. yeh, you might get 30/hr but no benefits, and you arent gauranteed to run at expectation.

i have friends who play 10/20 nlh live for a living and they want to get out of it because the money isnt good enough and they arent willing to put in the hours.

playing cards 40+ hrs a week is just whole different ball game

OP, how old are you? I started my journey when I was 25.

What were the circumstances that made you want to make this jump?

I must run bad at table selecting, because this is exactly what I experienced at every 2/5 game I've sat in there in the last year. It's Euros or guys with hoodies, headphones sunglasses 3- and 4-betting each other. I saw more 4-bet pots in 2/5 games in Las Vegas in the last year than I've seen in my lifetime.

But that's just my own experience. Lower stakes games were a lot softer.

YMMV

This is the case for me at my local 2/5. I go when it's most likely to be good but even if it's bad I still never think I'm a loser in the game so I'm in for 6 hours min unless I'm super tired/tilted. Also only 1 casino and 1-2 tables so not much game selection.

Might be tough to both log the volume and have a life outside of poker if you're going in twice as often as you wind up putting in a decent session. Sounds like OP is not concerned about the latter.

Maybe in Vegas, but if you played at my local rooms you'd want to do the exact opposite.

Been off the grid for awhile (aka grinding 4 days straight). I'm grateful to see all the continued responses. The totality of this thread, combined with my own research, has definitely got me heavily favoring Vegas. It's probably going to be end of August or September before I can make the move.

I'm not planning on just treading water in standard games until the dream table appears and rains money upon me. I'm fully confident I'll beat the regs, but obv I'd like to put myself in a position where I AM able to be rained upon as much as possible. I disagree that this is dangerous thinking. Seems logical.

I appreciate your concern, but the decision has been made and I'm fully confident in it. One of the reasons WHY I'm gonna succeed is the amount of planning I'm putting into making sure I'm doing things right this time around. Things like this thread for instance. Everything's focused on making the most +EV decision I can.

I'm also working on a personal poker "constitution," if you will, that will give me structure and discipline as far as BRM, hours, goals/milestones, how much money to siphon from poker roll to life roll per hour played, etc. I'm really excited about this plan I've put together. I'll post it in a PGC thread when I'm done tweaking it.

I despised playing in New Orleans the few times I did. And on principle I don't wanna move anywhere with one poker room and no competition.

Holy crap thank you Varx! This is gold. Exactly the kind of breakdown I'm looking for.

Vegas sounds, not ideal, but pretty much as good as can reasonably be expected. I have no pit leaks so we're good there. And MY handjobs could surely snag me $40 a pop cuz no one strokes it like me. Good to know that's an option if my roll suffers or I just need a hobby to pick up.

Just turned 32. I was 26 when I made my first attempt at pro poker.

Cliffs of my circumstances:
Spent last few years trying to become a firefighter. Finally got hired, went thru brutal 3.5 months of training. Made the baller decision to drive drunk the night of graduation from rookie school. Fast forward 6+ months, the department finally found out about my DUI and gave me the boot. As it stands now I'm pretty much unemployable after one look at my resume (bachelor degree from UGA but jumping around different jobs for last ten years).

But after grinding with every free second for the last 6 months, I realize my game is stronger than ever. Yet I've also got a ton of room for improvement, which only adds to my confidence. With some dedicated hard work, a hefty raise in my win rate is right there for the taking.

To those expressing concern about the brutal drain of the life of a poker pro, I know. I've had a taste of it before. And I'm mentally prepared and willing to take it on. Never been more motivated. This game can take us higher than we've ever felt, yet the next day make you regret every life decision you've ever made. I'm ready to hop on the roller coaster for the long haul.

And for those talking about lifestyle concerns, not only of Vegas specifically but of the poker profession, I'm trying to basically give up any life outside of poker for the next 2-3 years until I reach certain goals. No doubt there'll be days where it'll be tough to push through, but once I reach the light at the end of the tunnel (certain poker roll and life roll milestones), that's when I'll resume human life again and look to move somewhere I actually enjoy (another poker location where I might have to sacrifice poker EV to boost life EV).

Only recreational players have the luxury of thinking in terms of EV. Professionals have to think about WR.

Rod, I'm a neighbor in south carolina, so I have a pretty good idea of the troubles you've found yourself in. I want to wish you the best of luck.

I've got a few years on you, and my best friend has made his move to vegas, and i travel there a few times a year. The crazy fun part is, he knows where to take me to have fun and make money too. He will drive me around looking at games, and pick out what looks easy.

I was hoping that i could give you some kind of advice, and probably the best thing that I can share with you is, that you can't be worrying about money. You can't start prioritizing or trying to budget one thing over another. It will catch up to you eventually in so many ways. It will ruin your game. I just hope that you are bank rolling yourself so that you can work at your own pace, get situated comfortably, and concentrate on your game.

This makes zero sense. Your WR is a reflection of the EV-ness of your decisions.