I am an American LHE internet pro. I became pro in 2003, and since then have lived abroad for about 5 out of 8 years. I lived 24 months in Japan, 18 months in China, 7 months in Mexico, 6 months in Thailand. I traveled to Costa Rica, Canada, Korea, Singapore, Laos. I played poker online in all of these countries.

I have done student visas twice, I have done lots of "visa runs", I did a 1 year long tourist visa in China.

I have done all kinds of "verifying" with poker sites, and worked a lawyer to make sure my visas and crap are all done well.

I have setup many internet connections, 3g, built many computers, shipped monitors, gotten vaccinations, gone to ER while abroad, been scammed, robbed, cheated, gone busto,.. and have worked out all the logistics of living in developing/foreign countries while trying to be a poker pro.

I'd like to give back to 2p2 for what it has given to me, so if you have any questions about anything at all feel free to ask. I will respond to every single legitimate question.

A few of my best tips are:

1. Get a Schwab bank account, it has no foreign currency conversion fee, and no ATM fees! so sick. (most charge 3% conversion +ATM fees)

2. Keep all the exe files for the poker sites saved in your gmail (you have to rename as .mp3 for them to save) because sometimes you can't download them from some countries, but if you just go to install, you can, and it will auto-update

3. Sign up for several ISP's whenever you arrive (you may have to wait weeks before they come to "install", and some are reliable while others are unusable, so sign up for several and stay with the best).

4. 3g card internet is a pretty good backup and is a must in some Asian countries.

5. Use hipmunk.com for air ticket price comparison

6. Make/have at least one local trustworthy friend, treat him/her with respect, and he/she will be invaluable in helping with any problems you might encounter.

7. Have a main debit card, and 2 backups, in case one isn't working, or gets rejected, lost, stolen etc. Make sure at least one is mastercard and at least one is visa.

And for budget travelers:

couchsurfing.com for crashing with others while traveling
sleepinginairports.com for tips/reviews on sleeping in airports.

Awesome idea for a thread.

1. Why did you have to verify with online poker sites during your travels? Does this relate to withdrawing/depositing?

2. What were some of your favorite places to stay?


Sorry I have some more interesting questions, but it's late/had a few beers.

Great post. How do you get money from the poker site to your Schwab account?

what's your couchsurfing username if you don't mind my asking? I've been using the network for 5/6 years now and it's the nuts, started and "ask me about couchsurfing" thread a while ago :

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/92...ng-com-599905/


solid tips in OP, looking forward to this thread

Any recommendation of a schwab equivalent for non-US citizens?

Will poker sites block your account since you move from country to country so frequently?

+1, ATM withdrawals are expensive.

Any better than Skyscanner, or are they both more or less the same?

Would love to hear about Costa Rica

This thread is a good idea. Can you tell me about verifying poker stars and full tilt. When you move do they want proof of residency to cash out, or just proof your living there for a few months?

Why did you work with a lawyer to make sure your visa was done correctly?

What was the craziest encounter you had with a local?

+1 for hearing about costa rica/setting up schwab acct/difficulties verifying location, esp. with stars...

What are your thoughts on living in only 1-2 countries over that sort of time span, but spending maybe 1/4 of the year traveling (without playing poker)?

Isn't it difficult to feel settled moving around so much? Impossible to get into a relationship or care enough to put up some nice art in your apartment!

+1 to this.

What country is your account actually registered too? or have you always had to change your address as you traveled as well?


What countries have you made withdrawls in? how did you do the withdrawal (what method, and what documents did you have to show?)

It was explicitly for withdrawing, and I think they sometimes just had a limit if you withdraw over 3000 dollars they request verification. I'd scan passport showing I went to foreign country, and use an american bank account was fine. And sometimes they'd call me on my foreign cell phone. I have played on tons of sites and different sites had different requirements, but cashouts were always approved once I scanned and sent proof of travels.

My personal favorite place was probably Hainan China, I had wanted to keep this place a secret from 2p2 but have now decided to divulge it. It's a tropical island in China, is warm, coconuts, beaches, and cheap.

Thailand or Costa Rica would be 2nd best, but I am very partial to warm countries with beaches ... I didn't like Bangkok very much because it was so big, and the traffic was horrible, and I like nature more than cars.

Before black Friday I could just cashout directly. Now I will have to withdraw to my foreign bank account, and then make a bank wire to Scwab.