Official Playa Del Carmen Thread

[bumpking]

Originally Posted by Odds_Master

Okay. I have read this thread to front and back and marvel at all the suggestions and bits of information I was able to acquire. But let's start with the fundamentals:

One must first get a passport. Then the next step forward would be getting a tourist visa. How does one go about getting a tourist visa and whats the level of difficulty acquiring one. A link to a specific site would be nice.

From a whole different stance, based on people's experience what is the easiest or most cost effective way to cash out via Pokerstar's? I hear using MB is somewhat of a pain and fee's can be costly. Did anyone found a good exchange between the peso via USD dollar route. Your comments and constructive criticism is welcomed!

You'll get a tourist visa when you land in Mexico (for free). They're good for 180 days, but if you want to stay longer, you can get it extended or just take a vacation out of the country (Belize is only a few hours away).

For cashing out, there are no great methods, but the relatively "better" option is probably to set up a peso account and then have Stars wire money to that account. Exchange rate fees could be anywhere from 1.0-4.0% depending on size of the cashout. Then you're sitting on a bunch of pesos, so you can wire those back to your US bank account and pay another 1-4%. I use a company called "Monex", which is basically a currency exchange bank. They charge about 0.6% to change $ (assuming it's electronic - physical bills are at a worse rate).

[Odds_Master]

Originally Posted by bumpking

You'll get a tourist visa when you land in Mexico (for free). They're good for 180 days, but if you want to stay longer, you can get it extended or just take a vacation out of the country (Belize is only a few hours away).

For cashing out, there are no great methods, but the relatively "better" option is probably to set up a peso account and then have Stars wire money to that account. Exchange rate fees could be anywhere from 1.0-4.0% depending on size of the cashout. Then you're sitting on a bunch of pesos, so you can wire those back to your US bank account and pay another 1-4%. I use a company called "Monex", which is basically a currency exchange bank. They charge about 0.6% to change $ (assuming it's electronic - physical bills are at a worse rate).

BK your the best!

Seriously, you state the fact without dejecting me with opinion. The process sounds convenient enough. Get my passport and upon arrival get my tourist visa. At the moment I am working with a privately contracted real estate agent that should help me with many other things and I'll bring them up to date with these cash out methods.

Hope to kick it one day on the beach with a cerveza and fish taco on hand!

[noseeds99]

Originally Posted by River Flush

I'm also interested in moving to PDC at the beginning of 2013. I haven't been playing poker since DOJ shut it down but like to get back into it; I also trade stocks/forex for a living. I would like to live in a house with other poker degens. I'm willing to pay ~$1,500/month depending on how baller the place is.

if you had 1 roommate 1500 month (3k total) will get you pretty much the best 2 bedroom place in playa. as states in thread, electric will run a considerable amount though. our last bill was 20k peso

[noseeds99]

Originally Posted by Odds_Master

Quite new to this forum but been playing poker religiously for the past 3 years. Looking to relocate to Playa Del Carmen at the beginning of 2013. I have read this thread from the inside out but still have a few questions.

Noseeds: You seem like a very knowledgeable fellow and have been rooted in PDC for a while. Do you mind sharing the exact PDC link that discusses economical living. Thanks again!

playa.info has a search feature similar to this forum

I tried really quick not sure if this was the thread I was refering to in that post or not

http://www.playa.info/playa-del-carm...-you-live.html

I know a guy that pays like $300/month for a 2br in a part of town that has the electric subsidy so his bill is something retarded like 350peso for 2 months with running the AC all the time. If he cooked his own food from the grocery store, didnt eat out too much or drink etc Im sure he could get by on 600? month. all just personal living preferences obv

[overrdose.]

Originally Posted by noseeds99

if you had 1 roommate 1500 month (3k total) will get you pretty much the best 2 bedroom place in playa. as states in thread, electric will run a considerable amount though. our last bill was 20k peso

lol you are getting charged gringo prices.

[Ponder]

Highly recommend the potential newcomers to not use any relocation service or make any decision about where they will be staying until they arrive.

If you choose to go ahead and do so please make sure to inform your agent to only supply listings that use Cablemas as it is much more reliable than telmex.

[overrdose.]

Originally Posted by Ponder

Highly recommend the potential newcomers to not use any relocation service or make any decision about where they will be staying until they arrive.

If you choose to go ahead and do so please make sure to inform your agent to only supply listings that use Cablemas as it is much more reliable than telmex.

Thats debatable. I have both for backup since one goes through the phone and the other is cable. So far in the 6 months I have been here telemex has been a lot more reliable than my cablemas. If you game though definetely get cablemas as its a lot faster. They have a 100mb package which is sick fast as telemex has a max of 4mb I believe.

[noseeds99]

Originally Posted by overrdose.

lol you are getting charged gringo prices.

really? i find it hard to believe they even know its gringos receiving the bill, would require couple layers of conspiracy

it was suggested that construction people were maybe stealing some power or something but I have no idea

also, we used a lot of ****ing power. hot tub and ac pretty much on 24/7

[phishman]

pretty sure they have different tiers for how they charge people. not really sure how that works, but it has nothing to do with being gringo. might be the closer you live to the beach, the more they are going to charger you per kwh. 20k peso bill is nothing but being irresponsible. turn off the lights that arent being used and dont crush the ac all day and you will be just fine. when i was in cabo, my bill was 2300 pesos while my friends down the hall was 28000 for the same time frame

[c-trizzle]

Once you have a super high bill like 20k you are bumped into the DAC tier which is like 4 times more expensive than the regular tier most people are in. It's how the government keeps costs cheap for the poor people. There's pretty much no way out of the DAC tier unless you change names on the bill or have 6 months of low power usage. The most common tier is 1B which also is on a sliding scale depending on how much power you use. If you are in 1B you can just look on your bill and see the rate they use. 1B is super cheap because of government subsidies. It's something you should ask your landlord about before you move in if you are worried about high electric prices.

[noseeds99]

that sucks for medium length rentals...your bill is dependent on the previous renters

although normal vacationers/expats obv dont use as much power as poker players so I guess it sucks for people that move into places after ppl like me

[phishman]

Originally Posted by c-trizzle

Once you have a super high bill like 20k you are bumped into the DAC tier which is like 4 times more expensive than the regular tier most people are in. It's how the government keeps costs cheap for the poor people. There's pretty much no way out of the DAC tier unless you change names on the bill or have 6 months of low power usage. The most common tier is 1B which also is on a sliding scale depending on how much power you use. If you are in 1B you can just look on your bill and see the rate they use. 1B is super cheap because of government subsidies. It's something you should ask your landlord about before you move in if you are worried about high electric prices.

interesting. knew it was something like that but didn't know the full details. thanks for sharing

[River Flush]

Originally Posted by Odds_Master

Perhaps we can cross paths and crunch numbers if you're interested. I don't like to consider myself a poker degenerative because the word or meaning for the most part eats at me. But I would be interested in sharing a 2-3 bedroom at the beginning of next year. What do you normally play River Flush? MTT's or SNG's?

I'll PM you my e-mail address so we can talk more in private. Sharing a 2-3 bedroom sounds great for me as I think we could get more for our money in a place like that. When I played online I'd play mostly SNG's and some MTT's.

[River Flush]

Originally Posted by noseeds99

if you had 1 roommate 1500 month (3k total) will get you pretty much the best 2 bedroom place in playa. as states in thread, electric will run a considerable amount though. our last bill was 20k peso

Question for you or bump king since you guys seem to be the PDC pros. I have bank of america and have read about them charging for you to use your debit card/cc out of the country. I know that BoA has an agreement with Banco Santander where you can use your card at their ATM's and get money. Is there one close in PDC to where most of you guys live? A

Also, do most places down there also take USD as well as pesos?

[Odds_Master]

Originally Posted by Ponder

Highly recommend the potential newcomers to not use any relocation service or make any decision about where they will be staying until they arrive.

If you choose to go ahead and do so please make sure to inform your agent to only supply listings that use Cablemas as it is much more reliable than telmex.

I agree.

Thus, why I'm getting a good glimpse into the future by reading such a fine thread that paints an overall good picture of my potential options. For now I am looking towards Poker Refugees as I've heard nothing but good things but forking out about 1K does certainly put a hinder on my bankroll. If I can find a reliable enough room mate that knows the in's and outs then I'll feel comfortable enough to make the transition without using 'PR's' services. A internet backup is essential if you're a daily grinder, no doubt about it!