Hey guys,

Playing live poker in Las Vegas has been a great experience. I've had a ton of fun, made a bunch of really good friends, and made a few dineros all while doing what I like, playing poker.

I've decided though that this upcoming year I'll have a new backdrop for this continuing adventure. Which is why I decided to move to Asia to play poker. (also some weird ****ty thing occurred where I can't play online poker in the US anymore, but you already know about that probably so I won't detail that here).

I've selected five locations to explore and eventually move to one of those locales. The five countries are Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China (specifically Macau), and the Philippines.

Some of these countries I've had the pleasure of traveling to before (Thailand, Cambodia, Philippines) and some of these places are foreign to me. But traveling with the intention of moving to a location is different. I need to not only enjoy myself but consider whether I could live there for an entire year. I may be most happy in a small beach town for a short time, but could get bored with the seclusion. Or I could have a great time partying in a mega city, but the pollution and traffic could piss me off to such an extent I wish to leave.

I've been thinking about starting this thread for awhile and finally I'll begin and hope to chronicle my time in a way that people find interesting. I'll be updating my posts regularly, and occasionally adding pictures and video when I get the time to upload them.

My adventure actually begins in Thailand, specifically Jomtien. Jomtien is a beach town 3 kilometers south of Pattaya, a more famous hedonistic hotspot. Cost of living in Jomtien seems reasonable, and the internet was very good and stable, but I'm not strongly considering actually moving there. I simply spent some time visiting a friend of mine that lives there. Enjoying myself, as it were.

It was there that I also met up with another poker pro who lives in Hua Hin. More about Hua Hin later when I visit there.

Next I took the train to Chiang Mai, which is a place I AM considering as a possible place to live for the next year. By the way, the train from Pattaya to Chiang Mai takes FOREVER...with the significant delays my friend and I endured it was nearly 24 hours on the train. And they seated me next to a lady with a baby too, which decided to kick me throughout the night. It's a significant faux pas in Thailand to kick a baby, even if it kicks you first, so I endured the assault as well as I could.

Chiang Mai - fun place to be.

Chiang Mai is one of those really fun towns with a college town vibe. I'm going to try not to overuse the word fun when describing this city. But I did have a splendid four nights there and met many interesting young people. There's tons of young tourists from around the world visiting there too. I saw the Thailand's tallest waterfall and then a temple on the top of a mountain, with a view overlooking the city. I learned to cook Panang curry, Pad Thai, etc at Baan cooking school, which was a fun experience. Though I doubt I'll make the curry (though it's my favorite!) as it's pretty tough to make. I do think I'll make myself Pad thai, as it's not too tough and it's really tasty.

All in all, Chiang Mai is a pretty...ummm...what's another word for fun...eh ****it; FUN place to be.

After spending 4 nights in Chiang Mai it was time to head south. I'll let you know my next destination in addition to how I chose the next city in my next post.

Good luck, Asia is cool!

I take it you are moving somewhere to play online. If not, then Macau and Phillipines are the only real possibilities I think. Macau may disappoint you with the many local "rounders" who play like bots and are suuuuper tight, especially at grand lisboa. Go to the venetian and hope to find some drunk tourist dollar.

How old are you? How long have you been playing poker for a living? Bankroll? What stakes you plan on playing online?

Looking forward to the thread/pics/vids.

not surprising your range of travel is no less wide than your range in a PLO cash game

good luck, chiang mei sounds FUN but still the visa situation....

24 hour train ride sounds brutal (ie not fun), props for having self control and not getting into it with the baby

you claim you want to make paper but you never gave me a response to how much you would want for long time, not good business imo

Yeah just to clarify: the majority of my game will be online poker. I would like to also play live from time to time, but even living in a place where there's no (legal) live poker I can take weekend trips to Macau, Philippines, or Cambodia.

sofocused978: 28 yrs old, playing poker profitably for 6 years, my bankroll is modest but comfortable. In Vegas I grinded anywhere from 1-3 (below my bankroll) to 10-20-40 (well above my bankroll). I played about half PLO and half NL, my NL sessions were usually more profitable but duller.

I'm looking to practice multi table tourneys and get good in a short amount of time. Not sure exactly how but multi tabling like micro tourney's (maybe 10 2$ tourneys at once) or something to get volume in. I've always been a cash game specialist but my aim is to diversify into MTTs.

K2D: Yeah that baby was pretty annoying. And I was pretty sure I coulda taken it, but it was Asian so it probably knew some sort of martial arts so who knows?

With regards to how much I want for long time, I command a higher price than shack girl. But don't worry it's worth it I got a pretty good D and I love u long time.

shack girl has a way better rack so im not sure i can overpay

you are def right about the baby though, baby venomous snakes dont know how to control their venom output so a bite from them can be worse than a bite from a full grown, it might be the same with asian babys the kicks may just never stop


i want to tell everyone how crazy you are at the poker table, but i really cant even put your playing style into words

i guess maybe its like a 2004 version of gus hansen playing PLO for the first time? while drunk? and playing way to low for his bankroll so not caring? yet winning all the chips in the end anyways?

i kid i kid

kinda

Do you have any idea how long you think you'll be traveling before settling down?

Before you left the US did you have a place that you thought would be the most likely place you would move to?

It sounds like you really enjoyed Chiang Mai. Was it missing anything that you hope you might somewhere else? I've taken that exact same cooking course there. Even though I hardly cook at home, I always try to take a cooking class when I'm in a new country because I think it is a great way to learn about a big part of their culture. I wouldn't be surprised if Chiang Mai ends up being the place you choose to live.

I think what you're doing is one of the best traveling experiences anyone can have. I'm really looking forward to following your journey. GL

Chiang Mai is where I always return to, could happily live there. Super cheap, easy to get everywhere (I do Chiang Mai on bicycle) and has everything I want.

I love Macau but it is expensive and you will probably have a hard time living there for a year unless you can get a work visa. You can only stay for 2 months now and that includes leaving twice (30/20/10 days each visit). When you come back the 3rd time they will take you into a back room telling you after 10 more days you have to leave and cannot return for x amount of days making you sign some papers that you understand (60 or 90 I forget)

Since Chiang Mai is the big discussion point I will add a few thoughts. I have lived in Chiang Mai for the last three months. It is everything that I thought it would be. Cheapest big city in Thailand, beautiful, a little bit more moderate temperatures and the hottest women in Thailand on average (all confirmed).

That said I am leaving for Bangkok in a few days. I think as a retirement destination this place is perfect. But I think if you are younger (probably the vast majority of people reading this) you might be a bit disappointed after awhile. It definitely has a bit of a small town feel to it at times even though there are apparently 1 million people in the metro area.

I will definitely be back here and highly recommend it. But if you want endless options for nightlife, restaurants, recreation and you like beaches, Chiang Mai is probably not your best option in Thailand.

I want to thank everyone for their input so far. Yesterday I spent an hour updating the thread on my kindle since I have 3G and had no other way to access the internet. The Kindle that's a pleasure to read on but a damn pain to write on, and when at the very end of it all I misclicked and lost my hours worth of work I was disheartened. But I can simulate that hour's writing in 5 or 10 minutes here and that's what I intend to do now that I have a proper computer to write from.

Yank333- I plan to spend about another 4-6 weeks divvied up between Cambodia, Vietnam, Macau, and Philippines. THE Philippines.

I originally was leaning towards Macau for a few reasons. First being I'd like to compliment my online poker with some live play to stay sharp in that area. Second, I'd really like to learn Chinese. Third, the internet there is apparently better than the other four nations, in general. But there are some difficulties. Justice Assessor was kind enough to point out that the visa situation is difficult. What I was thinking as a possible solutions, should I choose Macau, would be to apply for a working visa as an English teacher (I'm TEFL certified with experience, a pickup line I use often at bars). I can either hopefully work part time and still spend most of my brainpower on poker, or more likely quit and hope that the company I quit does not go to any effort to get my visa rescinded. Any thoughts on that scheme?

I like Chiang Mai very much. Food is great, people are nice. Did I mention that It's fun? Not sure if there's anything in particular that's missing that I need. Perhaps beaches? Live poker? Skiing? Nah I'm not going to be skiing in the next year anyways. CM is a pretty nice option, and if I find nothing better I'd be happy to pack up and move there.

More likely what's going to happen is I'll find several places that I like, and make a venn diagram with positives and negatives of each place. I'll weigh each variable with the appropriate amount of importance and do a very mathematical approach. I've found that mathematics, though annoying to someone who's brain doesn't usually process math very well, is as truthful of a solution as I can get.

If the "winning" city has a score of 42 that would be pretty weird, huh?

Justice Assessor - Have you tried living in Macau in such a way? Did you find a way to get a visa? And what do you think of my working visa scheme? If you don't like it I have another scheme in my mind that might work, but I don't feel the need to plot schemes until or unless I think Macau is right for me, otherwise I'd be wasting time, eh?

Blackrain- I think you make a very good point, especially "If you want endless options for..."

I think one of the reasons I found Vegas fun was that every time I decided to eat out (which was often) I could choose a new restaurant, nightclub, pool, etc. Though I'm often boring and went with my tried and true favorites, I still like trying new things. Though hopefully for me I am more getting into outdoorsy nature stuff, and finding new hiking trails, mountain biking, etc and can create a year of entertainment for myself in that way. It'll be a hell of a lot more healthy that way, too.

I'll be picking up my computer tomorrow so I'll be spending more time detailing my travels thus far, and the cities I've been these last few days. I'd like to organize some photos to upload as well, so that's another reason I want my own compy to use to update my journey.

did you ship a computer over here? buying new? laptop?

I spent 2 months in Macau then left and returned several months later. None of my expat friends there are poker players but the couple poker players I do know/talked to at the tables all had to leave after 2 months.

I do have 2 American friends in Macau who teach English at the university and have visas but it is 100% legitimate. I don't know how easy it is to get a work visa there when you don't really have a job.

Learning Chinese would be great. I am thinking of living in China down the road, very possibly Macau or HK if I could get a job in either but I'm a few years from looking. Anyway, make note that they speak Cantonese in Macau so if you want to learn Mandarin it is not the place for it.

I shipped 2 laptops to my friends place in Thailand. Im on my way to pick them up now and take them with me to Cambodia tomorrow. with regards to the dialect of Cantonese being spoken in Macau, I would still intend to learn Mandarin. I feel I could take lessons inexpensively, even if I will not be immersed in the language.

I have spent some time in Beijing and hated that filthy city. I'd much rather bide time in HH or Macau.

Don't know the prices but you definitely can. I know a few people who were taking Mandarin classes in Macau.

cambodia tomorrow!!!!!!!!

im counting the hours, how long till you will be in sihanouk? you gonna have a phone here?

i would offer you to share my king size bed but i always kick out after boom boom so i can get my beauty rest, but obv whenever u wanna boom boom just stop by

u certainly are one to talk about others ruining threads

ez are you up and running on poker sites yet? if so would you let us know how that went, and if not have u even tried yet?

God ****ing damnit. I just wrote a real long update, and when I click reply it says you've been logged out of twoplustwo, so I lost everything. I'm going to start writing posts in Google documents to make sure they're safe and I don't get timed out any more. Is there a chance it was saved in drafts somewhere on twoplustwo?

FFFFFUUUUUUUU...

go back a few pages in your browser.......maybe it's still there if you didn't close out firefox or whatever you are using already.

pretty sure this is the most emotion ive ever seen you show

If you're going to consider living in Phnom Penh, the neighborhood where I
lived was near the Russian Market and I would highly recommend checking the area out. It's not as filled with tourists like the riverside and it's not as expensive as BKK. I really liked it because there are a handful of Western restaurants, you can buy almost anything you would ever need at the market, and the neighborhood is basically the equivalent of a Cambodian middle to upper middle class suburb. It's about 5-10 minutes($1) on a motorbike to get to the riverside or street 51. I would guess the demographic breakdown of the area is probably about 90% Khmer and 10% NGO workers and teachers so it makes for a good environment where you aren't isolated from real local life, but you are not the only Westerner around either. You'll get hounded by tuktuk drivers and motodopes every few seconds right outside the market, but once you get 30 feet away it's like any other Phnom Penh neighborhood, you'll only hear "motobike?" about 3 times/minute

It's not for everybody, but I think as far as Phnom Penh goes, it's where I would want to live again.

Dear diary,

Tonight I went out in Pattaya. Walking Street, everyone says. You must go there. That's what people do in Pattaya. So I went. Barhopping, a usual. Getting one draft beer here, one draft beer there. Eventually I realize I'm looking for a disco, so I head to a disco, find some bitties to dance with, and get grooving. I buy them a beer or whatever, np. Then I move on to the next disco. Then the next one. I'm not really looking for anything in particular, just sort of headed back to Jomtien.

At a place on the southside of walking street I'm dancing with this little bitty who's like Chinese looking or something. I don't know exactly she's kind of cute though. I'm dancing with her awhile and eventually buy us both a drink. 20 mins later I buy us another drink.

We're having a good time sweating together when I ask if she wants to go outside to cool off or get a snack or something. She's like "cool let's go"

So we go. We get outside and I'm like "want a burger, or any of this other stuff they got goin?"

I'd be happy to pay for food. It's only fair she's been dancing her booty into me for like almost an hour. Though it is fair because she got free drinks and I'm like super handsome and all that jazz.

So she's like, "No, let's go back to your place, and u can pay me"

"Nah, I'm not into that. I'll buy you a burger if you want, but I'm going back dancing in a minute."

She ignores me and just wants to get paid. I go inside instead of paying her.

I start dancing with a nice Thai girl. Everything innocent, just having fun. I haven't even bought her a drink. Then the girl who wanted money to chill walks by...she grabs a drink from a nearby table and throws it at me, getting me all wet and sticky. It gets on my face and shirt.

The girl I was dancing with was like "WTF?" and backs away from me. Then she cools off and gets closer to me. We're semi dancing again...she's still sorta paranoid of someone coming and smashing me again...when the other lady comes back out of nowhere.

She's holding a full beer bottle in her hand. She smashes my face with a full swing. My glasses go flying, shattered, across the room. I'm thinking "****, now I'm going to be some kind of goddamn freak whenever I walk into a room."

Well, wouldn't you know it, though my glasses shattered, and the beer bottle shattered, and my face swelled up...I'm still as handsome as ever. Didn't even cut my skin, despite breaking my goddamn glasses.

**** these bitches and **** these ho's. I was actually able to mend my ****ty glasses (Though they are my prescription so they are yet important) and my face didn't suffer more than a bruise. My clothes got all wet from the shattered beer.

Though I'm lucky as **** to not be scarred by this...ummm...what's the best word for this rabid lady? The words I'm thinking of are not nice, so I must not say them at all.

Feelin' lucky my throat's not cut out ATM...god damn I gotta get out of this city b'fore it kills me.

B**** thought she could make my face all awkward and weird looking. Joke's on her, my face was already awkward and weird. DUMBASS!

Who even uses the word "hooker" anymore ? Only jive turkeys uses words like hooker

that sucks about the altercation, but after seeing all those demon looking freelancers on Walking Street, this behavior hardly shocks me.. Probably desperate and on yabba..

look at the bright side, at least you didn't end up like the New Zealander who was murdered by a Swede because his GF played with his dog..

not much good happens in pattaya i'm afraid..