How profitable is vegas as far as poker goes? I feel like the city is crawling with pros. Is there enough dim witted players there to make a living playing poker? What kind of roll would one need to take shots in vegas? 10k? Is vegas that much better than say, Biloxi? These are basic questions and I apologize for not being more specific. I'm a senior in college in alabama and am passionate about the game, as are all 2p2ers I am sure. I'm seriously thinking about pursuing the game as a career and am an experienced player but I dont know what the smartest thing to do poker wise after graduating. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated!

depends on what stakes you want to grind

my friend moved out here with a 4k roll to play 1/2... went busto after 5 months and is now driving a taxi... i came with 2k and went busto after 2 months.. im now focusing on grad school...

its def a beatable game, but you have to be properly rolled or the swings will kill you

ive only played 1/2 and 2/5, cant help you with anything higher than that

WTF is bilexi?

You should PM pureaggression and TMack for some advice. They have grinded low stake NHL in Vegas for months and can probably offer great advice.

There are people in finance on the Forbes list

There are people in technology on the Forbes list

There are entrepreneurs on the Forbes list

There are no poker players anywhere close to making the Forbes list.

Listen, the "whale" that came to LV for a weekend and dropped 100k over a weekend at the 50-100 game isn't the sucker..... No dude, he is the loser in poker but the winner in LIFE. To be able to drop 100k at some poker game and not give a sh't, that's TRUE success.

To "make it" as a top tier pro who beats 10-20 and fight like an animal for a seat at the 50-100 when the whale is in town is winning the battle but losing the war.

Cheers,

S

very well said.. kind of depressing, but 1000% accurate

Thanks for putting things in perspective, but you know success is subjective. There is no "true" success in an absolute sense. We all have our goals in life... Being on the forbes list is not one of mine. Of course I want to make a fcuk ton of money but really I'd be happy making 50k a year someday playing poker. I'm just putting feelers out cause I'm lost. Is playing poker for a comfortable living worth the pursuit, considering its' potential and how much I love doing it? And if so, is vegas the all around best place to play and make all the dough? Btw, Biloxi is basically just a city in mississippi that has casinos. Not many, but it's a helluva lot closer to me than vegas

Grinding low limits in Vegas isn't prestigious but it is a nice way to make a small living. You can get between $20/hr and $30/hr from $1/2-3nl.

To do this, you need to pick your spots and your targets, play selectively tight, read opponents, table select well, and be patient.

It isn't the most interesting job and I wouldn't do it long term but it's fun for a few months till it becomes a grind.

My biggest tip for doing it in Vegas is to keep your living expenses low and to not fall for the vices surrounding you (gambling, drinking in excess, drugs, and certain women).

I don't plan on doing this for long so I haven't been aggressive in moving up much in stakes past $2/5nl but that would make this more challenging and probably more interesting.

Also, if doing low stakes, figure out which casinos are best for you. Vegas has lots of options and some people prefer jackpot drop rooms while others prefer the no jackpot rooms. Try all the rooms and find YOUR comfort zone.

Let me know via PM if you end up coming here or if you have other questions.

it depends on what your ideal lifestyle is OP. If you are a modest person, then it's definitely obtainable. it's a skill set that you can take with you any where you go and earn.

i you have some delusions of grandeur, then you are going to be disappointed. You'll need to bink a big tournament if you want to get that far... which is also entirely possible to do.

Yeah I wouldnt say Im delusional, but it's not a bad thing to dream big. So what do I need to be equipped with to play 1/2 and some 2/5 comfortably? Im thinking 10k should be plenty to start, but it will take quite some time for me to acquire that much from just working a basic job and grinding 1/2 every now and then

Taking a year off of after school and moving to Vegas and grinding is not a bad idea. Future employees aren't going to look at that too unfavorably.

What is your major?

Definitely PM TMack. He can hook you up with some great advice.

TESTIFY!

I'm a full time Las Vegas poker player. I mainly play low & mid stakes nl games, plus a few largish tournaments each year.

Its a tough occupation for many. In fact in the past year and half (since internet poker got shut down) I have seen lots of people come & go w/ the same dream.

The town of Las Vegas, behind the bright lights and glimmer, is full of hustlers, dreamers, scammers, broke retiree's, drinkers & drug addicts, runaway girls that turn to the sex industry, and degerate gamblers. Its an understatement to say Vegas is an unstable place. People come & go like no other city I've ever seen. You can meet 50 people who *live* in Vegas, and 45 of them will not have a 702 area code on thier phone.

That said, playing poker for a few months/maybe a year, can be fun. There probably won't be another time in your life where it would as easy as it would be for you now. Keep an open mind and go have fun. Assumming you'll "grow up" and get a real job soemtime in the future, get married and have a family...you can reflect back to the summer you played poker in vegas w/ fond memories. Best wishes sir

TMack, huh? I might have to pick his brain. And i'm a psychology major. Great field, but its kinda useless without a masters degree

i moved to vegas 3+ yrs ago and was grinding 1/2 and luckily and hard work allowed me to move up to play 2/5 and a lot of 5/10 recently...it is beatable if youre a good player, disciplined, and dont go on monkey tilt at the table or spew at pit games/hookers/drugs/strip clubs, that has broken many a people here...also, need to have some balance outside of poker, which ive struggled to do. vegas isnt that stable a city, there are also a lot of people trying to reach into your pockets if youre naive, so if you can find some good friends you can trust and some activities outside of poker it would help your mindset. not sure what else to say but ive been through the grind from the day i got here, so im pretty familiar with it now and there are many good pros around and even lots of people grinding 1/2, not as many fish either these days but they are out there...good luck, feel free to pm if you have specific questions

also, irt to bankrolls....im on the conservative side, but id say 5k for 1/2 and 1/3 and 15k for 2/5 would be ideal, or 10k if you buyin shorter and only in good games.. if you have no way o replenish the the br, have to protect it..but im a nit who refused to go bust at any cost so ymmw

Take his advice and do exactly opposite of what he did.

I still contend that I have the best of both worlds. I have a full-time job and get to play poker during the weekends. Granted it is not Vegas, but Tunica is not THAT much different.

I think those who should attempt to play poker for a living are those who can't find any better situations. If I was working in a call center making $8 an hour, you better believe I would try to move to Vegas and play poker for a better hourly.

But as the saying goes, those smart enough to make money at poker are capable of making more money in an easier environment outside of the poker table. That might be slightly different in this economy but it is not going to be like this forever.

We are just kidding about TMack. He is a well-known degen around here.

That is unfortunate about you degree. At this point, I would sack up and get my master's and hope for the best. Maybe you can get it at a university that is closer to a B&M casino than Tuscaloosa to Biloxi.

i would argue it will never be easier to get a new job w/out experience than immediately after graduation.

in 1 year, you will have nothing more to offer a future employer compared to a new college grad except 1 extra year of age and a gap in your resume.

edit: just saw your degree is in psychology. at least you can say you've been looking for a job since graduation, and that would be believable.

To each their own. Some peoples idea of "ideal lifestyle" will most likely be completely different than yours. Can you live off $x and still be happy? Do you mind putting a lot of time in at the tables while not having anyone but yourself to report to? So many questions to be asked that are specific to the individual.

Maybe the bigger question is how do you want to spend your life?

Just got back from a 3 day weekend and I got crushed. Probably have to share a cheap apartment with other low rollers, eat rice a roni and beans for breakfast/lunch/dinner. Most of the broke retirees trying to grind would stab you for a $10 pot.

Playing poker can be extremely boring, especially at the lower limits. Hour after hour, with people you don't want to be with doing stuff you don't want to do for a win rate of ~$10/hour.

Very few people can pull this off but lots want to try. Give it a try, you only live once.

Good luck.

Tobias: You know, Lindsay, as a therapist, I have advised a number of couples to explore an open relationship where the couple remains emotionally committed, but free to explore extra-marital encounters.
Lindsay: Well, did it work for those people?
Tobias: No, it never does. I mean, these people somehow delude themselves into thinking it might, but ... But it might work for us.

Thanks for all the input gang. Lol at TMack, good thing I didnt go that route; obviously I dont know the lay of the 2p2 land yet. Ultimately I'd like to grind out enough to start playing 5/10 and 10/20, all the while playing big tournaments and trying to hit it big, invest profits, build my net worth essentially. I got a girl and we're super serious and she wants to reside in northern alabama, close to tennessee and her family which inconveniently is no where close to any b&m poker games. But she'll be in auburn pursuing a nursing degree for quite a good while after I graduate so I have some time to do my thing before we settle anywhere. In any case, I suppose it's just gonna take me goin out there and seein what I can do with my own devices and learning from mistakes along the way. While I'd prefer to have a set plan or path to go down it's just not gonna be that easy. But the potential is definitely there; I love poker and am always in a mindset of analyzing people and their intentions, brushing up on strategy, driving 3.5 hours to florida to play 1/2 and make rent money. I've played for 17 hours straight and it felt like it was no more than 5. I know that isn't the best to play sessions for that long but if I can do anything for 17 hours straight, enjoy the hell out of it, and make money then I feel like that's the way to go. There are way too many people out there are workin **** jobs and making plenty of cash but are still miserable

I burst out laughing at this. Nicely quoted.

muahahahahha