Don't.

you sound like my gf.... you wanna elaborate on your one word answer?

Sorry, I have a headache

its all good man im cranky in the A.M too.

Lol, well here's my reasoning for not moving to Vegas:

1. The "nature" is fake, all these imported trees and grass. It's all just dirt and rock out there. I couldn't live somewhere like that

2. A larger concentration of fake people, degenerates, hustlers, scam artists, etc. than in other locales, reducing desirability

3. Got a buddy who moved out there just before the housing bust and he's miserable. Hates living there, doesn't even want to play poker just wants to get out but can't because he's upside down on his house due to the drop in prices


I guess certain people probably love this environment, but I personally would hate it. Before I had ever visited Vegas I thought I'd want to live there and play poker, but then I actually saw it in person and my mind was changed 180 degrees on that.

Im from Fresno so the heat is pretty comparable, but yeah vegas is a nasty place. The scummiest of the scummy. Im just looking for a change of pace anyways. Might take the plunge since ive been able to save like 10k since moving back in with my dad lol. Falling in love with the dirt cheap real estate prices though.

1. This depends on how you look at it...there is a lot of interesting things and even a certain beauty in a desert ecosystem despite it's harsh/bland appearance at first glance.

2. Not so much more than any city; I could see how this would bother some people but I find it fascinating to study the bizarre conglomeration of human nature here, good bad and ugly.

3. This was me for awhile, guess it grew on me.

All that said, certain people would be completely miserable out here (some people would anywhere) and worse still anyone with any propensity towards drug/alcohol abuse and/or gambling addiction will find themselves surrounded by far too much availability. It's also exceedingly hard on people who feed off a strong local social circle because most people are so loosely based here, I am more of an introvert who can be happy solo though so not a factor...get all the socialization I need in live games lol.

In my opinion it is a nice base to play poker from because your surrounded by good games and a strong poker scene. If you are into tournaments there is almost always something good going on. The food scene is unparallelled (in both quality and range) and there is no shortage of entertainment. Cost of living is ridiculously low for any city. There are plenty of outdoors/physical activities here from hiking, mountain biking, boating/water ski/wake boarding and so on...It's a short(ish) drive to go snowboarding in the winter or shoot over to Cali to surf in the summer. Airfare out of here is always on the low end price-wise which is a perk if like me you like to travel. I tell everyone you will likely find what you come here looking for...if you are in the wrong frame of mind or just the wrong fit you may hate it.

Pro-tip to whoever asked the question: Don't take advice about whether or not to move somewhere from someone who doesn't live there.

Then your friend is an idiot. Everyone who was upside down on their mortgage either short sold or did a refinance. Banks don't even fight them anymore. Your friend could easily get out from under the house and get his ass out of town if he's that miserable.

Yeah its something I would really like to do while I still have the opportunity being young with little responsibilities. Just wish I could find a roomate from back home to pack up with me. Pretty nervous about being on my own in such a crazy city. Roomed with a random before, but was setup by my college football coach. Got lucky was a very nice fit. no **** lol

You could try a homeshare, usually can be found on Craigslist. Get your own private room but share common areas. Could be an easy and economical way to get settled in if you're set on it.

Regarding the downswing, I am an engineer so my brain has been steeped in math. I would never have believed the extent you can run bad without experiencing it myself.

First thought it was just online being fixed - ran KK into AA on 3 tables simultaneously which kicked off a horrible 2 week downswing

Then had a live poker room that used to pay me like an ATM become impossible to take a dollar home from.

People can explain the gambler's fallacy all they want, but I definitely believe in the swings. Here's hoping yours reverses quickly and completely.

If you are really interested you should find a place in Las Vegas to rent for 3-6 months then make your decision.

Great thread hope you keep writing, very interesting read.

Yeah it's gunna be a low risk situation. If it doesn't work out I can always go back and work for my family business. Actually have full support from my family which is really cool.

OP how tight is the tinder game in Vegas lol?

It's actually mostly just pay for play on there...

OHHH word... Bummer

Norcaljew can give you plenty of tinder insight, lol.

OP you're taking the right steps. My next best suggestion would be to take a small break from all poker routines and do something radically different just to mix it up and make things more fun again. I.e. Play in a limit game with a buddy or new friend and splash around the 4/8 for a few hours. Sometimes I find just doing something different to bring some of the fun back into playing can help break a downswing.

Nothing scientific or hard line fact about it: just sort of a feeling type of thing that can swing the mental/emotional momentum of paying and if it doesn't work then the limit game (just for example) will not bleed you too bad so it won't hurt as bad to continue the downward swing.

Good luck, buddy!

Thx...sort of the direction I've been going on. Been neglecting my health and the gym during this downswing and have decided to focus on that and operate on reduced volume for the rest of September to just ride things out. I think I've gotten too thrown off my typical schedule and it impacted my game pretty bad; I play best when I have a pretty set routine. Going to iron out a more consistent schedule in October to try and get a good flow of momentum back.

Cheese, do you ever do any meditation? There's a trick I learned from a master archery instructor that's quick and simple and can even be done in between hands at a poker table. You might look weird for a minute with your eyes closed, but sometimes finding your center can help you focus. I've done it everywhere concentration is required, the shooting range, the golf course and even in a card room.

"The Flame in the Void"

1. Close your eyes and breathe deeply, in through your nose, out through your mouth. Create a circle of breath.
2. Imagine a candle flame, just the flame , against a void of complete darkness.
3. When you see the flame, imagine a few bubbles floating around the flame. The bubbles are inexplicably drawn to the flame
4. Visualize the bubbles being drawn to the flame and bursting one by one as they touch the flame.
5. When the last bubble pops, and only the flame remains, you are done. Open your eyes and you will feel completely relaxed, focused, aware, and able to concentrate on whatever task is ahead of you.


It might sound nuts, but it's something I learned as a kid from essentially a Zen master and works wonders when you feel you're losing control of something. It takes like 20 seconds at most once you've practiced it a few times. Give it a shot.

Well nothing like that at the actual table but I'm game to try anything haha...for me it's less about focus though and largely a confidence thing. If I'm truly running badly for an extended period of time I lose confidence and rather than thinking along the lines of 'how can I win this hand?' it becomes more like 'what is this guy going to beat me with?...' The weird thing is the lack of confidence actually seems to make me 'run' worse??? (obviously totally irrational) but it is undoubtedly making me fail to optimize value.

Bumping your awesome thread to inspire some run good.

Hope you turned it around man.

Thx for bump and run good. Actually I'm updating now might just take a minute to get it together.

get some pic's in there man. Those always help w/ the runbad!

So, Thursday was absolutely abysmal...I played for 11 hours between 2 back to back sessions and never got any positive momentum. It was a matter of taking a beat, working back to even, then taking another beat and so on. Truthfully I played far too long and in a 'get even' mentality which is counterproductive. The good thing is it wasn't just run bad at work, I made some genuinely bad plays and my instincts were off; Oddly I actually prefer this because as opposed to pure negative variance, I have something to reflect on and can fix. One of the worst was when I dropped -$136 on the following hand late into the second session...I had pp KK in mp and a truly terrible player UTG just goes to $20 which is well above the standard at this table, I feel like he most likely has a pair 99-QQ here and will likely spaz on most flops. I elect to just flat with position. On the flop of 10-A-7 2 hearts he just open shoves his last $136 into me...In confusion and obviously with bad reads I snapped it off and he had A9 os...fml haha...I talked myself into thinking he could be making this move with a picked up draw or a frustrated JJ/QQ which I still think he would but not with enough certainty to make the call into a $43 pot when the guy is gonna give the $ up anyways in better spots. Left down 1 BI ($300)

Friday I went to the Olympia convention and then played a shortish session at Ballys, picked up +$150 in an hour or so. Also some dude gave me his wrist band omw in to Olympia so $25 freeroll for me.

Saturday was basically the same, 3-4 hours +$100

Sunday and Monday I just drank and watched football lol...just missed a 6 team parlay on a little $10 bet when the Eagles let Washington get away with multiple one play TDs to kill my -6 spread in a game that ended -3.

I've been making it back in the gym and fixing my diet +really getting refocused and hammering out a solid, more structured approach/schedule for October that will help me with consistency and regaining momentum. All and all I'm feeling pretty optimistic for October and think getting back to a focused grind will go a long way.

Lets do some pics

Olympia Promo Girls







Me and the Brazilian Bombshell Michelle Lewin


Anyone wanna do some 700 pound deadlifts? lol


Caught some of the Bodyspace Model Search bikini
I had a thing for the girl in purple even though she was on the thicker side lol...annnd from back...



More from the bikini




For the Curve lovers haha



Brrrassssil


Hit up Peppermill after Sunday night, easy to find iconic place on the strip I got to from time to time. The food isn't spectacular or anything but it is inexpensive, has large portions, and is consistently decent and open 24 hours. Also as a bonus, some very attractive girls wash out of the clubs and into this place at the late hours.

Big @ss omelets with hash browns and a bagel/cream cheese for like 10-13 bucks


Lambo parked at the Olympia



Taking today off as well, will probably be back in action tomorrow. I've also been craving some Vegas buffets so will hopefully hit up a good one soon.

Nice pics. A real man uses that for curls not deadlift.