I'm sure you guys see hundreds of these threads, so I understand all "TL;DR"/"countdown to busto" type responses. I am looking for a bit of help and advice, though.

I'm a 24 year old unemployed college graduate (standard). Over the last several months, I've been able to win at a pretty solid $30/hour winrate playing 1/2 cash live at my local casino. While we don't get 2/5 games going as often, I'm winning in my smallish sample size at a $50/hour winrate. I've recommitted to studying the game and getting better over the last few months with subscriptions to a couple training websites, etc. etc.

I'm currently sitting on a bankroll of about $20,000, and I'm at a point in life where I want to move somewhere new and grow as a person. Vegas seems like a logical choice for me.

Questions,

1.) What's living in Vegas like? How's it different from spending a week there? What are the worst parts of living in Las Vegas?

2.) I'd be looking to rent a loft/apartment close to the strip, and I'd prefer not to bring my car to avoid that issue. What types of rent costs should I expect, and is there a lot of availability?

3.) For those of you who have made the trek to Vegas and done this successfully, what sucked, what was hard, and what if anything did you regret?

My heart is pretty set on moving to Vegas right now. My family is actually very supportive. I'm single, I have no ties to where I'm living now, and this might be the one chance in life I have to do this.

2+2, talk me out of it.

give it a shot man. whats the worst that could happen?? just set aside a few hundred bucks to get back home if you dont like it or cant hang. I just moved out here a couple months ago and so far its been good times. Id bring the car though unless itd be a huge hassle and maybe consider staying a little further off the strip, its nice to live somewhere quieter after being in the middle of all the action for a while.

If you are averaging $30/hour playing $1-$2 and $50/hour playing $2-$5 at your local casino(s), then I would advise that you stay where you are and continue to play there. I am not saying that you will necessarily do worse here, but why change a scenario in which you have a documented history of winning. I am not saying that the games here can't be beat, but from everything I have read here and been told by friends in other parts of the country games seem to be softer in other parts than here in Vegas. That having been said, hopefully I can still answer your questions:

1) It depends where you live. If you live in the more suburban areas then it can be like life anywhere else in America. Everything can be as "normal" and subdued as you want to make it. If you live closer to the strip and hang out there often, life can be very different - depending on your vices.

2) As a general rule, the closer you live to the strip the worse the apartment/neighborhood will be. Your choices are very limited if you insist on living on/near the strip. You can live in very nice areas like Henderson, Southern Highlands, etc. simply by bringing your car.

3) I probably spent too much money in my first year here. I used valets, tipped too much, always ate on the strip, etc. Fortunately I don't have any issues with gambling or drinking so that has never been a problem for me but it has been for many of my friends. If you have a predisposition towards these vices I would say don't even bother.

There about a thousand more things that can be said, but I'll stop here for now as I'm sure others will chime in with their views.

^^ This, great post.

It is expensive to live on the strip. When you get away from the strip but stay close it can be hit or miss safety wise. You will need to do some studying, but it will be much cheaper. Be prepared for having a hard time making friends if that matter. You can live in suburbia for cheap and be 15 minutes from the strip. I like living out in Summerlin because I can have a normal life but be 15 minutes from the chaos if I want to go be in it.

I am not sure that you will make $30/hr playing 1/2, maybe if you game select and only play Thur-Sat from 9pm-5am.

FWIW I did not move here to play live poker but after being here a year I am burnt on live play. Have you considered any burnout factor? Life here is what you make out of it. You have to be mature and able to control your vices, if not the city will eat you up.

Edit: I think you will hate living here without a car. It is not a pedestrian friendly city at all. Bring it, you will regret not having it if you don't. You might hear about a game that you want to play at a local's casino, or want to check out the buffet at M or whatever and if you do not have a car you will be very limited with where you can play and go, especially in the summer when it is too hot to walk far during the day.

With a winrate like that, you shouldn't move imo. Give it a try for a month, get back home for a few weeks and then decide what you want to do.

I understand why a 24yr old would want to move to Vegas, I get it, it's sexy BUT.......I wanted to move to vegas last year so i did a test run for two months.After week 3 Vegas became dull, hot and just not as much fun a my standard 1 week vacation.If your win rate is that much then stay but kid....but your gonna move anyway so just don't bang the first hooker u seee. GL

better be prepared for the worst drivers in the history of driving......also beggars....

If you have a winrate of $30/hr at 1/2 nl and $50/hr at 2/5 nl..why are you even considering moving to vegas? Also the rate that you provided to us was calculated in how long? if that rate is from playing poker for less than 6 months, than you shouldn't consider it a rate. If you have been consistent with that rate for 6 or more months than the rate is accurate.

No, that's California. Also, California.

Perhaps, but we have the longest red lights anywhere!

the worst drivers I have encountered here have california tags.....

also the lights a very short compared to NC

I'd agree with the previous posts, but here are my thoughts:

#1 - if you're making $30/hour, then why move, you're very likely to make less in Vegas. However, you should adjust your income to the cost of living in Vegas vs where you live now, could be more or less, depending on your situation.

#2 - $20k life roll, maybe not enough to run bad, make the move, and deal with all of the initial expenses + new vices. I'm much more in favor of the trial run, something like, "when I grind my $20k to $30k, I'll spend a month in Vegas with $5-7k month life/poker roll as a trial." This would give you a short-term goal to grind and improve, while enabling you to return without being busto.

#3 - Keep in mind that if you've vacationed in Vegas, your perception of it is altered. I've lived in resort towns/beach towns several times and when people go on vacation, they escape their problems and stresses, to the benefit of the town they're vacationing in, but when the move to that town, the bring all of that baggage with them and it's suddenly not the escape that it once was. I'm not implying that you're running from anything or looking to escape, just be aware that if you've vacationed in Vegas (and enjoyed it), that experience has likely inflated the appeal now.

good luck!

just buy 20k apple stock. or put it all on louisville. Either is better than moving to Vegas. I'd guess the stock will win.

I fully understand your urge to move to Vegas, and I think you should do it. Youre still young and if you blow your bankroll you can just go back home and grind it back. Ive been to Vegas many times and Ive had so much fun, and if I didnt have a long time girlfriend here in Sweden I would just move there.

If things fail just go back home with your new experiences. Good luck!

I hear there is a club promoter on these boards, if you need to get into a club wehn you get to lv. Just make sure you tip him.

Lonely, disgusting, and a bunch of old local retired nits grinding it up for comps.
LOL have fun Bra!

Hope you have friends and other hobbies. I'd rather be grinding Latin America.

Good Luck Man.

If you do not mind answering what was your major and what was your graduating GPA?

OK how is this: if you are in Vegas you will have a hard time applying for 'normal' jobs elsewhere while grinding. I predict, at some point, you will want a 'normal' job.

Hit this guy up if you are looking for a baller flatmate:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/10...style-1134385/

Well, let's start with the things you've got going right.

1. You've got a legitimate professional-sized bankroll for the stakes you intend to play.
2. Your family is supportive and not actively trying to talk you out of it. This is actually pretty huge, IMO.
3. You've been active in bettering your game. You should keep it up.
4. I assume that your record keeping has been meticulous. At the very least, you've got some semblance of record keeping so you can't lie to yourself.

Things I think you should additionally consider.

1. As others have mentioned, don't rush to make a long-term commitment. Rent a place for a month, take half your bankroll, and then decide.
2. Realize you can't use money at the rate you make money. If you're making $30/hr and you're living a $30/hr lifestyle, your bankroll is not growing and your ROR goes to 100%.
3. Realize that win rates are often overestimated. Did you run good initially? Take out that run good and see what your win rate is like. Or stack all your runbad at the front of your graph and all the runbad at the bad end and see if you would have survived if the order in which your luck occurred had been changed.
4. Make a list of all your vices and give them to a close friend with instructions to call you once a week/month and ask you tough questions. There are a lot of temptations in Vegas, and the last thing you want is to fail your dream because you're spending your bankroll on hookers and blow in the good times and then eating spaghetti and ketchup in the lean times.

And most importantly ...

5. Pics or it didn't happen.

I just had to pull this thread out of the dead...

December 2011 $20k Apple Stock would now be worth...~$781,000

Did you beat it?

1. If you have outdoor hobbies its great, except of course during the brutal heat of the summer. Wide variety of ethnic restaurants and gricery stores. Also Michelin starred restaurants. Downtown bar scene is pretty good. Weather generally sunny. Location close to hiking and biking.
Downsides (from personal experience)- ive read vegas is the hardest place to make money playing poker. I would qualify myself as a 1 out of 10 skill wise and i was bately above break even for 18 months.Summer heat is no joke. I got my car stolen twice so crime can be a problem. Ease of getting sucked into slots/table games. Hard to meet people. Bars are open 24/7.

2. I would not recommend living within 1 mile of the strip due to crime.

3. Like i said i lived in vegas playing poker for about 18 months. By the end of it, i never wanted to play poker again. Putting in a full 40 hour week at the tables is flat out draining for various reasons, and i rarely did that. If you have any type of weaknesses in your lifestyle i would not reccomend moving to vegas. If you have any mental issues ie prone to depression etc i would not move to vegas.

Would i do it again? Hmm that is tough to answer. Id say yes but with the caveat of saying i should have MOVED from Vegas to say Florida or California (where i could have gone back to playing dfs full time and still played poker) a lot sooner than it took me to move back to Georgia. Being around a gambling centric city is not for me.

All i have to say is you better really LOVE poker to do it full time. Any questions just ask.

Lol. This is so dumb i dont even know where to begin. So you can buy apple stock to pay your bills each month? Ill start there.

how are you unemployed if you graduated from standard?

I’m guessing he could have worked at starbucks and made more than moving to vegas, just saying... 20k is a tough nut to start with though god knows how 7card2003 has made it years on that much while randomly flying off to a new state to find the latest video black jack machine...

In any case, working at starbucks and 20k in apple stock would have been the better bet for this guy, though no one knows how the market will run, just another casino...

I do. You should start by checking post dates.

ShrimpBucket was posting 'I told you so', 8.5 years after the original poster started this thread.

You posted advice to the original poster 8.5 years after he requested it and then called ShrimpBucket dumb.

Start there.