Hey everyone - I'm headed out to LV for many many months.

I'd like to get a standard, normal job of some sort just to help pay for bills and rent/etc so I don't have to dip into my poker bankroll.

Anyone have any advice or guidance for a new resident looking for easy work?

Casinos? Restaurants? Anyone wanna help a fella get rolling?

it can be a pain in the ass to get casual jobs b/c city regulations (gaming cards/certs...culinary union...scope checks for casino jobs ect) surrounding the gaming industry...that said you can always try retail and food service off strip. or just go crush souls at pokerz all day?

As much as I love soul crushing, I am just trying to avoid crushing my own by not setting myself up correctly.

I've been looking at housing for the last million days and it's annoying and I've got a girlfriend tagging along and just want to create the illusion of "normal life" for her. haha.

Our decision at this point is whether to stank it up in a studio apt for a few months while finding jobs, a nicer place, and so on. Or just sign a lease in a decent $1k-$1.3k house w no jobs and no idea what the **** will happen tomorrow.

stupid, huh

lol well let me know if you end up requiring any assistance in bum hunting easy games...

I'd love to have a spirit guide...

I want to just trust that being a thinking human will allow me to generate some money against garbage/drunk players. It's hard though, ya know. I'll let you know when I roll into town.

Thanks man

Describe your age , qualifications and assets you have for a job...car etc. The more we know from you the better we can answer

+1. You'd need to provide a view of your roll too to see if its suitable for the games out here. Also, you really need to be prepared to play 2/5 - it's hard to make a living off 1/2

Well, I just turned 30. Have a bachelors degree from a damn good liberal arts school - Grinnell College.

I've been playing in bands in Austin TX for 5 years while essentially running a very small but successful catering company.

I cooked. I delegated responsibility. I accounted for money and did all inventory.

Have transportation. Was planning on moving to canyon gate, green valley ish areas.

I'm pretty adaptable as far as work goes, I've just been in food for a while.

I feel like if I jump into 2/5 I could get comfortable quickly but if I lose x amount of buyins I will be in struggle mode. I pretty much need to be employed to support my current roll (5k or so)

*Raises Hand*

I'm always up for bum hunting, kind Sir . . .

Top 3 bum games?

Can't you just start in a casino job then change job titles? I'm pretty sure your application gets moved to the bottom of the pile every time you switch jobs. Also, watch out for Ginger.

OK thats a good start. Is 5K just your poker roll or your life roll? GV area is nice but I think would add to your overall nut.

I'll leave it to the others to help you with the food industry/casino jobs. I know very little about that. I work for a gaming company but on the IT/Corporate side of the house.

Honestly Mr. Beam that kind of work sounds more appealing.

Any entry level IT job or computer/gaming related work would be a breath of fresh air.

I'm tired of turning animal flesh into people food.

What's the deal w/ Zappos out there? They employ a lot of people?

"overall nut?"

I'm referring to your overall monthly nut of expense that you would have to meet. IMO, from a cost perspective, Vegas can be a cheap place to live, an average place to live or an expensive place to live. It's all about the areas that are suitable to you and arrangements (house? apt? roommates? etc).

So, while areas like GV are very nice, they do come with a price that is higher than other places in Las Vegas. You'll also want to consider location - IMO Henderson is a pain to get in & out of, but some people just love that area (it's not for me). I'm just putting these things out there to think about because they change the "Vegas experience" (and budget!) quite a bit.

cost$ ^

Question - why leave a successful catering company to make an attempt at playing $2-$5 NL with only $5k, with no job prospects? All this with a girlfriend too. And you haven't said whether or not you are going to have to support her as well.

To be fair, the OP does realize he needs a job above all else. Most of us are talking to him about poker, but (again to be fair) his post was about moving here and finding work, not be just another one us poker bum locals

Gotcha. Well I'm not opposed at ALL to a cheaper cost of living as far as housing goes, I just don't know enough about the geography to know which is cheap and pleasant vs cheap and ghetto and or dangerous.

So my neighborhood selection is based on what I've accumulated online as far as crime, price, whatever.

I'll be w my girlfriend and we both will be trying to find menial jobs @ $10-15/hr. We'd prefer to live alone preferrably in a house or townhouse around $1000 or less.

An apartment would work but I have seen NOTHING but awful awful awful reviews about complexes in that price range. It's either roaches or bad neighbors or paper thin walls or unresponsive staff. The classic apartment problems.

Bottom line: I don't need a baller place. I just want it to be SAFE. and I am playing a guessing game, essentially.

Not trying to hate; just want to know the back story a bit more. I was curious to know if the life he's leaving behind would still be there for him if he decided to go back or if the need to make it work in Vegas was more imperative.

Well my whole adult life I've been flip flopping about my obsessions. Playing music and playing poker. I've spent years in Austin and have exhausted my will to play music. Great city, I'm just kind of over it.

My catering job and it's success kind of just appeared over time. Definitely not a passion of mine. I could own that place in 5 years time and it kind of scared me. Don't want to be trapped there.

I made about 25k there last year and if I could make 15k playing cards instead I would.

My gf is en route to have a career soon but will be working until then.

I was told upon departure that "my job will always be available."

I'm not the best resource because I'm basically self employed, but my understanding is that wages are a little lower out here. I wouldn't consider a $15/hr job to be "menial" out here. Depending on how "menial" you're talking, you might have to revise down to $8-9/hour.

Also, you should have no problems finding a 1BD for that price, maybe even a 2 BD in a nice part of Las Vegas. As a barometer, I live in one of the nicest neighborhoods in NW, 1 BD with my own attached garage for $725. I know 2BD can be had in the same area in the $900 range. My co-worker at Caesars also has a 1BD with attached garage in Summerlin for $1000 (but that's Summerlin and I thought he was insane for paying that).

also i will never have the opportunity to make 100k, 80k, 500kat my catering job. Ever. Ever. Poker is kind of open-ended as far as what can happen.

$1000 should more than suffice as far as a "nice" apartment goes. I mainly lived in Henderson and in the Southwest (between the South Point and the Orleans) and in both areas I had nice apartments very much in that range, if not less. Both neighborhoods were safe; plenty of families and all that good stuff.

If you're looking for quick work sales jobs are usually more available. No offense intended, but if your GF is hot she can look at a place like Las Vegas Athletic Club where they are usually looking for people to sell memberships. I had a few female friends who worked there in the past and they did fine. You can also sell timeshare although that may make you want to hang yourself. I knew a young couple who moved into town to play poker a few years back and they kept themselves afloat the first year by working for Tahiti Village Resort.

Got any neighborhood names or general areas?

Is North Las Vegas as bad as they say? And what hwys/roads would you say define that area?