OP, no way that 1/2 will be enough to cover your gf and living expenses AND to grow your bankroll(really necessary) long-term. It's bad enough that the bankroll gets bled from losing sessions. You really need to protect that 20k since that's all you really have, so you need to get a day job now so that you don't bleed the bankroll on expenses, and play poker during evenings to really grow the bankroll and eventually move up 2/5 comfortably.

If he's good enough to play professionally than he doesn't need a day job, he has enough of a cushion. The issue is he may not even be a winning player and he is trying to go pro. Just by reading his posts, it doesn't seem like he has worked on his game, posted hand histories, etc.

You waited over 8 months to make your first 2+2 Post and you came up with that?

He waited for a subject where he has some expertise. Makes sense to me.

Yeah, the uncertainty of long-term Vegas win-rate definitely calls for a job.

If he wants to get a job and play some poker on the side, there’s way better places to take his RV to.

He can either take a shot now or change plans and do something else. That way, he’s at least figuring out if things work out or not. A wishy-washy approach will get him nowhere most likely.

Get a serious job at a place where you can find something that fits your skill set and play poker as a hobby or stay in Vegas and give pro poker a shot. Trying to work a ****ty job in Vegas while also taking poker seriously which includes lots of studying, is a recipe for disaster.

This ^^^
Keep in mind that variance in LHE is actually higher than in NLHE


Also, your "girlfriend" expenses of 400$/week are likely to increase quite a bit in vegas. Especially if you are playing 60hrs/week + commuting. She might get bored and burn that money faster

Her girlfriend does not have an illness. In fact, she's very healthy. Her name is Marissa.

Instead of playing cash games, play the small daily tournaments. The only have 30 players or less most of the time, which means they won't be that high variance.

If you're twice as good as the average player, you'll do okay. For example:

PH has an $80 buy in tournament with a rake of $22. If you're twice as good as the field then you make $58 per tournament. If you're in the money 6 times out of 30, you'll playing an average of 2 hours per tournament. That's $29 per hour.

The Bellagio, Bally's, and the Mirage have $100 to $150 buy in daily tournaments with small fields. You won't have Boski's huge tourney field variance and you can play as many as 5 or them with lots of rest in between.

Ugh I hate it when people say it like this.

For two games where the blinds are equal (1/2 NL vs 2/4 LHE), LHE has less variance.

For two games where the variance is equal (1/2 NL vs 5/10-6/12 LHE), NL has the higher potential winrate.

For two games where the potential winrate is equal (1/2 NL vs 10/20 LHE), NL has less variance.

But here's the thing - potential winrate doesn't equal personal winrate. Some people may be better at NL or better at LHE, or winners at one game while losers at the other.

Stating that one game has less variance than the other is pointless unless someone can crush both games equally. Switching to LHE because there's "less variance" is dumb, but as dumb as sticking with NL because there's "less variance."

The proper way to evaluate a game is to compare the ratio of win rate squared to variance (WR^2 / SD^2), which scales linearly with desirability (assuming WR is positive, obviously if you're a loser then not playing would be best).

lol, took me a couple of minutes to get it .... I am slow today.

Good advice, which OP will no doubt ignore.

Dude you didn’t have to go that deep into it.

I like the detail. Good learning tip.

So 6 posts in the first 6 hours and 0 posts in the last 6 days.

I think we've been here before.

I say you go for it - but don't keep trying if you are failing.

One thing about vegas - is the games are tough and very bad at times. Table selection is key even if that means going to another property . If you aren't good at table selection you are going to cost yourself a lot of $$$ Per hour. The difference is really huge.

Get good at PLO as well. When the NL games are really bad - the PLO games tend to be good. When I was in vegas during the WSOP I found some incredibly bad 2/5 games which is rare since higher stakes games are going - but it did happen. I just put my name on the PLO list - and got into a very good PLO game where I made a nice win rate for myself at the 1/2 - $5 bring in $500 cap PLO.

You are playing in vegas at one of the worst times to play. The 1/2 games should still be good, but the 2/5 games and higher are generally going to be bad. Sometimes the lower stakes games are better than the higher stakes ones. I constantly move down when the 2/5 games are filled with good players. It isn't worth it even if you are a better player. The hands are dealt too slow and your edges are too small to make it worth playing. You want blasters - and people that can't fold. If you have to move down in stakes to get them - move down. Also when the 2/5 game is the highest table in the room sometimes there are people that are colluding and it's going to be hard to spot. Some poker players are pieces of **** and if your 2/5 game has friends colluding at it, it's going to be that much harder to win.

Also don't forget to check out some of the 2/3 games other rooms have to offer. They are usually $1000 cap which is amazing and the game plays big especially when it's good.

If OP doesn't know the answers to his questions or hasn't taken the initiative to research them on his own, then he has no business playing professionally in Las Vegas. However, if he wants to play in 2/5 or preferably 5/10 games that's fine by me.

OP
- Begin keeping a diary/journal of every session you play. Write down the time, casino, table, game (1/2, 2/5, nl/lhe/plo etc..), results (win/loss) and notes on the play.
- Join a discussion or text group and start discussing hands with others that can give you useful feedback to improve play.
- Make a budget and stick to it.
- Play at least the first 1,000 hrs at the smallest possible game you can find and make sure you are capable of winning before throwing money away in bigger/tougher games. Rolled for $2/5nl doesn't mean you have to play there.
- Read the many, many threads/blogs of others that have done the same thing you are trying. Pay particular attention to the mistakes they made and try to avoid them yourself.
- Good luck! Many have tried, few have succeeded!

From many years of personal experience of summers in Vegas in groups of players of various ages and skill levels: The guys who play the highest limits where usually the ones that had very little idea about Vegas and everything about it the first time they went there.

Almost every 1/3 guy or low stakes tournament grinder put in hours of research before going for the first time, while the 5/10+ guys basically asked in the group chat if somebody already booked a house with an open room for them and what date they should book their flights for.

Dump the GF and pick up on random drunk chicks on Fremont from time to time. = +400/wk for poker.

Continue living in a van down by the river and live the dream we all wish we could. Good luck and ignore the haters.

GF ~ costly bad habits people don't want to admit publicly. Usually hard to get rid off

I'm starting to think it didn't go well for OP

That’s unexpected.

sold the RV and living in the tunnels?

The lie simply isn’t as funny if no one believes it.