Tip #1.... look for me in your game selection because I am a very bad player.

Tip #2 ... it is worth it to spring for a decent place to live/stay.

Tip #3 ... consider postponing your trip until the Spring, the poker will be better and the weather much better. The NCAA tournament is a good guide. OTOH, NFL playoffs make for okay weekends.

Sounds like a good point. OP, why not go to where's been said to be the mecca of 5/10 poker - LA?

Depends on your goals. If it is to strictly make as much money as humanly possible, then you don't want to go to LV. You should play in LA or FL. You want to be a hermit only coming out to play poker and eat as cheaply as possible. That isn't going to be much fun.

Since you are planning to go to LV and you just turned 21, I'm going to assume you want to have some fun as well. I'd look at it as if I played for 7 months and ended up with the same bankroll I started out with, it would have been a success. Enjoy life. Meet up with some girls. Take at least one weekend night off a week to party and not play. Pick another night of the week (Tuesdays or Wednesdays) to not play.

The mistake a lot of people make is they decide they want to mix having fun by getting drunk, wasted, whatever while playing poker. Keep them separate. It will be easier to avoid playing while drunk when you know you've got a break day coming in a few days.

So my original plan was actually supposed to be Los Angeles. But it's probably my least favorite city and far more expensive. I figure that life EV matters to some extent, and if I hate where I live I won't enjoy my time or my game either.

I also plan to take many trips to Los Angeles. If I find the games significantly better than Vegas, I may consider spending some time there. I'm starting in Vegas. After that, the plan is fluid and will be adjusted with new information.

I'm a huge partier so I won't be making decisions based upon that. Not to say I won't go out, just that it won't be a major influence on my decisions.

True. LA is only 4 hours away from Vegas. You can always do weekend trips to LA.

So... in my younger years I watched a movie and the plot sounds similar to op. The protagonist had 3 stacks of high society and wanted to hold off on his last year of school to chase the pipe dream in vegas. In before this is a level.

Missing "not"?

you've been waiting a while for this haven't you

Indeed I have

lol yes, certainly missing a 'not'. I'm NOT a huge partier.

good luck op

It sounds as if you've given your plan a lot of thought and are well prepared in all facets to pursue your dream.

Taking your junior year 'semester abroad' in Las Vegas circumvents any potential resume gaps following graduation.

I followed my own dream on a "jaunt" through Japan at a similar life juncture. It in turn has shaped my life for the past thirty-two years in ways that I continue to be thankful for.

"Once in a while it really hits people that they don't have to experience the world in the way they have been told." -- Alan Keightley.

Yes! This is something very, very few posters on 2+2 understand.

"Follow your bliss" - Joseph Campbell

FWIW - I own a technology company and 2+ year "gaps" in resumes from an experience timeline is a yellow flag and gets a question from me every time. Taking a semester off is a much better approach.

Personally, I would go Summer/Fall as the activity in LV is better than the winter/spring. Being in LV for the entire WSOP is a bucket list item for me.

Good luck and always keep your objectives for the experience in mind and stay disciplined (but not too disciplined!)

It's pretty dead for a couple months after the WSOP and not much better in the fall. Spring/summer allows you to build your roll for the WSOP, as well as lots of tourney series going on in Vegas and WPT in California.

Do you have an inkling of what you would do if finances/skill deficiencies force you to give up about three months in?

The idea of going to Vegas to play a reg-infested 5/T game full-time simply because you're a hometown hero in the local 2/5 games is really bad. If anything you should be starting lower than you are used to. I'd recommend starting with Wynn 1/3, then Bellagio 2/5 and then take it from there.

I do like the idea of taking a semester off to do this, as long as you complete your degree. I think it's much better to do this now than after you graduate. That being said, if my goal was to make money playing poker then I certainly wouldn't choose Vegas. I know lots of kids making really good money playing poker. One of them just bought a Tesla Model S P90D (0 to 60 in under 3 seconds). You aren't going to make that kind of coin playing with a bunch of nit regs in Vegas though.

It will make for an interesting story regardless. Good luck!

Danny, you're not properly rolled for 5/T with just over 30K. Plus the 5/T games are getting fewer and farther between. As suggested above by Dream Crusher, I would also recommend playing between 1/3 and 2/5.

Good luck, keep us updated, and most importantly keep your head straight and your nose clean

So an update on my original plan: Going to play mainly 2-5 during the week and take shots on weekends/times where the action seems to be good.

I am well aware that I'm not properly rolled to play 5-10. But this game has consumed so much of my life and time and at this point, it's about more than pure rationality for me. More than just 1's and 0's, if I may. We all got into this game because we like risk, right? I've spent the last 5 years grinding 1-2 and 2-5 and I'm not taking the semester off to do more of the same. This is where I'm at, infringing some rationality upon my idealism.

So take this post for what it is. I'm not trying to build a life for myself as a 1-3/2-5 grinder. That's not what this is about. It's a shot, a risk, a gamble. If I go broke, well at least a tried. But if I don't even take a shot, I won't forgive myself. I'm too young to live with regrets like this.

Maybe I'm a complete idiot. Who knows. But I intend to find out through firsthand experience. So with that in mind, enjoy the story. Hope it's a good one.

Kool. Good luck. We'll be rooting for you. Keep this thread updated as a trip report during your stay there.

No. I hate risk, but I like money.

But why Vegas? Even at 2-5 there are a bunch of nitty pros around town.

Vegas barely has anything above 2-5 though.

As I said before, my original plan was going to be Los Angeles. But 1) cost of living is absurd and 2) I ****ing hate Los Angeles.

With that in mind, I lucked into an LV rental that's both not too expensive and devoid of any sort of long-term commitment/lease (landlord wants only a 2-week notice before leaving). So if I get into town and find the games to be unbeatable (I've visited Vegas a few times and played both 2-5 and 5-10 and never found this to be the case), then I won't hesitate to adjust my plan and spend a month or more in LA. I'm not tied to anything except the first month or so in LV. As in, as I obtain new information, I will adjust my plans. And I expect my plans to be adjusted in some form or another. But frankly, I don't believe the low/mid-stakes grinders in LV to be all that great. And if anyone wants to prove me wrong, you'll get your chance soon enough.

And if you're suggesting I go to South Florida or Maryland or grind some juicy 2-5 games in Middle-Of-Nowhere Oklahoma then you're missing the point of why I'm doing this in the first place. I want a story.

This will be my last post justifying my thought process, though I do think it's helpful for you guys to know where my goals lie. I should have included more of this in my OP.

In the words of America's favorite dead entrepreneur: "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever."

subbed. glgl.

It’s not that the games are unbeatable or that the grinders are amazing players. I just think playing 2-5 against nitty pros isn’t really that glamorous or profitable either. And it’s not like this is online where you can play a bunch of hands quickly.

I agree that making large sums of money would make for a far less interesting story. I look forward to reading about your reg wars with the Bellagio 5/T nit grinders and their 3x raises.