Greetings 2+2. Former lurker here, glad to be part of the community.

I have a goal/challenge for myself, and I'd like to get some feedback on it from you all. I'll give you some more information about myself shortly, but before that I'd like to describe to you what I'm interested in trying. I'd like to spend a month in Vegas, and play 6 days a week or ~60 hours weekly, for one month. Currently, I'd plan on primarily playing 1/2 NL due to the size of my bankroll, however, if I were to go on a tear the first couple of weeks, perhaps move up to 2/5 if my bankroll permits it. My goal? Earn $10/hr+ playing 1/2. Some may argue thats a lofty goal, especially considering the fact I'll only be logging around 240 hours, but I personally think its highly attainable.

About myself: I'm a Minnesota player. I've played poker on and off since 2004. When I went to university, I played online only as it was nearly impossible to get a game. Since moving back, I've had the opportunity to get back into card rooms, and have been playing steady the last few months. Here, I'm a 2-100 spread limit player (as we do not have NL in MN). I'm a winning player (~12/hr) over the past 3 months/300 hours. I intend to continue to play here, and build my bankroll. My goal currently is to spend October in Vegas.

As my job/living arrangement is reasonably flexible, packing up for a month of my life is an option I'm happy to have. 22 years old. I know an individual that can get me a month at the MGM Sig. for $1,500 for the month. Condo is fully furnished/has kitchen so I can cook and whatnot.

My starting bankroll will be $6,000, or 30 BI's. Rent for my month will be $1,500, and I'll bring $2,000 for living expenses (may be high but I enjoy dining out/want to take a day off a week to golf/enjoy myself off the table). Total of $9,500. Bills for the month will be paid for in advance off my life roll, I'd strictly be in Vegas to focus on poker.

Why am I doing this? I want to see if I'm capable of "grinding" for a living. Again, I'm far from an amateur player, but I've never attempted to play for a living, and I'm wise enough to know I'm capable of improving my game significantly. I'm doing this as a learning experience, and to see where I'm at, or if I'd even enjoy devoting all of my time to poker.

I'm looking for any insight/advice anyone can offer. From where to find the softest 1/2 or 2/5 tables, or constructive criticism. I have 6 months to prepare for this, and would be interested to hear from ya'll. Thanks.

First thoughts that come to my mind is that you are going to love vegas and do really well at poker (1/2 is not a tough game), but it wont really give you the answer you are looking for because a month of grinding really is not much time at all. To know if you are capable of grinding for a living you would not only need more time at tougher games and also more time grinding to see if you would get burnt out or not.

Either way sounds like a fun experience, GL

I think, even if you fail, you will have a great experience. Good luck and remember to have fun!

Good luck mate, i think being in vegas for a month is just totally sick anyway, so im sure you will have a whale of a time. Hopefully find some Whales at the tables also to make it profitable haha

GL

Couple of things...

A. Have fun in Vegas. You will grind the 60 hours a week no problem, but have fun too. Take a morning to play some golf or even go to a country line dancing bar like Stoney's in town square or Revolver at Santa Fe for a ladies nights so you can hopefully get some if you are into that sort of thing...or just for the beers.

B. Living expenses are too high man. You don't need to pay $1500 a month there and still be safe. Just make a post here to some of the guys that live there and grind and stay with them on the couch for a couple of hundred and you won't be home much anyway.

C. If you are playing at the right time and right places (nights, Planet Hollywood or Golden Nugget on weekends at night) you should be doing better than $12 an hour, honestly. Just ask around to the guys on here who do grind 1/2 like pure_aggression and a few others and see where they hit up certain places and at what times.

D. Keep researching everything. There are always great ways to save money, such as using a monthly bus pass. Also, you have a number of things to check out there, such as Red Rock, Mt. Charleston, or a road trip to Zion National Park in Utah or the Hoover Dam, and even a longer trip to see the coast. One time, I was bored, and drove to Long Beach and just got to hang out all by myself, it was awesome. Just think of everything and enjoy it. October is a perfect time.

Best of luck

I appreciate the advice and positivity guys. Like I said, I'm still working out details and will be for quite some time, as my goal is to go in October. I'm looking forward to improving my game on the 2-100 spread table these next 6 months, maybe I can even grind my entire bankroll to pay for the month, that'd be sweet.


Klein: I'm also pretty confident I can beat 1/2. Again, I'm far from a total amateur, but I do have a lot of work to do with my game. The small sample size (month) will be tough to really see where I'm at, but its also about me seeing if I'd like the lifestyle (living in Vegas). Its an experiment I'm defiantly looking forward to.


Runninman: With regards to living expenses, I'm budgeting that $500 a week to include entertainment. I could survive on a fraction of that, but in reality, I'm sure I'll be entertaining myself as well. As far as housing goes, I recently discovered that you 2+2 guys occasionally do housing swaps/roommate deals over the forum. Maybe once I'm a little more established on the forum/closer to my departure its an option I could take. I'd certainly be open to the option. I've also been looking into the Holiday Royale as a potential option for almost half the cost.


This will be my 3rd time in Vegas, so I'm not entirely new to the scene, but considering its my 3rd time, I have A LOT to experience. Especially with poker, in the two times I've been there, I've probably played a total of 10 hours. Both times were with friends that don't really play, and it was more of a party/golf/pool type of trip. "Classic Vegas" stuff. It will be really eye opening to see what its like to spend more than 4 days there, defiantly looking forward to it.


I won't be using this thread as a blog of the status of the grinding I am doing, perhaps I'll open one of those up in the near future. I am more looking for the type of advice/thoughts that you guys have been providing. However, come October, I'll defiantly be posting a full TR with hands/graphs ect. so ya'll can critique how I'm doing.

Thanks again guys.

Check out the Las Vegas Lifestyles subforum under 2+2 communities for lot's of pertinent info. There are plenty of rooms that spread 1/2 I would recommend playing at the rooms with the lowest rake. Why pay more for the same thing? $10/hr is very reasonable and achievable, 60 hrs/week is tougher than at sounds, I've tried. When playing those 10 hr sessions it is very hard to focus and play A game for the last 3 hrs or so, but if you eat healthy and stay in good physical shape that should help with endurance.

Thanks for the input. I've been lurking LVL primarily since joining, has a lot of good info. 60/hr a week is quite a bit, especially when I'm hoping to do it in 6 days rather than 7 (so that I can have a day off). This 60 hr/week is more of an estimate/goal of what i'm shooting for. I regularly take breaks at the table (I don't smoke), but I'll get up and take laps around the room for a few minutes or hit the bathroom ect. I try to take 5 minutes or so away from the table every 60-90 minutes.

I'll be experimenting with different rooms/trying to find my most profitable/best option. Perhaps once I get out there I can buy you a beer and pick your brain for a bit, I'm defiantly hoping to meet up with some individuals from the forum, as I'm taking this trip solo. It'd defiantly be nice to have people to sweat with/perhaps go out for a night.

Do you play in Shakopee? I'm from Jordan if.you know where that is

Sent from my SPH-L720 using 2+2 Forums

Not exactly sure where Jordan is but yes, I'm a regular player at Canterbury.

My advice is to become an avid 2+2 poster, make some 2+2 friends, and couch surf for the month.

$1500/month living expenses is way way wayyyy too high (as has already been commented on).

Also, there are a ton of threads you need to be reading and subscribing to,

this one in particular

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/17...vegas-1038462/

there are more PG&C threads you need to subscribe and read and stop lurking. Become an active 2+2 members and get your post count up to 1k before you head to Vegas and you will have a much better experience.

You get out of 2+2 what you put into it...

GL

Thanks for the input DGI. I'm subbing to both your nosebleed thread I found earlier, and also pure aggressions. Both have been very good reads thus far. I'm going to start a progress report of my own here shortly. Also, I'm defiantly reconsidering the living arrangement I had in mind. I'm sure there are better ways that I could allocate 1.5k.

Thanks again and GL.