Hey all,

Here's my deal. I'm from Southern California, good ol' USA, 24 years old. I played live back home but now traveling around the world full time on the money I saved from poker, working in a restaurant and freelance photography and film work (directing music videos and company and nightclub promo videos, worked on Hollywood films and nightclub photography).

I flew from California, my home, in April 2014 to Panama and hopped on a sailboat. I've been hitching rides on sailboats ever since. It's an unbeatable way to travel, in my opinion. There have been stops in French Polynesia, the Cook Islands, and Fiji where I am right now. We just watched an unbelievable Fijian sunset from the boat. I just switched boats now and we're going to Vanuatu in a few days, Solomon Islands (huge WW2 buff so excited for that) and then Papua New Guinea and I'll be getting off the boat in Bali, Indonesia and continuing traveling either by another boat or on foot until my money runs out.

I wish I could play online on the bigger sites but being a US citizen and “resident” is a little tough right now. Hopefully something will pass in CA next year. I play and have played low stakes NLHE on the US accepted sites though whenever I can but it's tough to make a worthwhile profit on them for the small volume I put in right now. I just do a lot, and I mean a lot, of poker studying right now. I have tons of poker books on PDF and hours of podcasts and videos to keep me occupied while sailing.

I've been thinking of getting a place somewhere in South East Asia for a month or two to finally play solid online poker and try my luck with living on it. What is everyone's advice on the best places to live and grind? Any advice on that lifestyle and getting set up with a site like PokerStars? Even tips on getting staked? Sorry if that's all too general and the fact that it's been answered and discussed hundreds of times on this forum...

Anyway, while I'm here, ask me anything about my travels and experiences sailing across the biggest ocean in the world! I'd love to give advice if anyone is looking to do something similar. Right now I have limited internet access as I'm sailing (the next passage could be up to a week) but I'll try to update as often as I can. Hopefully I get enough traffic on this thread to make it worthwhile for me and any readers. Maybe even make some contacts of people currently in South East Asia?

Thanks!

firsties

and I had big dreams of someday being a sailor and cruising the world...until I took my first sail. It's just so much work dude! spent 6 days at sea on calm water to galapagos and couldn't imagine when it really gets rough. props to you for hanging tough - you usually just go to ports and ask captains if they need a hand or what's the general process like to hitch a ride?

Getting back on stars is so so so much easier than you would imagine...just gotta be out of the US. ppl in travel group can help. don't ever get staked....

Nice trip, subbed...

Thanks man, you definitely have to be up for it and love the ocean but it's def an amazing experience. There are lots of ways to find captains, Internet forums, posting on community walls in marinas, asking around in port.
Why never get staked?

Thanks, hopefully more traffic comes!

Keep posting they will...you should head over to Cambodia, the lives games are juicy as hell and the cost of living is really low and a lot of fun there. Could get by on 500 - 1000 a month no worries...

Thailand. Hundreds of relocated poker players here, and everyone loves it. Its cheap, you can live very comfortably for little money, or you can live very lavishly for relatively cheap. No live games, but cheap flights to live games are available. Cambodia is a good option, but I would not recommend it for a first time traveler to SEA. Its more expensive by a small margin (at least in PP) compared to say Chiang Mai, and its lacking most of the Western comforts like modern infrastructures and hospitals. Thailand is outrageously comfortable, but lacking in live games.

what city in thailand would u recommend? i'm moving over there with a friend next summer to grind and live life.

chiang mai for sure, unless you just wish to party, then Bangkok.

I got to Vanuatu a couple days ago. Great sail over, the wind was strong and we got to Port Vila, Vanuatu in about 4 days from Fiji. Just exploring the town for a couple days before heading out NW again to a couple more islands then Solomon Islands.

How fast can you get set up with Pokerstars? I was thinking of renting a place in Thailand, maybe Cambodia, but only for a couple months or so. If I do well in poker who knows but right now is it realistic to be set up and playing within a month?

btw, there's a hotel with a tiny little casino in Port Vila right when you get off the dinghy dock. I asked if they had a poker room and the guy pointed upstairs. I got excited for a bit. Then he said they did but it shut down a few months ago due to lack of popularity... damn. They did have "casino holdem" where you play against the dealer. Looks iffy...