Hey 2+2ers,

I am graduating from college in a few weeks, and luckily enough, I failed at landing a real job. So, I am free to move to Canada. I figured that there were probably plenty of other unemployed poker junkies looking to do the same, so why not all get a place together?

Only three qualifications for the Poker Pad:
-Must play reasonably regularly
-Must not be absolutely terrible (If your ROI is in the -65% range, you probably don't qualify)
-Generally just not a killjoy/dickhead.

I'm 22, and mostly grind micro NL 6max games on Stars, but play MTTs when I have the time.

I have my eyes on Ottawa, because its supposedly a sneakily great place to live in your 20s. (I don't know personally, but the info I found said its as good/better than Toronto and significantly cheaper). Rent there looks like it would be in the $600-$700 range, but there are options out there for less than that, especially if we can get three or four of us. I could be persuaded to look at other cities if I am given a good reason, but for now that's what I'm looking at.

Reply and/or PM if interested.

Well I lived in Ottawa all my life. I now live in Hull (which is just in Quebec, 5 minutes from downtown Ottawa). Rent in Quebec is much cheaper and electricity is cheaper too. If you are looking for a place, I recommend ottawa.kijiji.ca . Appts from Hull/Gatineau are also advertised on here. To give you an idea : I have a 2 bedroom appartment in Hull, top floor of a 3 floors building, rent is 650$/month + 55$ for hydro (I use two air conditionners in the summer).

Cheers

Edit : I am also walking distance from the local casino (which I am a dealer at), the poker room is pretty nice and from what I hear, lots of fish.

Im 20 my name Jeffrey I am also looking to move to canada and become a full time player. Might be intersted. How expensive of a place are you looking to get. Is it 600-700 total or per person. Im prolly still going to Vancouver. But good luck.

Im also from Ohio and looking into Windsor possibly. Never been there but seems like a decent city from some research, also has a Ceasars casino and is easy drive back home. And is at least slightly warmer than most other Canadian options.

From MN and would be willing to move in August. You'd be living there for 6 months correct? And maybe file for an extension?

Yeah - from what I understand, American citizens can get 6 months pretty easily, as long as you don't have a criminal record of any kind. And they want evidence of ties that will take you back to the states.

For anyone that's interested, I will make sure I get you all the info you need from an immigration standpoint.

I'm not sure that Ottawa is "Canada East", or great to live in your early 20s for that matter. Look at Toronto, Montreal, Halifax or Vancouver.

Didn't mean to imply that I thought Ottawa was part of some coloquial "Canada East" region. Simply that I am moving to the Eastern part of Canada (i.e. Ontario or Quebec).

In a vacuum I would definitely be heading to Vancouver, but I have ties here in the east. I can only go off of research I find on the internet, so if you have a reason for saying Ottawa isn't good for 20-somethings? I'm going off of third party research groups like:

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=...oJsXdeQERsq9IA

and

http://www.mercer.com/press-releases...ng-report-2010

+1

im from toronto and have never heard of any 20 something reference ottawa as a place to be or even visit... in addition to toronto, montreal, halifax, and vancouver, i would even through in whistler/banff...

with respect to affordability, i can only speak about toronto and assure you that 6-700 per person x 3/4 ppl will afford you an extensive selection of places... i currently rent a 2200 sq ft house for $1550/mth...

Thanks for the info, but I am more interested in stories from people who have lived there and disliked it. I mean, as gamblers our job is to take advantage of weaknesses in public perception, isn't it?

Hit me up with more info if this is going to happen. 20 yo out of PA

I'd be down if we can find a way to make it work and pokerstars agrees that their going to reinstate us soon as we get to Canada

Figure this is a good post to quote.

I've lived in Toronto, Ottawa and Windsor (also mentioned). Each of these cities has their own benefits. Feel free to PM me any questions.

Regarding s20Merlin's post, the casino in Hull is full of fish but keep in mind rake is high.

Slightly older and already living here so not looking to join in, just willing to help out.

Thanks for all your help Alex, just thought it might be helpful to post the info you gave me:


Windsor (car required):
Cheap as ****, lived with 3 other guys in school in a 5bdrm house for 250/mnth, granted not the nicest area but saved serious cash there. Can probably find a summer sublet from students if you just want to spend the summer there, although I never spent much of the summer so not sure what its like. I ended up leaving school there because it was far too easy to party 5+ nights/week. As an American you may not appreciate this point of view but me and most of the guys in school loved the weekends at clubs because it meant you were almost guaranteed an American -21 to go home with after the bar since Fri/Sat night the boarder was usually flooded with underage Americans coming to get hammered in Canada as Ontario law is 19+. Aside from club/bar scene there is nothing worth noting, could be good for grinding. Upside is close to Detroit (maybe downside), not that far from Chicago. Casino in Winsor itself and a few in Detroit.

Toronto (car optional): Bring your wallet! At any halfway decent bar expect 10$ min cover and over priced drinks, aka Heineken, Corona, Stella, or any import really to be 8$+. Rent is outrageous unless you want to live in a dump and even then it is still pretty steep. I lived in a quiet area 1bdrm basement apartment for 900/mtnh. There is alway stuff going on in Toronto though, hard to be bored. Stereotyping the American love of baseball here but Jays tickets are cheap and always available, even against Yankees, Sox, etc. No live casino really anywhere close 1hr min, maybe Fallsview is the closest and there is casinorama in Orillia north of Toronto. To all the people saying Toronto is best this is true if you have $$ but people are not really friendly as per the Canadian stereotype.

Ottawa (car required depending where you live):
If you are just looking for the summer, Ottawa is the best by far. Rent is reasonable as you have already looked into. Ottawa is hot and humid in the summer, think Florida (spent a ton of time in Orlando area and Ft. Meyers) you will sweat just standing, this is the same in Windsor and Toronto though so not a + or - for Ottawa. Google the Byward Market, greatest place during summer. Somewhat contradicting the stay for summer statement but Ottawa has a huge student population during Sept-April so that might be good for someone recently graduated. Casino in Hull is at most half hour from anywhere in Ottawa. Montreal is only 90mins-2hours away, depends how you drive, great for weekends.

Ok, so we have two of us on board now; we are ideally looking for at least one more, but it looks like this will definitely be happening.

Game if we find a place that is reasonable

Isn't this West Canada?

I'm thinking of heading to East Canada as well. Original plans are to go with g/f but that might not work out. Will know in a week or two and let you know. im a 23 yr old mid stakes cash game SNE grinder and need to get back to grinding.

Possibly interested depending on the concentration of cash game players and the final location

I'd strongly suggest Halifax as a spot for people in their 20s... can't really be beaten. The casino always runs 1/2 and at least a table of 2/5. More bars, restaurants, hot women per capita then anywhere else in Canada to boot.

If you have an open spot in Windsor or Toronto i'll take it asap

I'm 29 from Ohio, small stakes mtt sng grinder, thinking of moving to Windsor, would consider roommates, or just getting a studio apartment, want to know who else here is going to windsor, so we can get a beer or something.