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Originally Posted by MikeStarr
Austin poker scene is much smaller but will do (that could change because raked poker is illegal in Texas and these card clubs are only quasi legal. They've been shut down in the Dallas area).
As noted in the other thread dealing with Texas rooms, the Dallas situation was NOT shutdowns by law enforcement or prosecutors. It was a decision by the owners of the rooms to cease doing business rather than call the bluff by a police department not noted for their firm grasp of the law.
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Outside of poker, Austin is a million times nicer than L.A. and has much much cheaper cost of living. Id choose Austin if I were you.
Concur on this. I would do everything I could to avoid having to be in Los Angeles. Fifteen to twenty hours of poker per week is NOT worth the nuisance of the traffic plus the insanity of costs of living in or near LA. There is plenty of affordable housing outside of the city limits in Austin (which saves about a dollar per hundred in valuation on property taxes), to say nothing of the lack of State income taxes. Gas is also substantially less, although it has gone back up to about $2.30 per gallon in the past few weeks...and, on the issue of vehicles, your registration will run about $80 per year for the tag renewals. The ONLY tax on vehicles will be the initial purchase which sees the basic sales tax on the net price of the transaction. I have never lived in California, so I cannot speak to the difference in car insurance, but am guessing you would see a lower premium in Austin than in LA.
Now that the lunacy of South by So What the Eff is done, I would suggest taking a week to spend in Austin and then do the same in LA. SXSW is one of those events where MANY locals take that as a week to get OUT of town...even the Court of Criminal Appeals pretty much shuts down. You do also have the Lege in session for another few months, which will impact hotel rooms downtown...north and south of town will be good to go though. The other major event/facility to pay attention to on travel to Austin will be F1 or another major function at Circuit of the Americas.
Remember also that you can get a quick non-stop flight out of Austin and be in New Orleans or Biloxi in a little over an hour, with both of those areas ALSO having great cash games, even if not the volume you would find in Los Angeles or the surrounding area. Financially, you will be in much better shape going to Austin.