I’m moving for work and have the option of either going to LA or Austin. The poker scene is a big factor in my decision.

I’m currently a 1/2 grinder in Boston (Twin River Casino about 15 hours per week) and pay my rent every month playing. I am finally built my roll enough to move up stakes to 2/5 and want to play seriously semi-professionally (20-25 hours on the weekends) moving forward.

Can anyone speak to the poker scene or the relative strength of games of Austin, Boston, or LA? What areas I should be looking to move to within the cities?

I don't know of any poker scenes that can compete with LA.

I also don't think that a rec player who is logging 15 hours a week at 1/2 should prioritize poker over most of the other major quality of life metrics when deciding where to move.

Poker scene is L.A. is insane. Action is amazing and there are lots of rooms and games running.

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).

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.

Austin pokerccould literslly disappear overnight.

Agree Austin nicer got me at least but if poker really is major factor then I would go L.A.

LA is a much better place to live if you can afford it. It's great when you are making 100K+ a year and can afford to live somewhere decent but it sucks when you're making 50K and barely making rent.

LA will also be much better if you can play 2/5 or 5/5 games with a $500 or $1000 buyin. The lower stakes games have a high rake (usually $1 preflop $4+1 flop $1 turn for $7 total) regardless of pot size that makes the $100 or $200 buyin low stakes games a lot harder to beat.

Note that if the Austin rooms get shut down, there aren't any other somewhat nearby options (like Oklahoma for Dallas or Western Louisiana for Houston would be)

If you took a poll of people who have lived or even visited both places for any length of time, I think you would be proven wrong.

Is your work going to compensate for the cost of living difference? Not that Austin is cheap, but LA is ridiculously expensive.

You'll find places to play poker in either location. Unless you plan to quit your day job and start playing for a living, don't choose where to live based upon poker.

Very important detail I left out. My compensation is different for both cities. Relative to cost of living I’ll be making a little more in LA than in Austin actually.

I know it might seem crazy to have poker be a major decision. This contact is only for 3 months and then I’ll have the choice to move again. My goal is to build my roll as much as possible this Summer.

I’m getting my housing information for both offers today. I’ve heard LA can be great or a ****hole depending on the neighborhood you’re in so I’ll have more info on that later.

You might make a little more in LA, but CA state income tax will eat up all of that and then some. Texas has no state income tax so right off the bat there is a HUGE difference in cost of living between the two areas. Austin is just so much nicer than LA. I would literally think about this for 2 seconds and then move to Austin.

Don't worry about poker "disappearing" overnight in Texas or anywhere else. Poker will never disappear overnight in an area where there were once good rooms. Legal poker might disappear, but that's a completely different thing. There will always be underground games. I live out in the sticks a state where poker in any form is illegal and there are games every night of the week around me, some of them much bigger than I'm comfortable playing in.

Do not let the legality of poker factor into your decision.

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.

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.

The poker scene in Texas in general is only OK, and Austin does not have any legal casino's nearby (and the cardroom situation has been thoroughly discussed elsewhere)

That being said, take a look at property values in each location. Look at the cost of a 1,800 square foot house in South Austin or Round Rock or Cedar Park, and compare them to LA neighborhoods one hour commute from downtown. You will need to make about 50% more in LA to have an equiovalent lifestyle as Austin, and Austin is a very, very cool, very friendly, very active, and very liberal city. Also, no income tax

LA probably wins based on the poker scene, but make sure you consider everything else.

Disclaimer, I have never lived in LA, but have lived in Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio, so I might have a bias towards Texas.

I live in Southwest Austin. Half the people here these days are transplants from California who have migrated here due to the living costs being lower. I rarely every come across somebody who says they like LA better than being here in Austin. I couldn't tell you either way as I have never lived there. I can tell you that Austin is getting WAAAYY overpopulated and the traffic is getting crazy. Also living cost of living is raising very fast. My one bedroom apartment has gone up from $1,030 a month to $1,450 in two years.

As far as poker goes Austin has a bunch of cool little card rooms that you basically pay a membership to play at whether it be daily, monthly or yearly. The membership fees aren't bad at all, but then they also charge you an hourly fee while playing cash games. Usually about $7-$10 with specials at different times of the day. If it were up to me I would say Austin for quality of life, but would love to play in a place like LA with an actual casino. GL either way!

I don't know the first thing about Austin, but LA is an incredible city and the poker is great

If only staying for 3 months during the summer it would be LA for me, AINEC. Play the 500NL games, make a roadtrip or two to Vegas during WSOP weekends...and if you run bad you always have the amazing weather and beach for the rest of the summer.

If it were longer term, I'd start giving taxes, cost of living, etc. more weight.

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LA is the one with legal cardroom/casino poker.