Hello all;
Long time lurker first time poster
Have searched a bit and have found some.information but maybe a fresh post might be able to help.me.more.
A little bit about myself.*
20 year old college student who has put myself through school playing poker. Have put in* around 1500 hrs since start of this year and** 1200 last year. Local biggest game is a 2/5 NL 1/2/5 PLO mix game that has run everyday with 1 or two tables pretty consistently. Over a 3000 hr sample in past 3 yrs, in this game I'm around a $45/hr winner. However; in past few months the game has been slowing down. From everyday 2 tables+ down to 1 game 5-6 handed and breaks often.
This in addition to completing undergrad this fall, I'm looking* for places to move to grind for a year or two.

What i have available /planned out
Poker roll- 25k
Life expense roll- 10k
Bitcoin investments to fall back on if needed- around 15k

Games looking to play
2/5 NL with option of 5/10 NL+ as soon as roll is around 35k+
1/2/5 or 5/5 PLO

I plan on putting in a ton of hours next year to build net worth. I am not opposed to moving anywhere. I am not a partier/ don't care that much about socializing etc.

Priority list-
Safe environment
Availability of games
Cost of living v.s. roi in game


Looking for some advice.* These are some places I have looked into briefly but unsure what would be best.

Tampa
South FL
Maryland live
Foxwoods
Mgm national harbor
Atlantic city
Vegas
LA


For any insight on any of these places or maybe other places aswell, I am very appreciative
Thank you!

Get a job related to your degree. Play nights and weekends. If you don't, any future employer is going to wonder why you didn't get a job when you graduated.

Cost of Living: Avoid the red places on this map:

https://www.missourieconomy.org/indi...ving/index.stm

So not the Northeast / Mid Atlantic or California.

Also, bitcoins have been a great investment, and I have no idea if they will increase or decrease in value. Experts disagree. But as an "investment to fall back on" they are a big risk.

Appreciate the thoughts, however I will be doing an online masters program in mean time. I have never done well on traditional 9-5 jobs, and love poker way too much right now to do anything different. If poker were to fail then I will have degrees to pursue some other career.

Alextherider , Thank you! When I meanthink bitcoin to fall back on, it was along lines of in immediate need. If all fails I have an education to truly fall back on if needbe. In terms of cost of living in knew those places were higher, but I'm not opposed for paying more IF the games are considerably better if that makes any sense

He (correctly) specified the cost of living as a ratio to his potential ROI, not absolute cost of living.

It may cost double to live in a place like LA, but if you can make twice as much playing poker you're actually better than even (assuming you don't spend every cent of your income, being able to save $60k minus $50k is better than being able to save $30k minus $25k).

These threads are always the same. People promoting where they live, dumping on cost if living or social opportunities in areas they dislike, and mixing in advice to just get a degree or a job.

Why don't you just start in Connecticut and work your way south to Florida, stopping in AC, Philly, and MD along the way. Make it a month-long research trip and figure out where you're happiest or most comfortable?

Yes, that's exactly what I mean. As soon as I turn 21, I plan on doing some traveling to some of the spots I mentioned to get a feel for them before I make any decisions but was looking for insight from people from these areas that could tell me are LA games twice as profitable as other places? I have highly considered LA. Without others opinions, my current choice would either be la or south fl more than likely.
I spend very little on myself and can live off ramen LOL. Anything I make will be added to roll or be reinvested.
What i have done so far is each month my monthly profit I have done this breakdown
25% student debt
10% investment (bitcoin is where most of it has went but got screwed over a large sum of this awhile back by a "friend) And would like to increase that as soon as am done with school payments completely.
And other 65% goes into life roll ( previously never seperated poker and life roll bc didn't have a ton of expenses etc)
So pretty much everything I make is reinvested in something meaningful.

Missed this msg in my last post, I do 100% plan on doing this as soon as i turn 21 in feburary. Just was looking to see if could get any input from local grinders in any of these areas ahead of time to do some thinking and planning. Thank you!

Fair enough, but I doubt that the ROI / Cost of Living distinction makes a practical difference. Are the mid-stakes games so much better in LA, or other high cost of living locations, as opposed to LAS or FL?

I play 1/2 NL and have not played in LA, but I'm skeptical.

The games he's planning to play run in the low cost drunken tourist magnets of LAS and South Florida.

BTW I live in CT and like it, so I'm not hating on the Northeast.

When I gave serious thought to doing this, I would have likely choosen either Philly or half way between AC and Philly. Having both Borgata and Parx in driving distance would be the best case scenario imo. I just hate Philly...lol

I like this idea a lot and good on you for planning on putting in the time yourself to research. You'll find great games at Maryland Live and MGM National Harbor, but the cost of living is unfortunately absurdly high. You might find that the nightlife and accessibility of a very good labor market for when you're done your advanced degree (or during if you plan to intern/co-op) are worth it though.

You don't need to wait until you're 21 to check out SoFla; 18 is the legal minimum age to play poker.

Yes been there multiple times during the tourny series when i was able to get away. Didnt know if games were that good bc of the series or if we're always good.

Pick a place where you'd like to live for a while and play there. You're trying this out, not picking where you'd live for the next 45 years. If it is too expensive, play somewhere else.

I've never played in LA or FL, so I can't say personally whether games are softer. However, I do note that LA has some of the biggest midstakes pools and some of the only high stakes pools in the country.

Las Vegas seems okay for 1/2 NL on the weekends but if you're playing 5/10 NL or 40/80 LHE for a living you have to consider what's available 3pm on a Wednesday.

Like others have said, take a 4 month trip and visit 6 locations for 2 weeks each (and then split the last month at your two finalists). You may realize that you can't stand being around New Englanders, or you're way too tempted by Tampa Bay strip clubs, or can't stand the heat in Nevadan summers, or you meet someone amazing and move into her LA studio apartment rent free. No sense in trying to predict that all up front, or excluding places based on what the Internet says.

You're going to find pretty good 2-5 games just about anywhere in FL. South Fl is more expensive than north or central Fl but also has more game selection. And don't discount Jacksonville, Daytona, and the new room at Orange City.

I live in CT and i would recommend not coming here. Highish COL and no where desirable/resonable to live within 45 mins. Plus high taxes which must be taken under consideration if serious.

nobody has mentioned it yet but Louisiana is a good place to grind

Specifically Lake Charles ( New Orleans is overpriced and only has 1 poker room)

LC is 2 hours from Houston and has 3 casinos w poker rooms.
They play 1/3 NL very deep stacked , basically uncapped, and plays bigger than most places' 2/5 and the game is usually wild
They also play 2/5 uncapped

Southwest Louisiana sucks but OP says he doesn't care about socializing etc

Come to LA. You'll have 5 casinos in the Commerce, the Bicycle, Hawaiian Gardens, Hustler and Hollywood Park. Get into a modest studio apartment and live frugally like you said you can.

Baltimore. Low cost of living and the PLO games at the horseshoe are great + they allow a 5x straddle and people post it - meaning the 2/2 5 card game is usually 2/2/10 and it is amazing.

There is plenty of affordable living in all your areas. You simply need to decide what type of climate, seasonal changes, lifestyle you want to live. Does the desert appeal to you? Beach? Green grass and winter weather?

Playing 1-2 and 2-5 is profitable everywhere in the country, although living at 1-2 levles isn't most peoples idea of "living."

Point is it all comes down to where you want to be. Chances are you will only be signing a 1 year lease. So you won't be tied to any area...

If you want to play while you scout reasonably priced living quarters in the NE, the Twin River Casino in RI is 18+. You'll have to wait for February for Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun though.

OP I would consider this.

In general NJ is high cost but there are pockets in southern part not along the coast where it would be very cheap for rent. The main drawback is no entertainment or nightlife or maybe much of anything possibly. But you mentioned it wasn't a big deal for you.

I live along the jersey coast and love being able to go to both.

Then you also have NJ online if you want to play that.

I would like to hear any thoughts about marylamd if anyone is from the area. MD LIVE and MGM look great. Looking for insight into COL/affordable rent near those casinos

MD has great low/midstakes action but the COL is pretty high, especially around MGM. Baltimore/Horshoe probably offers the cheapest living but arguably the worst poker. Some people say it's a hidden gem of action but there's never more than one game of 2/5 running and even that's not super consistent so I'd say it's fairly hit or miss. Additionally, if you're concerned about safety, Baltimore is probably the last place you want to live.

MD Live is decent but has taken a noticeable hit since MGM opened. There's still always 2/5 action there, except during some odd weekday hours. I'd expect it to be a middle ground in terms of COL, more expensive than Bmore but cheaper than D.C./VA.

MGM is the new poker hub for the area and always has the most 2/5 games running. It's basically the only place to find 5/T+ and imo consistently has the best action across all game formats and stakes.

I'd honestly be I pretty hesitant to move to MD if your life expense roll is only 10k. You also need to factor in that you will surely need a car and traffic is a ***** in the DMV. Furthermore, there are a lot of solid players in the MD area and FL/LA are arguably much softer and larger player fields for 2/5 and 5/T.

One last thought: If youre planning to play PLO, the 5 card variant has completely taken over so expect to play that lol.