Hello, I'm planning on spending a few months giving professional poker a shot and I am trying to figure out where to play. I have a winning track record at 1/2 and want to be playing 2/5. I would prefer a warm climate since I will be playing in the winter but cold isn't a deal breaker. Cost of living isn't a huge factor and I have a good size bankroll. From searching online these are the places I was considering:

L.A.-The short stack buy in structure for Commerce is a concern though

Vegas- I heard the 2/5 games can be tough

Tampa

Fort Lauderdale

D.C.

Baltimore

A.C.

Philly

Thanks. I did search and found some other threads but a lot of them were dated.

There's an identical thread started on September 1 and last bumped on September 11.

Not much has changed since then.

In LA, you'd want to play the 5/5 NLH game instead. At Commerce and some of the other 4 LA casinos, you can buy in for $500. At other of the 4 casinos, you can buy in for more. Just at Commerce alone, Bravo shows 6 5/5 NLH games going this Thursday evening.

How do "wanting to give professional poker a shot" and "cost of living is not an issue" go in the same question?

You have to be pretty good to overcome $5k/month living expenses by playing 2/5 but might turn a decent profit from 1/2 if your expenses are $1k/month.

Las Vegas and it's not even close.

ANY 2/5 game "can be tough"... but anyone with a good winning record should know how to adjust.

I suggest playing 2/5 before you decide to go pro playing 2/5.

That said, if you just want to try it out for a couple of months to say you did it, then play wherever you want to live.

Only going to be living there for a few months and will just be renting a room. If I was buying a house Or living there long term it's different story. But renting a room in LA for 1k a month or Tampa for 650 isn't going to be a huge difference. That's like ten dollars a day. If one place has better action I figure it would pay for itself.

Take 3 months and go to Vegas. While you are there make road trips to L.A., San Diego & Phoenix so that you get a feel for the play in all those areas. The Southwest doesn't have to be limited to just one city as they all are a 4-5 hour drive from each other. It gives you plenty of opportunities to check out cool places while breaking up the monotony of playing.

This .. This .. This ..

1) There is more than the Commerce in LA (Bike)
2) Half your list can have severe Winter weather?? What area are you leaving from?

3) 2/5 play is WAY different than 1/2 in most places. You will not be able to bully/steal pots as much and you better know how to play in and out of position. But on the other hand I do tell players that if they are good at 1/2 then 'most' of the 2/5 in Vegas will be comfortable/similar .. so that is a big plus for Vegas IMO.

4) Surprised no one has asked what you consider a 'good' BR to work from .. and how much outside of that will you bring to cover expenses. Please don't rely on winnings/BR to cover your expenses. It's also human nature to spend more cash when in a new place or when you have more 'down time' than in your current life.

I think you have a decent list of options that will have decent 2/5 available 7 days a week. There are other parts of the country that are very strong for poker, but not 7 days a week.

I realize that you don't know what you are looking for until you find it most times but definitely base your decision on more than just poker!! GL

Thanks, for the input. Have you played at the Bike? What did you think of it if so?

In terms of bankroll I can lose 20k playing and still have enough to live on for a year while I find a job.

I know the Bike from watching their Twitch streams. You certainly can't be sure that every table is similar to the players on the stream but my feeling is that it would be a competitive place to play. I've heard that the Commerce Floor rulings can lean a bit towards regs. The Bike is not on Bravo, but you can check out the Commerce if you want .. They have 42 tables going right now at 'lunch time' on a Friday!!

20K seems good for 1/2 with some stabs at 2/5 in there. What I always suggest, where available, is to start your night/day out at 1/2 and then move up if you make some early profit. Then you aren't using BR funds to play a higher stake. GL

The Bike isn't on Bravo, but you can similarly see a list of games in progress through Pokeratlas for that specific casino. Pokeratlas provides a "view live info" feature for the Bike. When you click on Cash Games, it pulls up a Bravo-type games in progress list. For some reason, the other LA casinos The Gardens, Hustler and Hollywood Park don't have that feature on there. I found the pokeratlas app to have login issues for me, but you can access the pokeratlas website without the app. The 1/2 there only has a $40-60 buy in, but the 2/3 NLH has up to a $300 buy in which would be a better buy in.