There's no state income tax is probably what he meant.


What's the point? The point is to make money. I'd play online if there was a reasonable alternative.

BTW, Vegas is an "amazing" place to live if you like to degen it up. California has always been the capitol of poker, but if you're looking for hookers, blow, gambling of any kind, free booze, drinking at 6am in the streets without anyone batting an eye and the cops waving hello, then Vegas is pretty amazing.

Sounds preeeetty good

I can't wait to get back to Vegas to at least watch the degen lifestyle while I go to school, work part time, and somehow hold volume at 2-5 and not wanting to punt my 30s away at any moment...meh, it will be fun, I probably get on drugs eventually and start worrying about live rake back to eat and such...

Anyone who thinks they need to move to Vegas in order to be a full time poker pro is not ready to be a poker pro.

It's not the 80's anymore so try to find a less depressing place to build your life around.

I've heard from more then a few pro's through interviews that Vegas high stakes action has dried up. Has this also trickled down to 1/2? Or since these are the lowest stakes possible and affordable by most people that the 1/2 game is unaffected?

The problem with low stakes in Vegas is that every wannabe grinder (like OP) thinks you have to move to Vegas if you want to play poker for a living. So the games are naturally going to be at least a bit tougher than other parts of the country.

In all seriousness, some of us just have friends there that don't play poker and have jobs there, and poker is just fourth or fifth down the list lol. I would move to FL or something or well, heck, I'd move out of the country and grind PStars if being a pro is what I really wanted...though I'd never say pro, sounds super lame...

1/2nl and 2/5nl will never dry up. Ever.

I grinded poker during the layoffs and recession of 2009 - 2012 and if anything these stakes were more live since so many people were desperate to make money...

This.

If I were young and looking for a place to go to "become a pro" then screw Vegas. I'd go to Canada near a live casino so I'd have the best of both worlds, PokerStars AND live play ftw.

Truth be told, I don't think Vegas is the best place for live poker. An exception can be made during the WSOP since poker in that area gets super charged, but other than that May - Jul time frame, I'm not a big fan of Vegas poker.

The thing I HATE the most about poker in Vegas is the table turnover. WHen you play in Vegas, people jump in and out of games at a super high frequency. I'll sit at a table and within the first 2 hours we've easily gone through 8 or 9 different players popping in and out. And add on that the hit and running. Someone wins a huge pot for 300bb, they are 75% to immediately rack up and leave

But if you play in a local casino in CA or FL, then you get to know who the super droolers are, table turnover is much less and you can develop good reads on the players and the table dynamics which further increases your winrate...

Not to say Vegas doesn't have its merits. You got clueless drunk tourists and unrivaled table selection and the fact that 24/7 there is a game going... but its not like its the automatic "best choice" to grind 1/2nl and 2/5nl...

Plus, you could sit 1k or 2k deep with me playing 1/2 at Gold Nugget. I think Moneymaker was there last year, as well. We'd play NL until the PLO8 goes, ofc.

A lot of people say it isn't the best place but in terms of games running round the clock and for just how easy it is to walk from casino to casino it makes up for it.

Im not sure games are better during WSOP, there are a ton more players/games going of course but you get a lot of people that come in because they like poker or are playing tournaments etc. Im not saying these people are good, but they aren't drunks/tourists just looking to have fun, a lot of them take it pretty seriously and have some decent knowledge of the game.

Oh, it's definitely better during the WSOP.

No way. I'd rather be in at least 2 and maybe 3 other places than Vegas as far as games go, and that doesn't even account for lifestyle. Vegas does win on the Cost of Housing, though.

I think you two are talking about different things. Maybe 1/2 (which is generally full of drunk tourists) doesn't change that much, but the tourney donks who decide to play 5/10+ make the mid-large stake games MUCH better come WSOP time.

I'm talking from a 1/2, 1/3, 2/5 point of view. I can imagine 5/10 and above might be better because it's a totally different game.

No, the WSOP players make 2/5nl and 5/10nl very juicy for two big reasons.

#1) Tournament players are typically horrendous cash game players

#2) They are freshly tilted having just busted out of the tournament

WSOP tournament players surprised me with how awful they are. I kinda thought since the buy-ins were so high that you'd get a better breed of player.

No, not really. Obviously there are some good players in there and pros, but by and large, 40% of the field is easily dead money and another 40% don't play cash game worth a damn...

so yeah, during the WSOP, poker in Vegas is off the hook...

It is just amazing to sit at the Bellagio and have a guy who just busted out and a couple of his backers sit at your table. The first time I saw this was my first 30/60 session, and for free you have 3 guys on stone tilt arguing about a bust-out hand. No reads? Well, except for those guys who are clearly not on A or B game.