Hello fello poker players. my name is lordjosejose on pokerstars. official ambassador to the great city of medellin. what i hope to accomplish with this thread is 1, build awareness for poker players to experience what medellin colombia has to offer, 2, network and build a community to socialize for players allrdy here, 3. assist poker players looking to come here, to give advice on budgeting and what expenses to expect in medellin. i can assist with that free of charge of course i speak perfect spanish , have a firm understanding of the real estate market here in poblado, and i have a good relation with tons of property managers here. also to give advice on what to expect from the medellin culture.
we have a chat group on skype for people in medellin pm for an invite if your in medellin.

a couple facts about me, i play mtts. i am 28 i lived in medellin since january 2014, i am single i love to have a social night life and experience everything i can. i enjoy working out, i enjoy muy thai, i love colombian women, they are amazing. i am currently living in poblado two blocks away from santa fe centro commercial its the biggest mall in medellin. so many beautiful women there.

attached are photos of what fun times in medellin.



celebrating during worldcup



having fun at the medellin beer factory





santa fe mall, huge mall has everything you need



those are my two roommates darwin and jordan.
at the romeo santos concert.

any questions about medellin feel free to ask i will be trying to check this thread daily. !! ask anything i will help! and put my best foot forward to all the poker players

Let me explain how Medellin is in poker lingo. Medellin is the stone cold nuts. Life EV go ^

Jose holds it down so gaddamn hard, gratz to ya player.

medellin sucks. clappin dem creeeeeamy cheeeeks tho!

learn spanish dickheads

Hey awesome idea for a thread, i already saw one similar for medelin but your approach looks really good so ill shoot my questions here, also i remember the name from before when i played 180s so i know you are legit

I know i can use google for a lot of questions but better to get answers from a first hand there Id love to come there, but it wont be before the next year so just want to get some info and know how to prepare if i eventually decide to go/have money to do it, because ive heard as well that medelin is nuts and i love south america style in general and everything about it so have to come there eventually

Hows the living cost there and apartments, i know it can vary a lot on diff things, but lets say something in the middle, not too balla and not too cheap. For example how much does chicken/meat in general costs, beer in market/beer in clubs, cigarettes, internet, also how is internet from 1-10, whats the price range for apartment because i have no clue at all. How difficult is to get around for someone that doesnt know a word of spanish? Do you know anything on visas for ppl from europe, how much can you stay, is it easy to stay longer or? Thats it for now, if i remember anything ill get a follow up tnx a lot!

1.) How easy is it open a bank account and relocate? What docs are required? Do all banks speak English?
2.) How easy are the girls? Number if dates it takes to sley the typical Medellin 8?
3.) How often does false arrest and bribery take place?

Hey Jose, still bummed about not making it down there with you a while back. Once everything is wrapped up here in Hawaii, im still planning on visiting your city!

1. medellin is made up of 6 zones(estradas) zone 6 being the wealthiest, zone 1 being the poorest. i would recommend to poker players to stay in zone 5 or zone 6. in zone 6 the place i am staying at is amazing location and its a 3br 2 bath i am paying 650 dollars usd per roommate, has a pool, laundry machines, suana.
per person you can find a decent apt for about 400usd++++ and a balla one for about 800+ usd
here are some links you can browse to look at some rentals.
http://www.paradiserealtymedellin.com/rent.asp
airbnb.com
http://www.firstamericanrealtymedellin.com/


we were going to rent this one it is 3br 2bath was 800 dollars a person, but someone reserved right before we could.
http://www.paradiserealtymedellin.co...ropertyID=1046
2. chicken, meats i am not sure i will get back to you with an answer. i have a housekeeper that cooks and cleans for me 6 days a week. we pay her about 140 dollars a week.( divided by 3 roommates so its about 45 dollars per person a week) then we also give her money to go grocery shopping. you can get a housekeeper a little cheaper then that price. i highly recommened a housekeeper if you will be grinding, its super convenient.

3. beer you can get a 6pack of cans colombian beer for about 5 bux. for the imported beers its a bit more expensive. and cigarettes i will get back to you or if another medellin poker player can chime in. i dont drink and dont smoke . i will find out for you though.

4. the internet from 1-10 is an 8. when u rent here the standard internet package they give you is usually 5mb which is average i guess and the price would be included in the rent. however i recommend getting at least upgraded to 10mb. i have 20mb i am paying about 140 dollars a month for 20mb internet 45 dollars per person. it rarely disconnects. i would also recommend getting a backup air card.i rarely get disconnected but when i do i get timed out for maybe 10-20 seconds. upgrading to 10 mb would be about 20- 30 dollars more per month. and that should be sufficient.

5. not knowing spanish could be a big factor, in terms of navigation when your out doing touristy stuff.i would recommend having an app on ur phone just in case that translates for you, it helps a lot.from my experience i would say under 5 pct of medellin understand average english and speak it. and a couple know some words. you can take spanish classes which i can help anyone find if they need .they have private classes where the teacher can come to your place for about 15-30 dollars an hour.or you can go to the classes which are a little cheaper in terms of women. it all depends on your pimp game. i seen friends here with no spanish skills, still bagging chicks cuz there smooth. then i seen friends with perfect spanish that have no clue how to talk to women. obv a women would prefer if you speak spanish. but thats an obstacle they are willing to overcome if they are intrigued by you.

6. iwhen it comes to visas. usa and europe is almost identical . http://medellinliving.com/how-to-ext...a-in-medellin/ theres a link you can check out which is helpful. you can skip the bank step because they accept payments now in the migracion office.
the maximun time you can stay in colombia in a calender year(jan- december) is 6 months. 180 days. usually you will get stamped a 90 day tourist permit on your passport, you can leave and reenter the country to get stamped for another 90 day permit. or you can go to the migracion office and have your 90 day permit renewed if you feel like jsut extending your stay.
for ex: if you come here january 10th you can stay on your 90 day permit up to apr 10th you can either leave the country and come back and get anoter 90 day stamp. or you go to the migracion office. for more info on that pm me i can help u out. the process takes less then 2 hours.
if you come to medellin lets say january 10th, and u stay up to apr 10th. you leave to your country and come back apr 15th. u can stay up to the another 90 days which is july 15th. from that point on you cannot stay in the coutry until the calender year of january starts up again next year. if you do decide to overextend your visa you will be fined, i had a friend who overextended his visa for about a year. lawyers and fines added up to about 500-700 usd. the process was less then a day to fix. i dont know how that affects your permament record but he has been back to medellin many times.

there are also ways to get different types of special visas in medellin. for example if you open a business or marry a colombian citizen. here is some info on that http://www.medellininfo.com/visa/

Awesome answers, tnx a lot for that! Ok apartment prices are totally ok if you get 600 per person in the wealthiest area than thats awesome, if i would come obv i would be in some part of the town where it has some grinders as well, especially with that spanish problem cuz i really dont speak a word of it, maybe ill try and learn the basics before if i decide to go

As for internet, so definately a backup, esspecially for someone playing hypers, every second counts

I never went into the whole staying a lot in one country thing but i was kinda disapointed when you said you can only stay 6 months in one calendar year, i mean i would deffinatelly wanted to stay more if i liked it, so that is no option now, well maybe explore some other SA countryes is second option then

Ok now that we know 1 can stay only 6 months, give me the weather troughout the year, when is good, whens not, when is off season etc

C'mon, he's not Google.

i think weather is all year around good and has like 2-3 months of rainy season around april. I was here at that time and it rained like 2 Hours per day in rainy season but was still hot when it didnt rain

They have a saying here in medellin about the weather. They call Medellin the "eterna primavera," which means eternal spring. You wont ever need more than a sweater and you're never going to sweat your balls off.

Great responses. Post more pictures specifically ones with girls in it.

Yeah ive heard of it, and its awesome, i just wanted to check like when would be best few months in the year to come, like season peak or something, because now knowing i would have 2x3months i would like to aim at the best period.

Also how many days a week do they have active night life, is it every day or concetrating over weekends?

will do going out tonight to parque lerras i believe tonight. its a night life hotspot thursday to sunday night. great atmosphere tons of bars and clubs and its only a 5 min cab ride from where i live.

Are there many tourists going out at night or will you mainly find locals?

Just some thoughts/advice/trolling/my typical TL/DR post:

I love this place but it seems to be so romanticized by some, and then the fear-mongers on the other end. Medellin is not really a big party city, Bogota especially, then Cali, and Cartagena has alot more action for nightlife. Thurs-Saturday you will have plenty of options, but mid-week kinda sucks with there usually being only a handful of places you could go out.

long time expat buddy posted this tonight: So I know of no less than 5 robberies, a drugging and a one-night kidnapping among my circle of friends in just the last couple of weeks.

That being said, alot of it comes down to who you are. There is very very very little random violent crime, but plenty of robberies and secuestro express (kidnap for the night and take you to ATMs to empty your account). The majority is just getting a gun/knife pulled on you in Poblado while walking, no harm done and you lose some money and a cell phone

If you have the street smarts of a dude from Omaha, Nebraska, or stare at that girl's ass for too long, or walk funny, make eye contact when you shouldn't be (no sea sapo guevon!!), insist on dressing like a gringo, wear your nice watch and jewelry, are texting on your iPhone in public, walk home at night, or go to the wrong places for girls or drugs.....etc etc etc bad things can and most likely will happen, it's just a matter of time.

Poker players reaaaally have a wide range of 'street smarts' so really it just depends. Some people I know would get eaten alive in their first week. Others would prob be fine for years and really love it.

For girls, I def don't go out as hard as alot of the guys here, I'm just trying to get wasted... but yeah it can be a goldmine with a lot of psycho chicks thrown in. A decent amount of girls you think are cool but end up being prepagos (prepaid girls/whores). Cupid is cool. It has its pros and cons, but its easy enough to get laid, me and 2 roommates all had a cupid girl over tonight


For weather, i'm a spoiled southern california kid and this place is the nuts... but specifically October and May are rainy seasons as Mort alluded to. A decent amount of nightlife is centered around being out at parks and drinking on the streets, so rainy months can put a damper on the party scene for sure. I'd guess maybe 30-40% of days here it will rain at some point during the day, but generally doesn't last more than an hour. Summer can be pretty damn hot during the day, but nothing overwhelming.

and post/threadsavers: (sorry I like em younggg)


cute girl that had a bf with her when we went out:



1/ meh 2/ i love that girl 3/ meh and 17 anyways 4/ I had a black fetish last week, this one ended up dating me but got dumppped when she saw pics of me with another girl 5/fat 6/absolutely adorable and flirty and would sneak kisses in on my neck as I'm holding gf's hand watching concert omgggggg slut and I love it 7/ fat 8/ young. never got a chance to take a pic without the 2 fatties wanting to join in, but was a big concert/car show/festival hence girls wanting pic with muscle dudes



met left in a club, made out and im pretty sure she realized she was way too hot for me


random friend of current gf that I stalk on fb. freelancing whore I guess, as a huge % of girls seem to be. My roommates last girl was saying she dated a 60 year old dude before him, she's 20. wtffff.


cupid girl that nothing ever materialized with


hoodrat chick, friend of black girl above


anyways, most of my girls are fairly ugly by colombian standards, so don't really have much for ya. Thought about posting all the cupid girls that have been banged out so far but I'm sure eventually we'll get a google doc going soon enough with notes on how easy each one is and which psychos to avoid. Alot of guys have been pulling some amazing 8's and 9's, but you need to either be 7 feet tall, blond hair/blue eyes or speak spanish

Going solo to a different smaller city a few hours south for september to try and grind for once and get some chicasssss (rumored to be one of the sluttiest towns in colombia - I'll report here if anything interesting)

learn decent conversational spanish before you come, seriously. They talk pretty crazy in medellin, I didn't understand much the first 2-3 times I came here. learn to be proactive about wearing condoms, many girls here just don't care or have insisted not to wear one. sketch

bananas are readily available 24 hours/day. High quality and extremely cheap. I bought 20 large prerolled blunts and dude gave me 10 more for free. Cost $50, prob ~40 grams and I'm not getting any kind of great deal that a local would. Internet is fairly horrible, very hit or miss depending on the house, but plenty of backup is available so with a combo of backups you shouldn't have a problem

Jose upload more pics from the world cup games!! mannnn I've never seen lleras so packed and crazy

So is Medellin smaller and thereby less ratio of tourists to locals?

my boy boliver a,k,a dance beast throwin some good flava in the mix. i agree to learn spanish asap!! it will have a huge advantage to you. if your good looking like in any culture u will do well , it all depends on your pimp game. boliver pointed out the crime part which is out of my realm i guess cuz i am 6'3 and a big dude so i rarely would ever get targeted i believe.people would just pick easier targets, i dont like spitting game to prostitutes or hookers. i dont like it. careful on who u bring back to your place also. always hide your money and wallets just in case. i went out last night to riosur for about an hour. so many beautiful women it was crazy !! but riosur area is expensive compared to other parts of poblado. i stay away from dangerous parts in medellin . i look like a super tourist and my roomate has red hair . so we stand out a lot. i wouldnt get anywhere less then zone 4 at night maybe a zone 3 spot if you can take care of yourself and have good situational awareness it helps a lot.



after worldcup game colombia vs greece, it was packed in parque lerras



people were celebrating in the streets singing and dancing



here is guatape beautiful location.





theres a sexy dude in the glasses all the way on the right. bunch of poker players hanging out in oeste del bar in parque lerras watching the worldcup.



went out last night to some club in riosur had dance crossover music only went out for like an hour. i just saw random group of girls and started to dance. i would just approach and shake my hips and start dancing, they found it funny



one of my roommates fun times in the bar sistina.

also went to kukumakara bar in riosur poblado. they had a live band signing salsa merengue. dance music was very good.

In, coming in 7days, cant wait

Here out of fear of getting roundhouse'd (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/92...l#post44393688)

Hit me up if you're in Medellin! I start some Spanish classes tomorrow so I'll be a bit preoccupied for the next two weeks. Not too preoccupied for a few drinks here and there though. I also pretty regularly hit up blackjack at a few of the casinos on the Avenida Poblado strip -- hey they give you a table match for 20k every day before 6pm when you buy-in for at least 50k

my international whatsapp: +59169689650

ps. Not that I'm a broke college student or backpacker going out of my way for $10, but I'm a sucker for table match.. and blackjack

yea man we def got to hang out . will add you on whatsapp . they also have cash holdem in the casino rio by the san diego mall here. id be down to go there and hang out . also there is a poker club here the aces of spades.

signed up to bodytech gym . the price is pretty expensive. however the gym is super clean, nice size, and you can have unlimited trainer sessions with a trainer there helping you out in the workouts. also the hours are the best. 4am to midnight mon-fri

Is my question that stupid so that nobody answers?

hey guys...glad to see an updated official thread for medellin. Seems like its been a hot place lately in the travel forum. Plan to go there mid october, msg me if you are looking for a roomate anyone around that time. plan to stay 4-6 months. Thanks..look forward to reading this thread.