hey guys, I'm heading to vietnam for six weeks soon (just travelling around the country though). Does anyone know anywhere someone passing through could play live poker (any variation, preferably not more than 100-200 usd ish buyin)? We are visiting pretty much everywhere.

It will cost you about $400 usd per month

what are good ways of finding a place to rent in hcmc?

you can look on facebook marketplace. =)

in before stolen kidney

A decent room at a hotel would be 10usd a day so 300usd a month should be what your looking at for the most imo. If you want a better place, use a hotel standard you like and use that as a reference. Imo, people pay way to much for accomodations but im a no big frills type of guy. You'll have the normal things like wifi/internet etc. You can even get a lower price if your committed to staying there a month plus but you need to bargain ahead of time. There will always be a range from cheap nice places to expensive normal places so its really up to you on what your able to find.

That said, if you worry about the night life, you should be close as possible even if it means paying more for your accommodations because if you dont have your own transportation, taxis/moto taxi will negate any savings you get by living father away and will usually always end up costing you more. You can find cheap accommodations near the nightlife although harder.

There is no live poker setting in VN unless its set up by friends or underground.

If you read back on the post in this thread, it might give you a better idea of what to expect. It all depends on how long you plan on staying or if your planning to jump around by traveling etc. My suggestion is to get your own bike if your staying for a month plus. There are many places to rent a moto bike but they are usually 100usd a month but thats for a "nice" bike. At 3 bucks a day, you save easy if you have to depend on taxis all the time. You can also pay less for a normal moto bike but isnt really to normal to find.

Also a must for me and prob for you is being able to come and go as you please. Some places lock up at a certain time even if you have your own place depending on the set up. Usually its no problem but its just a heads up. Internet is a must for me also.

When i came to vn, I bought a used moto bike not aware of my length of stay here. I figured ill just sell it when I leave and still come out ahead. After being in the country for 21 months total so far and counting, Im well ahead and saved a bundle. Not bad for a 250 dollar investment.

saigon for new years? whos there? back down that way just after xmas, in hanoi at the moment. suggestions also welcome for where to spend xmas. thinking nha trang or hoi an but may stick about hanoi and do halong bay again for xmas if there are people doing it. anyone spent an xmas or new years in vietnam?

I was in Saigon last year for Xmas and NY. For X-mas I had dinner with some friends which was nice. For New Years, went to a club. Nothing spectacular or different than the usual outing for clubbing even though it was New Years Eve.

If anyone knows of something that is interesting to do for these holidays here in VN; I too would be interested to find out.

Yes... for 6 years i have. the nightlife in HCMC is going off and there are more things to do than you have time.

check out these 2 sites.... www.anyarena.com & www.wordhcmc.com

this will tell you about everything going on in HCMC. i know both of the owners of the sites and lots of club owners, restaurants etc. but these 2 websites are the best guides.... for non-Vietnamese reading people anyway. LOL!

cheers

thanks man. looked like some good street parties from youtube vids i watched as well. will prob hit the street and then the clubs after.

Update on my banking situation. After getting a new visa, I was able to open an account with HSBC and received a wire from Stars within 48 hours. HSBC required a passport with a current visa sticker (not just an extension stamp) and a driver's license (they accepted my US driver's license).

Anyway, I'm happy with HSBC. I would recommend them over ANZ. I believe you can access both your Euro and VND accounts with one ATM card (I haven't tried yet, but this is my understanding from what she said). With ANZ you have to shuffle money from your Euro account to your VND account before you can withdraw with your ATM card.

hey guys what phone simcard should i get so that i can access internet as well?

MobiPhone is what i have had for 6 years and they are ok. internet works via 3G only the last few years as they are still upgrading the network.... it uses your prepaid balance. you can also get a monthly plan if you use it alot.

Cheers Dan

I would prob choose Viettel over Mobi. When I first arrived in vn and used the phone a **** load and so loaded it numerous times. Each time you load it, you increase the date where u can still use the phone and not load more money. In other words, the phone would work for incoming calls if you have no money in it. Im good till 2016. I even went back to the states for 8 months, came back and it still worked. That varies as I hear from people that if a sim isnt used at all for a month it will be disconnected. Idk, its what i hear.

I now only use like 20k a month so even though I want to change to Viettel, I rather just keep the free phone usuage.

Promotion wise, Viettel give the 50% promotion more often than Mobi does and Viettel still gives a straight 50% while Mobi does also give 50%, they split it into 25% local and 25% long distance which I dont see as a problem for most people.

Every sim card in a phone is able to use 3g. If you want one to use for a computer, here are the links. You can go into any retailer, most of them have info for 3g.

http://www.3gviettel.com/
I have this and I like it. I paid alot for it when it was new. Now according to the sight, its only 65k to buy the usb stick. If you buy this you need a vn id number of someones. I dont use it for anything heavy. I think its cheap to use.

thx guys. Im getting to hcmc on sunday evening for a couple of days. Whats a not to expensive hotel i should get with wireless. If i can bring girls over would be good as well. Thanks.

try the backpacker district in district 1. forget name of area but close to buffalo bar etc you will find basic hotels at around $15 with good wifi, two beds, tv, fridge and aircon. you can hit the backpacker bars or jump on motorbike taxi to the vietnamese clubs from there as its pretty central.

hotels in this area have good standard wifi but i always have a back-up stick for drop-outs but have only dropped out once or twice in all my time here in vietnam. pick up viettel stick or mobifone for about $30 which gives you credit every month. well worth the money and get free credit every month. great for a back-up while using hotel wifi as your source of income if your playing poker. prob saved me a few hundred at least and stick is that good i can use it as my sole source of wifi in rural areas or places with **** net.

Find three star hotels or lower. They all allow women to stay over night. But just ask them to be sure before booking it.

As scroosko said. its a good idea to invest in a usb wifi stick. it will pay for itself even if your a micro grinder. If you play games that require more time than your laptop battery allows, I suggest purchasing a cheap ups to extend it. Its cheap. If you lose electricity just one time, depending on your level, the money lost would of paid for a ups already. That is if your here long term. But like i said long term or not, power lose even one time can results in all your paid tables lost.

I have all back ups. Usb wi fi, ups and even a small electric generator enough to power the pc and than some. I lost thousands of dollars before last year when power was failing very often. Power is more stable now it seems for the past 2 months but im not in Saigon. When I was in Saigon last yr, power spikes happen a few times every day and outages were 3 times every 2 weeks. Good luck.

I guess I will post it here since only planning on selling to anyone that willing to do a pick up. Selling my alianware that I brought over from the state with two monitor. Thinking of going back to the state and not sure when I will come back to vietnam and can't bring this back. Brought it 1.5 years ago for 3k not including monitor. Cost 600 just to ship it here from the east cost and that not including vietnam taxes. It almost impossible to get an alianware over here or buy a powerfully computer that not atleast double the price due to taxes or shipping problems. So I am planning on selling it for 1.8k. FYI I rather leave it here then sell it if the price is not right. If needed I will post pictures or anyone can come to take a look at it. pm me for address or pictures.

I actually bought an alienware m18x like 6 months ago, some super top notch stuff, ordered right there in HCMC and the price was not too different compared to europe. Only issues were it took around 6 week to receive it, the keyboard was red when I ordered a nova yellow one, and the shop crooked me of like 100$ as I also ordered a bag that never came and they would not refund me.
But thats such a fantastic laptop Im not gonna complain.

If I were you, I probably just leave it here for the day you come back. Unless you think you probably wont comeback. If that the case, just sell it to a computer shop and have extra money in your pocket.

If you do leave it here, you do risk having it not be here when you do come back here.
I dont know your situation here but vietnamese citizens can just sell it for the money ect even if they are your family, good friends and even girlfriend. 1500 bucks is a lot here.

Also an issue would be if someone from here does buy it, PS already linked that computer with your account. Prob cause issues if anyone uses it for poker. Does anyone know how that works?

What is the best internet connection in vietnam? Hows the internet like is there disconnecting from time to time?

Also how would you be able to deposit onto multiple pokersites?

What would an ideal monthly bill look like?

How to set up a bank account? Maximum withdrawal/deposit limits?

Traditional North American holiday turkey dinner in district 2 of HCM. 8pm, Saturday, the 24th. The total cost is 1.9 million VND (plus tip) divided by the number of people that show up. There are 3 poker players for sure that are coming and probably 1 or 2 of my non-poker player friends as well. They say there is enough food for 10-12 people so I'm guessing there will be enough food for all that want to attend. PM me though so I can let the restaurant know how much space to set up for us. Here is the address:

Buddha Bar
7 Thao Dien Street
Thao Dien Ward
District 2
Ho Chi Minh City

I believe there is no sign in front as the result of a recent protest by a buddhist group. It's next to a Pho 24.

Very nice of you to share this. Great deal to have a real Thanksgiving dinner with expats for only around 300k. I wont be in Saigon but thank you for the offer.

Buddha bar has great food and a pretty friendly staff. That being said, its pretty hard to get to and I would make sure to print out a google map of the area before going. From what I remember there is construction going on there and you may have to take an alternate route from the one that is recommended by google maps. Definitely worth the 300k for the dinner.

Saigon bridge was closed for a few days a couple weeks ago but it's open again and I don't think anyone will have any trouble getting here. If people are coming by taxi, any taxi driver will easily find the way. If people are driving themselves, let me know and I can give you directions.