bcarlzson

Hopefully this doesn't offend you, but if your father was to pass away say tomorrow. Would your brothers who help run his successful business take care of the 4th wife and the baby after he is gone? How are estates settled over there?

I love me some motherfucking Pai Gow. Want to get drunk and not lose too much money? Pai Gow! Want to look badass to a bunch of Asians? Pai Gow! Want to teach someone Chinese Poker? Pai Gow! Killing time for a seat in the poker room? Pai Gow!

Btw, I'm one of the 1,000's of people who attempted to move to Vegas to play poker for a living. I did it for 10 months and loved it. It's so hard to meet regular people there that most of my friends were all Casino employees. I loved getting the tap on the shoulder at 8am "Yo our shift is done, want to hit up happy hour?" At 8am? Hell yeah.

Story time! Let me start by saying that back in the day I played a ton of online poker. I specialized in middle limit Sit N Go's ($22 to $55 buy ins,) mixed in with some lower limit holdem (2-4, 3-6 and sometimes 5-10) and some smaller no limit games (up to $50 buy ins.) I always made a decent amount doing this but never enough to quit my job (internet marketing.) I could never get in on the rake back programs which were the lifeblood of making a living playing online. If I had been in a rakeback system I'm sure I could have quit my job. Between my internet job and my online poker I was making around 55-60k a year.

Anyways after online poker was basically shut down, I also lost my easy work from home internet job and slaved away at a computer recycling company for a few years. I hated it. So I quit and moved to Vegas. The job I quit I wasn't making very good money (somewhere around 30k/year with ZERO benefits) so after taxes that amounts to roughly $450/week. I figured I could make that grinding it out and being smart with my money.

The whole time I lived in Vegas I mostly played 1-2 / 1-3 NL and some 2-4/2-5 (it depends on the house what the blinds are.) Only on very rare occurances did I move up beyond that. The one time I sat in 10-20 NL I was so damn scared I got up after 45 min. It was all about comfort level, it had nothing to do with skill. There are almost as many shitty players at the higher levels, but the swings will just destroy you and your confidence.

To answer your question, I was a positive winning poker player, I was easily making more than I had at my job than before I quit. I got to travel quite a few times to visit friends and family and I would go chill in LA (where I had lived for a few years previously) for a week here and there (and play at commerce and the crazy home games in the valley.)

I knew in the back of my mind I couldn't do it forever at that limit and that was strongly confirmed one day when I was at Venetian. I had a very good session, I was cashing out up $600 and feeling good about myself. A girl was cashing out next to me and she asked for her box. She proceeded to cash out roughly 5k and then I happened to see her pull out what looked like a 50k bankroll out of her deposit box and add her 5k to it. I actually felt like a loser right then. It's weird trying to describe it. I didn't want to play out of my comfort zone but at the same time the grinding it out wears you down.

I lucked into a part time IT job out about five months in that helped me a lot. It paid awesome, got me away from the tables for a little while around the holidays. I basically got to recharge my batteries and be in a somewhat "normal" work environment.

So here are a few of the negatives while out there. I like blackjack, craps and sports betting. I know they are bad for business and bankroll, but man are they fun to play. Also when friends would come into town I'd party with them and end up blowing a lot of money. In addition, Vegas is a lonely fucking place to live if you don't know anyone. It took me a few months to get some friends and find some normal activities. So at the beginning I basically just played cards and sometimes I befriend a group of people in town and go out and get drunk with them. There are a fair share of locals that are total scumbags, a few times I felt like I was being followed and thought I was going to get robbed. I actually made sure I never took the same route home (I know that sounds crazy.)

Sorry if this response is so scattered. Yes I was a winning poker player. However I blew a bunch at table games and partying. I still go back a couple of times a year and like to meet up with some old friends (most of whom are dealers) I don't regret for 1 second my decision to move there. I really think if I could have found a balance working a part time job or working someone else part of the year and spending the other part of the year in Vegas I could have continued to do it.

Ironic thing is now I don't play poker at all. I do have an online sports book account but don't wager too much. Feel free to ask me any other questions in PM (don't want to jack this awesome thread)

ginger

http://imgur.com/a/gq5cC

that is actually a very reasonable amount when you think about your main competition, payday advance/check cashing centers.

Do you charge the storage as a 1 time fee or $4 per item per month?