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being a pro - the easy way!


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Hello,I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while now, and here it is:I have a great tip for all you young (winning) online poker players out there. What you need is :1. a decent bankroll and a proven record as a winning player2. a lack of strong ties to your home country (no dept, no kids)3. an independent spirit and strong faith in your abilities4. an urge to travel and see the world!!Living expenses in large parts of the world are extremely cheap. More and more internet places pop up all the time and (at least in Asia where I’ve been roaming around for about a year now) most poker software runs great. (be aware though, that some sites does not allow deposits from countries like Malaysia, Thailand, etc, so make arrangements beforehand. My main site, Pokerstars, does not have a problem with it)I think winning players playing limits as low as 12 and 24 can easily make enough putting in 2 hours+ a day at the tables, to live very good here. For 20$ a day you can live like a king (well, sort of) and you can also get by on half that, without significant sacrifice. I imagine most of us young online players sometimes dream of playing our beloved game as a living, a dream that becomes even stronger when you go on rushes making thousands of dollars a week. However, taking the leap back home in the west is difficult. Living is expensive and having poker as your only income in that setting can affect your mindset and even fully throw you off your game (bills piling up, the needurge to get even for the session, etc. all those things are much harder to cope with in everyday life, in the west).Travelling and playing poker provides you with much more freedom. There is no rent to pay, no bills. If you go on a cold streak, you can live on the cheap for a while (decent rooms for 2$ are common, good meals for 25 cents even more so) until you get back on your feet. This is a great way to prove yourself as a poker player in a relaxed, exotic setting (if you’re really good, you can even use this time to build up your bankroll, to save money for school or other endavours). And of course, most importantly, it gives you the adventure of a lifetime! So, do like me : Take your bankroll on the road! I’ve never had a second of regret. So far I’ve been in Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, Vietnam, Hongkong, Singapore, Cambodia and China. And I’m far from done, there are so many countries to explore. I have (almost) as much money as when I left and my poker playing has been improving throughout my journey. Any questionscomments are welcomed. (If i succeed in inspiring just one of you to take the leap, I will be very happy)Good luck at the tables, everyone!

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Down side is you're living in a second world country where people get stabbed for $9.Allthough when I was your age I did the same thing while making my money from writing so I can't be too critical.

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sounds like fun ... what do you do in 6 years when you have small pox, are sick of screwing women who weigh 60 lbs, and only have $85.47 to your name? i mean, i'm sure "bandaging stab wounds" looks great on a resume, but seriously ... i'd rather be at bgsu getting syphilis

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that would be amazing to just pack it all up and travel, but i will never have the balls to do it.. with debt from college and my carrer choice of law enforcement, i doubt i'll ever get the chance to travel like that.. gl to you though.

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I like your post...that's what I'm think of doing when I retire.A couple of questions/comments:

1. a decent bankroll and a proven record as a winning player
I'm pretty sure that this is the hard part. Almost no one has a proven record as a winning player.
If you go on a cold streak, you can live on the cheap for a while (decent rooms for 2$ are common, good meals for 25 cents even more so) until you get back on your feet.
The $2/day includes an Internet connection?
So far I’ve been in Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, Vietnam, Hongkong, Singapore, Cambodia and China.
Singapore? You can live in Singapore on $3/day?
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wow ... i sound really cynical. Well, i am, but ...i'm sure it'd be a great experience and a fun way to burn a few years. Its right for some ... not for me.

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If you go on a cold streak' date=' you can live on the cheap for a while (decent rooms for 2$ are common, good meals for 25 cents even more so) until you get back on your feet.[/quote']The $2/day includes an Internet connection?no, internet is extra. however, it's not expensive. most places charge 50 cents an hour.
So far I’ve been in Malaysia' date=' Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, Vietnam, Hongkong, Singapore, Cambodia and China. [/quote']Singapore? You can live in Singapore on $3/day?
of course not. places like Singapore and Hongkong is very expensive and I went to both places after having a few very good weeks pokerwise. these places are unique for the region though. and for the comments about getting stabbed, etc. :D well, acually the risk of that is not really high. people down here have no problem with stealing from you, but robberiesviolence is very uncommon.. if you're a little bit more careful than the average guy, i think the risk of having this happen to you is much less here than in most parts of the US.
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I actually like this post. My buddy lives in Bali. He does not play poker but made some great money early on and decided to retire. He lives there. Lives like a king and has a great life. Wakes up every day and surfs. The poster makes a great point. If i was American and wanted to make a living full time playing poker, i would move to Montreal, Quebec. You will live in one of the nicest citty's in North America. Trendy with great culture and the cost of living is low. You can live for 500 bucks a month which is like 420 Us and its not a third world country and you are not too far away from home.

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I loved Bali too. It's a great place to live slow and enjoy life. It's a little bit more expensive than other spots around Asia, but makes for a great starting point to any trip.

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very nice post.while southeast asia isn't particularly the place I'd like to travel, i think it's awesome that you've taken the step.if you could recount your adventures, while supplying useful details and nuances about int'l travel it would make for a very interesting thread.

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Down side is you're living in a second world country where people get stabbed for $9.Allthough when I was your age I did the same thing while making my money from writing so I can't be too critical.
I don't want to argue with you Smash, but I can guarantee people get killed in the U.S. everyday, for less or stupider things. Plenty of crackheads with nothing to lose...To the poster, sounds risky, but sounds like a great time. Good luck.
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I actually like this post. My buddy lives in Bali. He does not play poker but made some great money early on and decided to retire. He lives there. Lives like a king and has a great life. Wakes up every day and surfs.  The poster makes a great point. If i was American and wanted to make a living full time playing poker, i would move to Montreal, Quebec. You will live in one of the nicest citty's in North America.  Trendy with great culture and the cost of living is low. You can live for 500 bucks a month which is like 420 Us and its not a third world country and you are not too far away from home.
Hehe, not very sure where you got the info on Montreal, but if you want to live on $500, i think you'd be in a safer area with $5 in Cambodia...lol...Canada is like the US, the salaries are higher here but so is the cost of stuff, i guess you wouldn't need a car in Montreal, you could just use the subway to get to most places, but if you do want some wheels Montreal has one of the highest car insurance rates around and gas up here and especially in Montreal is between $3 & $4 a gallon. You can probly find some rat infested place to stay with 1 bathroom for the whole floor for around $300 a month, then if you want to play your poker on a highspeed connection thats around $35 a month alone...LoLI guess you could live on $500 a month if you don't need much food and can sleep in a cardboard box, but it gets frecking cold up here...LoL
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I did the same thing, mostly in the U.S. though. I had planned on doing it for 3 years, but stopped after 1.5 - met "the" girl and settled down.The key is residual income... (for me from being a landlord) doing it so you don't have to work 2 hrs a day and can just enjoy yourself. Also, I didn't stay at hotels usually. Through a scene I am in, I have friends in every major city in the world, so that works out really well. That along with really cheap airfares (relative to years ago) makes this all doable.I highly recommend something like this for many people. It has been invaluable to me. It is not for everyone though.I just wish I had played poker then too! Ugh!

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sounds fun. ive been thinking about making hte move to Costa Rica, an old boss of mine can find me a job and a room immediately. i know there are a lot of poker tourneys down there and tons of tourism. just wondering if anyone has been down htere and played?

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i like the idea of being able to travel while playing online poker but not to 3rd world countries and esp not to set up shop there..also, if you want to move up and play in large games/tourneys than you have to have a better bankroll than just squeezing out living expenses in these poor countries..i want to qualify/start playing european tourneys bec the money is worth a lot more in euro than in dollars

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Dont move to Denmark we tax the crap out of everything, how does 25% sales tax sound? :shock: Hell move to vegas live in a trailerpark, get AOL and raid the cheap buffets at the casinos, close to perfect. 8)

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That's exactly what I plan on doing. Just about the best part of being a proffessional poker player must be that you can hop off the plane at Sydney airport, take a taxi to an internet cafe, and you're at work. Then on to Hong Kong, then Beijing, and on and on until you feel like stopping.Sounds like heaven.

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  • 1 year later...

Read/heard somewhere that the taxes that online pros in Sweden have to pay is insane. That's why you hear of a lot of them amassing giant bankrolls and then going busto since they are reluctant to cash the online money due to the taxes. Any Swedish ppl out there would like to verify or debunk this??

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traveling the world is one of the best things one can experience. and funding it with poker is great. good for you. safe travels. i have been to plenty of third world places with no problem. just be smart and you'll be fine.

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traveling the world is one of the best things one can experience. and funding it with poker is great. good for you. safe travels. i have been to plenty of third world places with no problem. just be smart and you'll be fine.
-sw?-OP = Saturday, March 12th, 2005, 2:24 AMI think Smash went and stabbed him in Laos.
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