Travelling around the world playing online poker

Alex424 · #1 03-14-2007, 12:39 PM

This may sound a ridiculous idea, but i was made redundant recently and am giving serious contemplation to travelling overseas for 3 - 6 months. I have no intention of getting a job in my old industry at present and have no desire to jump straight back into a job.

I have some funds but ideally want to keep the costs minimal - ideally breaking even.

Im confident and have stats showing that playing 20 hours a week on Wpex llhe, i make in the region of $1000 a week just in rakeback with winnings just over 1bb/100. Im English so all poker winnings is tax free.

I have no dependents and no mortgage, minimal debts to worry about.

Is there anything stopping me from packing my bag, travelling to places i've always wanted to see and funding a significant part of this thorugh my lap top and internet poker.

The idea is daunting but i feel 20 hours a week is easily do able and i may never have the chance to do something on this scale. I have travelled in the past but not on the scale i am talking and funded through savings.

Has anyone else done anything similar to this? Any advice is highly appreciated.

funneldave · #2 03-14-2007, 01:08 PM

Unfortunetly I have no advice, but I am very jealous.
Good luck i you decide to do it!

ginko · #3 03-14-2007, 01:13 PM

As long as you can find someplace cheap, I say go for it. Where do you want to go?

icecreamman · #4 03-14-2007, 02:29 PM

As long as you can find a reliable internet connection where you are planning on going then i dont see why not. Just research where you are going first to find places where you will be able to connect to the internet and not get d/c every 5 mins

JOHNY CA$H · #5 03-14-2007, 08:41 PM

I'm planning on doing this over the summer. The main problem is finding an adequate internet connection, and hopefully not pay an arm and a leg for it.

Joymachine21 · #6 03-15-2007, 07:47 AM

[ QUOTE ]
I'm planning on doing this over the summer. The main problem is finding an adequate internet connection, and hopefully not pay an arm and a leg for it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I travelled with work a few years back, when your travelling alone I assume I think you will have more than 20 hours of time to play.

A big thing you must avoid is countries that do not allow gamberling. There ISP's close very entry point to any poker site. I had problems all over the middle east Dubai was the worst. They way I got around this for the second trip was to install remote accessing software on my machine I used net support and connect back to PC in UK to play. Playing more than 4 tables becomes a problem. Nearly every country I went to have a good/ better internet connection than I had in the UK so I wouldn’t worry about this too much. I would advise getting an open return ticket and make sure you have backup money so if poker doesn’t work you can pack up and come home.

I think if you turn this opportunity up you are crazy.

Good luck and be sure to pm or post a trip report

Joy

Stan Loh · #7 03-15-2007, 09:48 AM

Sounds crazy dude but go ahead and live this dream. I am planning to do this in Thailand when I can beat the 50NL game.

skanberg · #8 03-25-2007, 11:14 PM

I am doing it at the moment.

I play NL 1k and NL 2K, I have played poker for three and a half years.
I have travelled to India, Thailand, Australia, Guatemala and Argentina since november 2006.

Two things are important:

1: To keep winning and handle swings while you travel. I was doing fine, but right now I am experiencing a terrible downswing. Its tough to be alone in some country during these times, since friends and family are far away.

2: To find a good balance between playing poker and actually enjoying all this travelling. For me it has been difficult sometimes, since I am very serious about poker. Therefore it can be difficult to let it go and enjoy the surroundings sometimes.

That said, it is a fantastic way to live [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Mr_Donktastic · #9 03-26-2007, 04:18 PM

I moved to the Caribbean recently and am playing poker full time. The hardest thing for me is keeping up with the "full time" part of it. I mean, I'm on a freakin tropical island - you know how hard it is to sit in front of a computer playing poker?

morny · #10 03-26-2007, 04:39 PM

Great Idea, One ive taught of but im not making enough money playing poker to do yet. For instance in Thailand you can live comfortably with on €1,500 per month depending on your lifestyle of course. I rented out a beautiful 1 bedroom apartment for 1 month in an aprtment complex for €250 per month, wireless broadband an extra €10 per month although not very reliable. There was a washer and dryer a cheap restaurant and a gym and a bar all included in the apartment complex. Gym was free the rest you paid extra.

Breakfast cost about €1, dinner maybe €1.50-3, Pint bottle of Chang or similar was around €1. You get the picture. Go for it man.

The only problem as one of the other posters pointed out is that Gambling is Illegal so you have to find a way around it. Dont know if there is a reliable program that allows you to remotely access your home pc to play without the lagging, i wonder if theres another way around it.

Also anyone know any similar countries with good broadband, similar cost of living where its not illegal to play poker online??