Major life decision: Should I move to Atlantic City or Las Vegas?

[4thstreetpete]

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If your planning on dealing poker let me warn that Vegas right now is not the best market for poker dealers. I Most of the rooms are very slow right now, and rooms that have been open for a while are overstaffed.

I moved out just a little under 2 years ago. I was juiced into a good dealing job, at the time, many people called it the best dealing in Vegas. I was put on the extra board but I was scheduled for 4 or 4 days a week (and if only 4 I could always find another shift to work) When i worked I could almost always work a full 8 hour shift and overtime was common.

But nobdy leaves the best job in town, so I didn't move up in seniority I'm still pretty much at the bottom of the extra board. So now 22 months and 29 new poker rooms later business has slowed tremondously. The whole extra board has been cut to only 3 days a week and its still too much because now dealers only get 4-5 hours in so we are facing cuts which will probably have me laid off by next week well they will keep me on as an employee on their records but I don't plan on having any scheduled hours). Last Monday i worked 2 hours, and Friday Night I was called and told not to come in at all. When i get to work this job I still make good money on an hourly basis, but when you work six hours in a week its hard to make your nut.

I saw this coming though and went out and got another job. But because It was to be a second job I told them I would work part time. Well since my first week no part time dealer has been scheduled to work a single shift. I have managed to get a couple half shifts here and there by calling in asking for work.

At present I am looking for my third job. Last night I spoke with a friend about a job at his joint. They are advertising online for a Part-Time dealer, yet he has told me that he is seeing the same problems getting hours in dealing now. I will have a third job by next week, but realisticly I'm looking at having three jobs and still working very few hours. It makes working the floor look a good deal.

I can't imagine this situation is going to change anytime soon. We need for a bunch of rooms to close (of course that will flood the job market with unemployed dealers that you will have to compete with for jobs). Also we need the price of gas to drop (I'm not holding my breathe on this one).

Now personally I haven't ever considered playing professionally. If you can do it, and have the bankroll to do it without supplementing with a dealing job then go ahead, just don't count on being able to make a living dealing.

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thanks for taking the time to write this post. This is very good info.

[TenFourOff]

If you are uncomfortable with the distance and have concerns about being in a strange place, I would vote against Las Vegas or L.A. However, that does not just leave A.C. Tunica is a great poker town. I would consider living in Memphis, TN which is about 45 minutes away, but there is a ton to do there other than gamble. Plus it is very affordable. The midwest also has a ton of places to play. I am in Kansas City, and there are four casinos in town, three with poker rooms as well as probably five or six more within a three hour drive. If you like snow skiing and outdoor stuff, consider Reno, although it is also far away. Anyway these are just some alternatives to consider. It sounds like you are fairly young. Now is the time to take a shot at something like this. If you fail, you can always enter a more traditional line of work.

[pa3lsvt]

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Something else to consider about Vegas is the weather. Coming from the north east you may not adjust well to the extremes - well over 100 every day of the summer and close to freezing in the winter.

But on the positive side: no humidity. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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AC weather is a bit more temperate due to the ocean breezes, but here's Philly (~60 miles away):

July - August: Constant 80 - 95 degF highs with >60% RH, broken by occasional evening thunderstorms that simply increase humidity. Lows stay >70 degF for weeks at a stretch.

January - March: Highs in the 30s - 40s, lows in the teens. Toss in 3 or so snows with 4+ inches, one of which dumps a foot.

I did Vegas for Xmas 1999 - NY 2000. Didn't even need a jacket. Also went in May. God bless dry heat - 100 degF with <20% RH. (Although I imagine summers are brutal.)

[Rottersod]

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I don't know anything about the east coast scene.

However, I believe that Las Vegas is the city of the future, weather considerations notwithstanding.

The nation is aging quickly. Baby boomers are thinking about downsizing/retiring. Vegas is a much cheaper market than LA, Manhattan, etc. For example, I could sell my home, move to Vegas (bigger home, no mortgage pmt) and cover half my outside nut on interest from the left over gain on sale alone.

Vegas has great, world class quality entertainment, a booming world-wide tourist industry, great air travel connections, at least domestically, far less traffic than the major cities (although they are accumulating a traffic problem of their own), no state income tax, no state property tax, no state sales tax, etc.

If you can't get a job dealing, you will be able to get a job doing something. Vegas has a labor shortage and remains one of the few booming labor markets in the US for individuals without a college degree.

All that remains is to convince the wife! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

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One of the major problems with the Vegas economy is that it is so dependent on gambling/tourism related gambling. Any kind of domestic or international problems could severely disrupt it. It took about 2 years to recover from 9/11 and the recovery was almost entirely fueled by the boom in poker.

Home prices are rising steadily as well and traffic is becoming pretty bad, even off the strip. Water usage is going to be a big problem in the future as Vegas's share is split even more among California and other states. Vegas gets a large percentage of it's revenue from California tourism/gamblers but with the price of gas so high that is dropping and will continue to drop even more if prices don't come down. This means vacant hotel rooms which means furloughed hotel employees which means less employees able to gamble locally which starts to become a vicious cycle. I don't believe we are at the point yet where it is self-sustaining though.

As far as getting a job doing something, well you can get a job doing something in any city in America but it may not be what you want to do and it won't pay very well. It probably won't come with health insurance either.

I have part of my family living in Vegas - they moved there in the early 90's when times were really good and they are well entrenched now - and they've confirmed what I wrote in my conversations with them over the past few years. They wouldn't even be able to afford their home if they were buying it now as the home prices have risen so much.

[Courtesy Flush]

psandman, thanks for the information. It's pretty unsettling to hear, but at least now I know. My father has a friend in the LV casino industry who told him I shouldn't have a problem getting hired at one of the smaller off-strip card rooms. Now I don't know what to beleive. Even if I could only work 20 hours a week I think that'd be acceptable when combined with all the playing I'll be doing.

I'm heading out there in June to do some scouting with my father, so I'll be sure to ask around. Thanks again.