Where should I Live (Move)?

[okayplayer]

So here's the deal: I am currently living in the Bay Area (Oakland), and my roommate just moved out early; I had been planning on buying a home around the first part of next year, but it looks like I may need to accelerate that plan. I have been thinking about where I should live, and have three places I'm deciding between: Bay Area, Los Angeles or Las Vegas. A little background on me: I play poker (MHNL) for a living (almost exclusively online - this is mainly due to sheer profitability, but if I lived in LA or LV, I would certainly play more live). I don't really have anything tying me down here (no gf [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] ), and a number of my friends have moved out of the Bay Area after school (though I still do have plenty of friends here) and I would say a good handful have moved back to LA, and another good friend is likley moving there after graduation at the end of the year. And my family lives in another state altogether, so that isn't a factor either. So, I was just wondering if you guys wanted to weigh in on where you would move and why. Right now, I would have to say that I am leaning more towards Vegas, as I could buy a nice house for ~$300k, whereas a house in the Bay Area or LA would run atleast 2.5x that and it wouldn't be as nice of a house. If I moved to LA, I would like to live near the beach. If I lived in Vegas, I would definitely put in a pool and hot tub, and buy a boat/jet ski. Also, if I did move to Vegas, it would probably be for ~2yrs, and then I would like to buy a place near the beach in LA. But I still do like the Bay Area... any advice?