U.S. Poker player's cost of living

[2ndGoat]

According to calculator at http://www.homefair.com/homefair/cal...c.html?type=to, which uses data from the Beaureu of Labro Statistics, the following salaries are equivalent:

$70900 in Biloxi
$73500 Hartford/Providence Average (Foxwoods?)
$77543 in Atlantic City
$79000 in Las Vegas
$102750 in Los Angelos
$163800 in San Francisco

These data reflect the cost of living in the middle of the city. I don't know enough about the areas to research comparable bedroom communities 12 miles out without doing a little more legwork.

My questions for discussion:
1) Can one make 1.3x as much per hour (the relevant COLA ratio) at a 30/60 hold'em table in LA as he/she could in Vegas? Feel free to respond for any other limit/game that a pofessional could potentially play. Assume in your replies that the player in question is equally comfortable in all game situations, tighter LV games vs. crazy LA games, etc. Same question applies to SF vs LA, Foxwoods vs AC, etc.
2) Do these cost-of-living numbers seem fair? (For instance, I could see Vegas turning up even cheaper relative to LA if one looked at suburbs 12 miles out rather than the city).
3) Any other areas within the US (or hell, anywhere else) that ought to be considered, or that you'd like to chime in about?

Online games, of course, are a great equalizer (or skewer, depending on how you look at it)... I suppose one could move next door to Ray Zee (amd by that I mean 20 miles away) and play online for the ultimate Cost-of-Living coup.

My experiences in AC and LV suggest the mid-limit hold'em games yield similar win rates, with maybe a slight nod to Vegas. I haven't played anywhere else. As an aside, I believe "AC is the stud capital" is becoming less and less true these days- there's a whole bunch of hold'em these days, and every time I look it seems there's one more hold'em table and one less for stud.

My end goal, of course, is to compile a rough quantitative "P COLI" (not a disease, but a Poker Cost of Living Index) factoring how expensive an area is with how good the games are.

2ndGoat
2ndGoat

[BarronVangorToth]

I'd question any website whose information leads you down the path thinking you need about as much money to live in Connecticut as Mississippi.


Barron Vangor Toth
www.BarronVangorToth.com

[2ndGoat]

Yeah that popped out at me too, though from my own understanding, the rest of it looks about plausible. A little more on their methodology (it's not actually Bureau of Labor Statistics info, but uses those formulae):

What is the source of your data, and what are your formulas?

The cost of living data is provided as part of the Center for Mobility Resources® service. The formulas are based for the most part on those adopted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The five major categories for U.S. data are housing costs (33%), utilities (8%), consumables (16%), transportation (10%), and other services (33%).

The Center for Mobility Resources data sets are provided thanks to the help of more than 2,000 associates who provide information used in the database. These include real estate offices and relocation directors, government agencies at the state, local, and national level, and Chambers of Commerce. The Center also is grateful to Jeffrey R. Wilson, Ph.D., Professor of Statistics and Director of the Interdisciplinary Program in Statistics, Arizona State University, and to Yolanda D. Strozier, President and Managing Director, Statistical Data Analysis and Research (SDAR), for coordinating the development of our research databases, for helping to develop the formulas and calculations, and for providing the final and ongoing testing of the statistical integrity of the information and data. We update the data quarterly--see About our Data.

How up to date is the information?

U.S. data has been updated to reflect third quarter 2004 information


2ndGoat

[mosquito]

Mississippi is an interesting case. Be sure to
consider Tunica, which has much better action
than Biloxi, and is near a major metro (Memphis).

Cost of living is also a function of how you
choose to live (eat out, et al) and a place
that takes care of some of your food costs through
free meal comps must also be taken into account.

[schroedy]

My personal experience in mid-limits ($15/$30 and such) is that Las Vegas is much easier than LA -- at least easier in the sense of better being able to figure out where you are at. Not enough data yet to determine if the wilder LA games have a better long term earn.

I have a hard time believing the comparative LA and SFO numbers also.

[BarronVangorToth]

As far as I can tell, it costs about $600 / month to live in Tunica, food included, as the Goldstrike has a poker rate about $20 per day and they will comp EVERY meal (as will the Horseshoe next door). The week I was there, I didn't spend a penny on food when I ate in the casino as both places were more than willing to give out as many comps as I wanted -- including for my friends, some of whom weren't playing poker.

The Goldstrike is an amazing place, for certain.

Barron Vangor Toth
www.BarronVangorToth.com
Team I Can't Live in Fairfield, CT for $7,200 / Year

[axioma]

the harrahs in new orleans was very soft when i visted it in the summer, and im sure its got to be a cheaper place to live that the others you mention.

im not from the U.S. though. over here in the UK we dont pay tax on winnings as im sure you know. Youre pretty much limmited to purely online (onless you have a thing for PLO...). However this should be soon to change, with many new 'super casinos' due to open over here in the comming years.

[schroedy]

But of course the COL in London would dwarf anything in these US cities.

[cowboyzfan]

[ QUOTE ]
But of course the COL in London would dwarf anything in these US cities.

[/ QUOTE ]

But would you rather be in London or Tunica? [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Maybe some would pick Tunica. Anyway, I would say San Fran and London are comparable. But that no tax thing sounds so nice [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[CrazyN8]

[ QUOTE ]
But would you rather be in London or Tunica? [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Easy now, some of us like life in these here southern states.[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] I would imagine cost of living in Biloxi is listed as such because it is coastal (Mississippi doesn't have the largest coastline). If I 'lived' in 'Tunica', I would probably live in Memphis...they do have a hall tax...maybe Senatobia or Hernando. There is NOTHING in Tunica besides the casinos.