Ever since the US banned online gambling in 2011, a number of poker enthusiasts have move overseas where online gambling is still legal. One of these poker players is Nathan Singer who is originally from California.
Today, Nathan lives in Panama and players online poker for a living. Nathan says he spends a lot of time in front of his computers, playing popular online poker games and makes thousands of decisions playing the game that is critical to his income.
Nathan chose the country of Panama because it is close to the United States, has a beautiful climate, great beaches and also high internet speeds. He shares an apartment with four other flat mates, who come from different backgrounds.
Nathan is a prolific poker player and plays close to 16 tables at a time. On a daily basis, he plays close to 9 hours a day, just like a full time job and his average annual earnings is around $70k. This income allows me to live a very nice lifestyle in Panama.
However, just like every job, there are pros and cons to it. Nathan works from home and spends a lot of time in front of the computer and that affects his social life in more ways than one. Nathan admitted that it was mentally exhausting. He said
After playing a long day, you can get what’s called ‘decision fatigue’ — you just can’t face making any more choices. Long term, poker has rewired my brain to constantly want more information.
The pros outweigh the cons and that is why Nathan loves what he does and continues to strive to make more money by playing online poker. By spending so much time online and increasing his poker knowledge, Nathan wins a lot more than he loses these days. After playing the game for so long, he has now become an expert in reading the game. He went on to say
I can tell how other players are feeling and what they are likely to do, even online. I’m also able to stay calm and look at things very rationally, which is hugely important in poker, where results are not dependent on process — you can often do the right thing and lose, or the wrong thing and win.
Nathan is just one among the thousands of players, who have left the United States and moved on to countries such as Panama, Mexico and Thailand which allow them to play online poker, win money and live a comfortable lifestyle overseas.
