online pros living in Vietnam thread
I'm an online pro living in HCMC, Vietnam (district 2) and interested in starting a thread for those of us living here to exchange information and avoid duplication of effort in getting addresses changed with poker sites, banking, and advice in general about living here. Also possibly meet up for beers or dinner on occasion.
About myself, I'm an online limit pro from the US that moved here in January of this year after a year+ living in Buenos Aires.
My specific questions - what are the chances of successfully receiving checks by mail or courier here?
Who do you bank with? Those of you that have received transfers from poker sites to a bank in Vietnam, are there any problems? Does the bank/government require to show you a work contract or where the funds are coming from? Are transfers subject to Vietnamese tax?
I opened a bank account with ANZ with just my passport. I tried HSBC at first and they told me I need a Vietnamese ID card which I don't have. HSBC also had an $8000US limit on how much I could have in my account at anytime and told me I'd need to show a work contract for some types of deposits/transfers.
ANZ told me I there were no limits on the amount of money I could have in my account. And they didn't mention the need to show a work contract (which doesn't mean they won't be required at some point).
For those of you not doing money transfers, how are you getting your money here?
Also, it looks like my bank account which is in US dollars is of no use as it looks like the poker sites require transfers to bank accounts here be in Euros. So, it looks like I'm going to have to close my US dollar account and open a Euro account and a VND account.
I haven't played since April 15th. Stars has been extremely difficult, unreasonable, illogical and incompetent in getting my mailing address changed - but I'm praying I might get final approval this week and can hopefully start working again.
How do you like HCMC in comparison to BA?
Do people speak English in HCMC?
There's a lot of foreigners and expats living in District 1 and 3. If you're talking about locals, specifically girls, their english isn't that great. Worst than say Thailand. But you can the girls you meet in district 1 and 3 can probably converse with you in English.
Why did you choose HCMC over for example Manila, Philippines?
I've been to Manila. The live game th
what is BA mean?
hello guys. Is online gambling illegal in vietnam? Can foreigners still play online poker without any legal consequence? I can not find any information. I only find that foreigners can gamble in brick and mortar casino, but I never found anything about online poker.
I want to come and visit, but worried about playing. It sounds silly i know, but I am just weary of getting into a bad situation.
Has any foreigner ever been imprisoned or fined for playing online?
Any info would be appreciated, thanks
HI all! I am looking to travel to Vietnam to play the WPT Vietnam event at Crown Poker Club in May.
Just wondering if someone can confirm if there will be cash games at the casino? I keep reading different things about cash games in Vietnam but just wanted to confirm so can bring proper bankroll. Any help is much appreciated!
I played a tournament in HCMC before covid. They got around the laws by taking 10% of all buy ins as the rake then people were allowed to play for a fixed time. No idea if Hanoi does it the same way, or if HCMC even does it the same way now.
Was there any information found on this ?
Can you expand on this pls? In regards to online poker in vietnam, some foreigners people got into trouble ?
All transactions from/to e-wallets are blocked by Vietnamese banks. To deposit money to your e-wallet you can do it with BTC or by someone sending you money on your account.
They are a couple of online stories in SEA. Foreigners are easy target for that in third world countries, just keep a low profile and you won't have any problem.
Can you expand on these stories pls? Are u talking about foreigner being in trouble for playing online poker? Thanks
Anybody grinding in Vietnam right now?
I wanted to move to Vietnam and play online for a year. How feasible is this? How do I go about depositing? What do I tell the landlord?
I am a UK citizen, with a UK bank account. Should I go on a travel visa and periodically extend it? I am completely lost with all this stuff but I know for sure people grind online from Vietnam
Hey,
I am looking for some people to join me in a poker house at some point post June 2024 for about 3 months.
I am 22 but will be 23 by then and would have just finished university at McGill in Montreal, although I am originally from London in the UK. I have been playing poker for years now which included taking a year between school and university to play and develop my game. The main focus for this trip for me is to fully commit to poker
Long shot it's been a while. But did you ever end up moving?
Anybody grinding in Vietnam right now?
I wanted to move to Vietnam and play online for a year. How feasible is this? How do I go about depositing? What do I tell the landlord?
I am a UK citizen, with a UK bank account. Should I go on a travel visa and periodically extend it? I am completely lost with all this stuff but I know for sure people grind online from Vietnam
Very feasible. Just deposit as usual. Say bye/hello to the landlord.
3 months tourist visa. Can not extend but get a new visa and exit/re-enter the country, as many times as you like.
Actually, I suggest Thailand rather than Vietnam. It's nicer, easier, more foreigner friendly. Vietnam is fine too, just Thailand is a better entry point for the lost ones. Or you could bounce between the two, couple months here, couple there.
Very feasible. Just deposit as usual. Say bye/hello to the landlord.
3 months tourist visa. Can not extend but get a new visa and exit/re-enter the country, as many times as you like.
Actually, I suggest Thailand rather than Vietnam. It's nicer, easier, more foreigner friendly. Vietnam is fine too, just Thailand is a better entry point for the lost ones. Or you could bounce between the two, couple months here, couple there.
Spent a few months earlier this year there. Not easy if you want to live here long-term on 3 months tourist visas. From what I heard if you exit by land the immigration system gonna take probably 1 week to update the system then only after you can apply outside for a new tourist visa, if by air 1-2; days max for the system to update. Only after you can apply outside for a new visa, unless you pay extra for fast visa service it might take you 1-2 weeks to receive your visa. When you take everything in consideration, it gonna get quiet expensive for the whole visa run + forced holiday spending weeks doing your visa run per year, not worth it imo. The days of having a 1 year business visa are over (600$ 1 year business visa and no question asked, giga easy to open a bank account etc, good time, man).
I agree with oxygia, probably better to just spend 3 months there then fukk off elsewhere for a few months then come back if you really love life there. But frankly Thailand, Cambodia or Philippines are just better options if you want to live long-term (like rent 1 year lease for a condo or house etc). Vietnam not that special, at the end of the day, long-term visas are what really matters for us
Spent a few months earlier this year there. Not easy if you want to live here long-term on 3 months tourist visas. From what I heard if you exit by land the immigration system gonna take probably 1 week to update the system then only after you can apply outside for a new tourist visa, if by air 1-2; days max for the system to update. Only after you can apply outside for a new visa, unless you pay extra for fast visa service it might take yo
Well I was originally looking at Thailand but from what I've seen the visa situation is not great there. Also they are introducing a tax for digital nomads , so poker winnings would fall under that. Is there no other way to stay longer in vietnam? I don't want any visa/immigration trouble if im going to be living on the other side of the world for a year. My main priorities are 1. No poker tax and 2. Being able to stay in one place without moving around, I really want to get my head down and grind in one place. It's a shame because from researching it Da Nang looks like an awesome place.
How much do you think the visa run would cost roughly? Considering I'd have to do it 4 times it better be kinda cheap otherwise not really worth it, I imagine the plane tickets would be the most expensive
How necessary is a local bank account? Can I not just use my UK bank account for everything?
It looks like every SEA country Thailand, Vietnam, phillipines all have a similar visa situation, Max 60 days and you have to re enter. So I suppose the best thing would be to alternate Vietnam/Thailand every 3 months. Just have to find short term rental accomodation, everything I looked at was min 1 year.
Just do philippines. Pay like 60 bux or something every 2 months and dont have to leave the country.
Negatives - impossible to get a bank account (at least i and my friends havent found a way around it)
- random **** doesnt work and takes long time to get fixed. ( example. Theres a leak in my 2nd bathroom rn. Maintenance comes and works on it 1 hour a day then leaves. Been here last 5 days in a row lol.)
- traffic is bad. But np just get motobike taxis.
Everything else is pr good. Food, nightlife, womens, etc...
Alternative would be cambodia. Can just pay 1 year fee like 300 to 700 dollars last i check (depends how long u lived there for). This gets u the 1 year visa, then can renew easy when expires.
Thailand and vietnam for longterm stay just seems kinda beat. Gotta jump thru hoops just to stay for 3 months or so. Cbf w that.
Well I was originally looking at Thailand but from what I've seen the visa situation is not great there. Also they are introducing a tax for digital nomads , so poker winnings would fall under that. Is there no other way to stay longer in vietnam? I don't want any visa/immigration trouble if im going to be living on the other side of the world for a year. My main priorities are 1. No poker tax and 2. Being able to stay in one place without
If you visa run from Saigon to Bangkok every 3 months:
- flights 120$
- 3 months visa urgent 2 working days 100$
- hotel let's say 5 days to be safe for the immigration system to update that you are a good boy and are now outside of the country and can apply again for a new tourist visa at 20-25$ per day for the hotel
Overall you gonna spend 350$ every 3 months just for visa, flights and your hotel. Then that's 20 days that you gonna spend doing forced visa runs every year. So yea Vietnam is cool but there are much better alternatives in the region if you want to live long-term here.
And if you check for the visa it used to be 25$ for 3 months and 4 working days pre Covid time but if you start to apply you gonna see that the prices are totally different, they are really greedy AF now.
Cool thanks. How necessary is a local bank account?
Just do philippines. Pay like 60 bux or something every 2 months and dont have to leave the country.
Negatives - impossible to get a bank account (at least i and my friends havent found a way around it)
- random **** doesnt work and takes long time to get fixed. ( example. Theres a leak in my 2nd bathroom rn. Maintenance comes and works on it 1 hour a day then leaves. Been here last 5 days in a row lol.)
- traffic is bad. But np just get motob
Do you ever have internet problems when playing in the phillipines?
Nah. Internet/electricity is fine.
I did however wake up one morning and has no water...took them about 3 hours to fix it.
In cambodia, electricity is an issue. Regular brown outs. You will neeed to buy a ups and live in a condo w a generator.
Impossible to open a bank account on tourist visa here, pre Covid it was only possible with a 1 year business visa. And Vietnamese banks are a pain in the ass to deal with. Ex gf sent me once money, bank transfer, next day my bank called me asking me why a Vietnamese sent me money, told them huh I have a 1 year business visa what's the problem, they said don't care a local sent you money we need legit proof of business transaction bla bla bla, told them it was just my gf lol, no care, next day they sent the money back to my ex gf bank account.
An other time did a bank withdrawal from Betfair to my bank account here, a few days later bank calls me asking why who is this company etc told me to write an email to them explaining why this company sent me this money. Company name who sent the money was some some non gambling name company but if if you google it not hard to see that it's gambling related company, that's what they did for sure, bravo! Told them by email that I was an affiliate marketer in Europe etc, nope can't get my money then 10 days later Betfair credited my money back to my account.
So yea forget about banking here. If you need a bank statement for KYC for a new poker account => Thailand or Cambodia. When I was in Da Nang earlier this year, had a small money exchange shop on My Khe Beach doing USDT for VND with small fees something like 3% that's what I did when staying there but it looks like they closed it now. I found it on Google maps searching usdt on the map. If you can do crypto, there are better alternatives for example in Phnom Penh close to Naga they are a few Chinese shops you can exchange usdt and 1% fee only, one of this shop is a 10$ Chinese noodles soup (lol) shop with no usdt sign outside and same 1% fee.
Impossible to open a bank account on tourist visa here, pre Covid it was only possible with a 1 year business visa. And Vietnamese banks are a pain in the ass to deal with. Ex gf sent me once money, bank transfer, next day my bank called me asking me why a Vietnamese sent me money, told them huh I have a 1 year business visa what's the problem, they said don't care a local sent you money we need legit proof of business transaction bla bla b
Right I see. I'd like to avoid all this fing about if possible. I guess the best thing is to just have the money deposited already, and just tell the poker site I am moving country? I think GG would be fine with it, idk about other sites. Can you get by without a local account? Can I just use my UK card for payments? I'm clueless with how this stuff works over there I've only really travelled Europe.
Nah. Internet/electricity is fine.
I did however wake up one morning and has no water...took them about 3 hours to fix it.
In cambodia, electricity is an issue. Regular brown outs. You will neeed to buy a ups and live in a condo w a generator.
Are you in manilla? I read the best place to live is between manilla, cebu and davao
Cambodia out of the question then
Yea. In manila.
Cebu is also good. Been there about 5 times.
Has malls, good food. Nightlife is good and like 4 diff places for livepoker. Everything quite cheap there.
Never been to davao.
I use revolut here and there is a fee between 30k-45k VND (1.17-1,76$) per cashout. Buy the metal premium for about 16$/ month then you have no fees more than this up to 800$/month. Although Saccombank which seem to be lowest fee, there is max cashout for 3 million VND so yeah some more fee if u cashout for rent n bills as you need to do 2-3 withdrawals. You get like 1% cashback everytime use the card for supermarket, shopping, booking hotels etc.
There is maybe better ways, but I doubt it.
Regarding visarun every 3rd month, my first run I could apply my next visa before it expired and some american living here said it was the same for him. The 2nd visarun I got application rejected and had to wait in Cambodia until it expired. On a positive note it went fast after I updated my application and no extra nonsense.
