Katie Dozier and her husband Collin Moshman are two online grinders whose lives were tipped upside down after the events of Black Friday threatened to take their livelihoods away. In order to stay in the game, players moved to countries as far and as wide as Europe, Canada and Costa Rica, but Dozier and Moshman decided to opt for Rosarito in Mexico.
Dozier and Moshman are professional poker players, writers and coaches. Here they are describing what life has been like since their move.
After Black Friday essentially shut down online poker in the U.S where did you and Collin consider moving to in order to continue the grind?
When Black Friday happened, we’d just made a huge move to Vegas from Maryland, so moving right away wasn’t an option. When we decided to live part-time in a foreign country, last year, Mexico was an appealing choice because it was a reasonable distance from Vegas such that we could drive back and forth with our dog.
Why did you settle on Mexico?
It was mainly because of the proximity to the US, but also because we weren’t willing to move anywhere that would require quarantining our pets. Additionally, the people in our area in Rosarito are very friendly to expatting Americans. The cost of living here is relatively inexpensive, and living on the beach is a huge plus!
What were the important ingredients needed for the perfect online grind?
Great Internet, in a safe area, that allows for the happiest quality of life.
With legislation slowly changing in the U.S what would it take for you both to return?
We would need poker sites with very large player pools for us to return.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of grinding in Mexico?
That we can actually play on the major poker sites! Also, when compared to similar geographical areas in the US, like southern California, Mexico is very inexpensive.
Sometimes, it can be a bit daunting to live in an area without speaking the native language. Many Mexicans speak English, but we are both trying to learn Spanish together in order to feel closer to the community.
Would you recommend Mexico as a place for grinders to live?
Yes, for those that are able to move, this area of Mexico seems to be safe.
Do either of you play in any live games. If so what and where?
This summer, we’ll be making a trip to Vegas to play in some of the WSOP prelims as well as the main event. One thing we miss about living in Vegas is the access to live poker, but we’d pick being able to play 100 tournaments in a day versus one or two, almost any time. That’s part of why we aren’t going to play as many WSOP events this year, as last year, when we still lived in Vegas.
The only live game we’d played here is heads-up versus each other, and usually the stakes are for who will do the dishes that night. The funny thing is that we still get very competitive about it!
What sites do you play on whilst in Mexico? Are there any that are not available to you?
We play primarily on PokerStars.
Is there a big gambling mentality in Mexico?
I think it’s fair to say that more people are generally open to the idea of gambling for a living than in a lot of places in the US.
Do your neighbors know you are poker players? What’s there view on this and gambling in general?
Word has spread to other expats in this area about the high number of poker players that now live here. Neighbors have offered to let us use their Internet connections as backups in case ours goes down when we play. There are also a few other poker players in our building.
What does your online daily grind look like for both of you?
After we wake up, we walk Wilbur on the beach for a while. Then we come back and I make breakfast, usually French scrambled eggs, and we start playing around noon. At about 7:30 (hopefully later because this signifies a deep tournament run) we go down to the hot tub or steam room for a bit to unwind. Later that night we play pool in our complex, and Collin wins at least 80% of the time.
