BOQUETE, PANAMA—Sitting in his bedroom, Nathan Singer says he makes upwards of 10,000 decisions a day.

The vast majority are automatic, with almost no conscious thought whatsoever. But they can result in thousands of dollars in profit or loss each week for the Californian, who makes his living playing online poker in Panama.

He and four roommates in the mountain town of Boquete, near the Costa Rican border, are among hundreds of professional poker players who moved abroad after the U.S. effectively banned online gambling in 2011.

On what is known within the industry as “Black Friday,” federal prosecutors shut down the country’s three largest online poker websites, a move many believe was spurred by pressure from the U.S. casino industry.

Unwilling to give up an income that can reach tens of thousands of dollars a month, many professional players left the country, with tropical climes such as Mexico, Costa Rica and Thailand becoming popular destinations to start afresh.

Singer, who started playing poker 10 years ago, chose Panama for its fast internet speed, beautiful coastline and ease of travel to and from the U.S.

Playing up to 16 tables at a time, up to nine hours a day, he makes around $70,000 a year — enough to afford a very comfortable lifestyle in this Central American nation.

But it is mentally “draining,” says Singer. “After playing a long day, you can get what’s called ‘decision fatigue’ — you just can’t face making any more choices,” he says. “Long term, poker has rewired my brain to constantly want more information.”

Singer is the most profitable player in a house that collectively makes around $25,000 to $35,000 a month — success he attributes to “high emotional intelligence.”

“I can tell how other players are feeling and what they are likely to do, even online,” he says. “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.”

Singer’s roommates include an ex-British Air Force engineer, a failed dot com entrepreneur and a 26-year-old sports enthusiast who's never had another fulltime job. While individual backgrounds vary, the vast majority of professional players are young men who have never made money any other way, says Singer, “so poker is their world.”

They tend to stick together, typically failing to assimilate with local culture and adopting a “spring break” attitude.

“Learning a new language and making foreign friends takes time, and poker players tend to see time not spent playing as money lost,” Singer says. “It is also a very solitary profession, which lends itself to social awkwardness.”

Many players hope to one day be able to return home, but legislative efforts to regulate online poker have so far languished in the U.S. Congress. The lobby is now shifting its focus to individual state laws, with Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey already legalizing interstate or intrastate play.

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It is a strange life, admits Singer, but one that allows freedom to choose your own hours and make a lot of money without leaving the house.

“I’m aware it’s a fundamentally predatory profession,” he says. “So I try to make sure that in my personal life I am generous and a positive factor in the lives of those around me.”