Ok Just as a random thought I tried telling my computer as a global setting to always use the nvidia card in the nvidia control panel and it seems to force the game to use the right card so I don't have to use dual monitor to get it to run. My guess then is that setting it individually doesn't work in the control panel. I tested this with my 2nd monitor plugged in and unplugged and both times it worked.
It's not fabulous cause I think using the nvidia card for some things is overkill but it's a much better, much cleaner option than before. Hopefully this can help other people who might have a similar problem.