It'd be great to get a decent poker room in Canary Wharf or the City - Aspers is the nut low.

What's wrong with Asper's?

The casino itself looks like a soulless cave. Most employees I've dealt with were ranging from somewhat to outright unprofessional. The clientele is, broadly speaking, a bit scary.
If you like the place and are a local that's great news, no need for you to commute to central London for poker action. I just cannot stand it.

I actually really like Aspers.

Without Aspers, their clientele of yobs and obnoxious old men would go to the Vic / LSQ and I would actually have to interact with those animals.

Much better to keep them quarantined in East London so we don't have to see, hear or smell them.

Staff there are trash as well, they seem clueless and seem depressed. TBF I would be clinically depressed too if I worked there.

lol not that, I live in the States now and have done for over a decade, but my folks still live at the eastern end of the Central Line so it's the closest place, not that I've played poker there.

Was just interested.

I'll have a dig at Aspers as well but it's mainly because of its appalling location, dreary ambience and generally miserable player-base (consisting of a large proportion of regs). I get the vibe that no one seems to be actually having fun there and that the "we're all just in it for the money" mindset dominates the atmosphere. (Maybe why the dealers always appear so grumpy and bored.) Also if you want a change of scene it's a horrible walk to the Tube and a fairly long Central Line trip to get where the real action is. LSQ, by contrast, usually has such a lighter atmosphere and more recreational/casual players who are either just there to have fun or don't care about losing the money or both.

Anyone reading this and tempted with a trip to London, especially Leicester Square
for Empire and Hippo, read on...

Spent most of the Christmas to New Year playing at the Leicester Square properties. I can recommend the hotel Zedwell. 1 min walk from Empire (just next door to five guys) I stayed there almost a week, average price for me was about £65 per night (prices vary depending on demand and dates, so book in advance, plus I seem to get slightly better rates with expedia due to regular bookings)

The Zedwell, Its new and modern, clean and simple rooms. No windows, but very comfortable bed and decent shower. Just bring a few hangers as limited space for putting things but for a poker player looking to just play its a brilliant location, I don't live that far away, but trying to get home after midnight is rather pricey via uber when surge pricing hits, plus games get going from the early afternoon with plenty of action from 2pm til 6am most days (Hippodrome shuts weekdays at 8am Monday to Thursday)

https://www.zedwellhotels.com/

Games wise, pretty clear that Empire has the softer games and clearly get the best random walk in punters happy to blast through a few buy ins. They also ran a very decent promotion which was 5 prizes from 7pm on certain days for the first 5 hands won with 56 suited (as well as their rake free promo) included £250, £500, £1000, apple air pods and apple watch.

Was a shame to see so many regs all snap leave when the 5 prizes were won and all march next door, but the games for the past few weeks have been exceptional, especially after 1am. Expect only £1/£2 games but they soon get juicy as people get stacked up with chips, and there has been a late night £1/£2 omaha 6 card game going.

Hippodrome, I spent a few hours most days there but found the games much tougher and reg infested. Some good games to be found of course, but overall not as good value, but a nicer venue to play with good food choices if your lazy and not wanting to venture out for dinner.

P.S remember to ring up often and ask Mark about their daily tournaments (none running at the moment but he does love being asked about them!)

As far as I know that promotion has ended and we are back to the evil cash race - it is so frustrating to donate that extra £1 per pot when you know you will not qualify for the tourney.

Btw I've noticed there are a huge amount of players at the Empire who do not tip the dealers at all. What's up with that?

Yes it's a shame but they still offer the 56suited rake free

As for the non tipping players...I noticed a few, but most seemed not to be regulars. It happens in all the clubs, but most people tip 50p-£1 at least on any sizeable pot which I'm sure all add up

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Hello,

been searching for a European city to continue my poker pro journey. I would love to go to London but the cost of living (especially rent) is insane.
The only way to live off poker in London seems to be winning at high stakes. And even then the cost of living would eat up most of the income.
Is there something I'm missing? Sure there's a lot of games in London but how can all these players afford living there?

To add insult to injury, the rake in small/med stakes games is astronomical.


My guess is that there aren't too many EV winners at these limits, and even fewer that can account for the cost of living. Many of the young guys live at home, older ones may own some property. Of course, variance is huge and live samples are small so some people will be actual winners for years, even if they're break even/losers.

If you're not already beating high stakes online/wherever you're living, I would not recommend London.

There's a catch 22 there as there will only be poker games/action at relevant (i.e. not the lowest) stakes in cities where enough people with money are, and those tend to have high costs of living as a result too. Vegas is an exception because that's where many peeps vacation to gamble, but that kind of place doesn't really exist in Europe.
And while the rake in London may seem astronomical by US standards it's actually low by European standards. So yes, it is probably one of the best places, if not the best one in Europe. As with many things, you can only make a living out of it, if you're really good at it

London can be pricey, but you can find plenty of affordable rooms to rent within a sensible commute to the main 3 London poker rooms, it just depends what you need. (check spareroom website or facebook marketplace to gauge prices)

not sure what other cities in Europe offer as many games and action as London, and those that do will likely have similar high living costs.

what are those 3 main casinos pls? and what are the areas where is best to live in order to not commute a lot

Victoria, Empire, Hippodrome

Some would add Aspers at the Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford as a fourth but I'd pass on that if I were you. For convenience and great table-selection I'd stick with The Empire and Hippodrome at Leicester Square (2-3 mins walk between the two and about 20 odd 1/2 tables). The Vic at Edgware Road is OK but a bit "old-man-ish" and out of the way.

The only downside to The Empire and Hippo at present (apart from the long waiting lists on Friday and Saturday night) is the £1 drop per £20+ pot at The Empire for the cash race and the tightly packed tables at the Hippodrome that really restricts movement at and around the tables.

bit bored today so thinking of some old times, does anyone ever remember playing in the loose cannon in london? by the river and steve? that used to run the friday game and a lot of different games round london

Yeh, I remember the Loose Cannon - between Southwark and London Bridge by the Thames on the north side. Very large but dark pub, a bit like a dungeon of a castle as I recall. Very nice venue that closed as a poker venue just over ten years ago. Played a few poker tournaments there - self-dealt I believe. They used the same poker chips in their tournies that you could buy over the counter at the old Chess & Bridge shop near Euston! I mentioned this to the organiser but he didn't seem bothered.

Hey guys,

As the covid tests were removed for ppl arriving in the UK (if you're vaccinated) I would like to know if you have seen more tourists on the poker tables, especially at Hippodrome.

At the end of last year saw a few ppl from Israel and other countries, but not that much... Been only once this year for a short session, but didn't see any tourists in my short session.


Txs

I used to play there when I first started working in the City. Couldn't get down there very often with work but played some of my first live hands outside of a casino there.

it was the very first place i ever played live, i simply wasnt comfortable going to a casino, used to be some amazing games there for someone who likes low limit (i.e me) but still keep it just close to my personal safety zone, always had some arseholes turn up but they were far outweighed by the good guys and girls

I prefered the casino games in those days as I wasn't comfortable with self dealing but I remember the atmostphere being good.

Anyone know what the vics new cashback loyalty is? Saw it on their twitter but it doesn’t really explain it, could be something a bit different for London though

Moving back to London after 10+ years, been a stars zoom 2/5 and gg plo reg for many years, what you think is better for daily grind , Vic or H+E, i would hate running back and forth from ER to LSQ

Random nostalic rant. Wandered into the Palm Beach for old times sake last week, although I live in London, hadn't been in there for ages. I was pretty sad to see they no longer offer poker there at all. Their 5/10 10/25 cash games back in 2008/9/10/11 were ****ing unbelievable in that little private room. It was also a classy place to play, with people that had money (lots of cluleless Arabs and Indians) and was a good environment and nice food. There's def a niche/gap in the market for people who want to play med-higher stakes in a nice casino (not Vic/HD etc) that isn't a totally exclusive nose bleed private game like in Les A etc. Unfortunately a lot of this action is in private games which are less than straight and pretty dangerous. Palm Beach had a sort of Bond-esq vibe to it, a similar feeling to playing cash games in Monaco. Is there anywhere else in London to play that isnt Vic/HD/Empire/Aspers - all just **** holes.