Agree with everything here.

but...they have tampered with the odds for table games

minimum bets are higher, and they've introduced double (or triple) zeroes on roulette and 6/5 blackjack as the two most obvious changes, plus tinkering around the edges

as for poker, I'm not convinced average buying at a 1/2 game change much with inflation, a lot of people want to play poker for the fun of it and look for the lowest stakes offered

Good point regarding blackjack and roulette changes.

Fun fact: Saw Daniel Cates (known as Jungleman) at The Hippo at Table 7 playing the good ol' 1/2 alongside his fancy woman last night.

Popped up to the 4th/5th floor last night. Absolutely immaculately laid out area with seven or eight (seemingly brand new) poker tables for the ladies' tournament with plenty of space to move around and all looking extremely nice. Regular and loyal cash game players get the extremely cramped 3rd floor.

Just sayin'.

Just a quick bump

London poker is still growing, the Vic now regularly spreading 5/10 to 25/50 NL daily, and even 50/100. Not sure on the line up, but seems to be gathering traction. (Might just be during the holiday period but will monitor it and update in a few weeks.

Also shout out again to the Vic for their daily high hand promo, now I do hate any rake drop, but this is proving popular, especially their NYE promo per hour, really got the numbers up. Gives all punters a fair shot, while paying the extra drop per hand.

Gukpt London coming up this week, a bit early than usual.

Roll on 2024...let's see what it brings.





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Games getting dry these days. High reg to fish ratio

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Hey guys, just moved here from America and am now a resident.

How exactly would you rate the poker scene here compared to the likes of Vegas, other good places in America (TX, FL, East Coast, LA, etc), and the rest of Europe? Hows the weekend action? Is this the best place to play poker in Europe?

Do people make livings as live poker players here?

Just trying to gauge a level of expectation before I dip my toes in. I am within walking distance (Albeit a 35 minute walk) from The Vic, but also love the UK and would like to travel around and see if there are other good cities to play poker around here as well.

Thanks for any info!

The poker here is smaller and tougher than in the US. 1/2 in London is probably comparable to 2/5 in Vegas, 2/5 UK comparable to 5/10 maybe 10/25 in the US at times. There are lots of good players in those games who play bigger elsewhere in the world. The UK isn't anywhere near as wealthy as the US so the disposable income needed for rec players to gamble as freely/highly as in the US just isn't there. You will find very weak, nitty pros in the 1/2 games I'm sure and then 2/5 will absolutely have multiple pros in the game. You pay no tax on gambling winnings in the UK which is obviously very helpful for would be pros.

Outside of London you will find cities that have cash games but it'll probably be 1/1 and a very small game. I wouldn't travel anywhere in the UK to play poker but if you find yourself in other major UK cities (Birmingham/Liverpool/Manchester etc) you'll likely have a poker game you can play, it just won't be particularly great.

All your questions are answered in this book:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/London-Poke...ps%2C94&sr=8-1

OK, it looks like The Mint on Cromwell Street (opposite Natural History Museum) is making a comeback / revival and calling itself Forty Five Kensington PKR. I personally didn't play there when it was The Mint but have heard that the games were "legendary".

I've seen that it's doing tournaments and cash games (after 8pm) and was wondering whether it's worth a visit.

Does anyone have info on the number of players it gets or any general impressions?

Cheers in advance.

It's odd to me that Genting decided to launch poker here in a relatively unknown place and arguably an odd location - I never went to the Mint, so I guess I could be completely wrong, where nobody will just fall in off the street (which is what you sort of need) - when they also own Palm Beach and could have the best poker in London in the nicest location (which it was 10 years ago), if they weren't so clueless. I'll report back once I've been but they say games from 1/2-25/50 (i'll belive that when I see it). I think anytihng otuside of W1 isn't going to work for a mid-high stakes poker environment and why would you bother 1/2 in this location, but I could be biased.

Anyone know the current status of the cash races / freerolls that Aspers, Empire & the Vic used to offer? Was a reg in London several years ago and considering doing a month or two over the summer there but its incredibly hard to find out any info on their websites about them.

I believe they all made the change to hours instead of points just around the time I left London. The Vic used to have a 6-7 week qualification period though if I remember correctly. Does anyone know approximately how many hours would qualify you for each one? I'm assuming Aspers is still run on a Saturday and Empire is run on a Sunday, so possible to play both in the same month?

Cheers for any info

Empire one is still going...1st Sunday of each month (download bravo to see live games and wait lists, they don't have twitter updates anymore)

Varies in terms of hours from month to month but to be 100% lock you need 100 hours+ (they update the board daily, and it's top 50 or 60 players) They also limit it to 8 or 10 hours earn't per visit.

No idea what Aspers is doing, I believe Hippo is still doing one but not sure the likely hours.

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The Vic hasn't had a loyalty for a few years or more and doesn't plan to introduce one, their daily high hand promo and BBJ seem quite popular and well liked.

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Going to Florida this month, and plan to play a bit of poker whilst there. Can i buy chips with bank card in the big casinos? I have a starling account which i hear is fee free anywhere in the world, but just want to double check in here.

I wont need a huge amount, 5-10k max. Id just rather not have to sort USD before going over, or get boned by exchange rates / fees every time i buy something / play poker.

Basically does anyone have experience with using Starling abroad and can confirm / deny if ill be ok relying on it for everything whilst over there?

Not sure about America but have used it in multiple countries in Asia with no problem and good exchange rates. I think the issue is (at least for me) the base maximum withdrawal amount per day from a cash point was around £300, so you might have to sort that out beforehand if it's possible. Maybe withdrawing directly from a casino is different, idk.

I def wouldnt do this. You'll incur wild atm withdrawal or 'cash advance' fees everytime you buy chips. Also a few times ive been to LA to play, I didnt take enough cash with me and resorted to what you're suggesting when I busted the cash I took and needed to reup, I ended up capped at a very small withdrawal limit of like $1K per 24 hours as per my bank withdrawal limit, no good when you're tilted and standing at an ATM at 11pm in a casino in the middle of nowhere. My suggestion is to find someone to buy 5-10k off in London and take the cash with you. There's also plenty of online sites you can reporder the cash at ok exchange rates, a few days before you need it.

Looks like Hippodrome are trying to run 1/3 now with a £150 - £600 buy-in but some 2/5 players are complaining it takes traffic away from their game. Interesting change from the £1000 cap they got going at Vic which might attract new players.

Apparently they got 2 or 3 games running on Friday / Saturday. Anyone played it? Comments?

I popped in during the daytime randomly on Saturday and heard this, very new and good to see some sensible changes. The 2/5 players don't rule the room, let them trial it and see what happens. Would like to have seen 200 min buy in but doesn't matter too much.

Vic has added another £1k to their daily high hand promo which is proving popular, and empire is also very busy most days, seems London poker is thriving!

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