Might have something to do with it.

I just asked Nate. He was unmovable at £16ph session charge. I also asked Denis at Queensway a while ago, he said he could probably do a comparable rake but also throw in some cheap buffet food as well (frozen wings, spring rolls etc). But if the best case scenario is to build this into a first Tuesday of every month kind of game, better to do it in the Hippo.

Also.....certain staff in the Hippo are excellent and ex tour staff.....plenty of dud dealers all over town

fair enough - thanks for answering, good luck with the game and if you do manage to get it going regularly I'll try and come play in it (get rid of the Razz tho )

There is no better banter in poker than calling someone down with a Jack low and watching their nutty hand pair up. Razz gets my vote

This. Razz is one of the most tilt inducing games ever. I love it.

Hey bananapeel,

This sounds amazing and something I would be very interested in playing from April next year on if you can keep the game going. I've asked a couple of casinos if they spread other games other than NLH or PLO when I've turned up in the past and got responses from "no" to "our dealers are trained to deal all games", but there's never been any chance of getting a game going at anything short of high stakes. I play 8-game online and have been really keen to start playing these games live. I know there's a mix game going at Vic some night but I would have to sit down with my whole bankroll - and it probably includes a whole bunch of games like Pineapple.

I really appreciate that you've mentioned respect for the dealers in this post as I can imagine it will be a bit new for them too. And I'm sure that extends to players as well e.g. players taking a little longer to figure out their hi/lo hands, possibly betting out of turn on stud/razz streets, bet sizing and getting used to live limit betting etc but as long as everyone is patient and recognises that we're all here to learn than it should be a great game.

I'll be keeping a close eye on this post and keen to jump in once the game gets going. It's good for players like us and good for the casinos who are serious about poker.

Great work mate and please keep out the Badugi (but wouldn't be opposed to some 2-7SD Limit)

Btw, i know there was an 8-game tournament at the APAT in Coventry this year to tie in with the Goliath. Did anyone play in it?

This mix game that runs in the Vic only runs when a specific whale is in town, I have only seen it running half a dozen times or so over the last two years. If you do want to play Pot Limit DC there are a clique of players in both the Mint and Aspers who play, in both locations but also in various high rake private games. Asking around would probably get you in no problem. Bear in mind though all games are pot limit.....5 card superstud is pretty big even at 1/2.

Also bear in mind that if there is enough interest on a constant basis any casino will spread pretty much anything you want if they are getting their end. Even the Vic would relent to a possible 1/1 NL rake structure if 20 people a day wanted to play low limit DC/ fixed limit whatever


And whoever told you dealers are trained to deal all games is lying through their teeth! An hour of practice every now and then doesn't mean much. The only dealers who end up on the sporadic DC games around town are the degenerate ones who play the games themselves :-)

So do you have a estimated start time for the game yet dude?

Nothing set in stone but I will be in the West End very early, probably around 1ish, making sure they have the chips and plaques setup, but I don't expect us to get going for a few hours until people start coming in. If you want to get hold of me quickly PM me and I will receive it in my gmail instantly, I have thread updates here turned off. I'm expecting we will run quite late as well, there are a bunch of people who can't make it until late evening.

Just been told they can only do 1 table. They obviously don't believe that it will generate more rake p/h than a nitty 1/2 NL, which I think is false, especially given some of the punters who are coming down. Get there early if you want a seat! We'll be 8 max with UTG and UTG1 sitting out for TD. The situation might (I hope) change once they realise that even a low stake limit game makes a ton of take when people are giving action. Also disregard everything to do with the finnicky stud rulings I laid out, they were having none of it. I'd like to think that I know best, but they obviously don't think so!

See some of you tomorrow

Hey, im moving to london in 3 month, i was just curious what the state of live poker is in london ? is there decent nlh / plo highstakes action ? (T/25 +) and if yes in which locations and how regulary ?

How did the mix game go? Reckon we can get it to run again?

It went really well. Fun atmosphere, people having a good time. We had a full table most of the night, even had a few randoms sit down and play without knowing all the games.

It was a very small game, could probably do with raising the stakes slightly as the game did not play as aggressive as it normally would with experienced players. Because of this, I was playing a lot wider than I would have done to try and create some action. No complaints though, made a massive £3 profit over 8 hours!

Great job from bananapeel for organising it, and the dealers were all great, they learned very quickly in the games they weren’t familiar with.

I look forward to the next game!

Sorry for the late report. It did go really well, started at 4pm HU, by 7pm we were full with 2 on the list. Game broke at Midnight. Like Mike said, it did play a little small, especially the 3 Stud rounds. Next game we will have to bump it to 4/8 (Stud rounds will be 50p ante/£1.5 bring in/£4 complete).

I did notice that, primarily because of the Stud rounds the rake wasn't too high. Obviously the actual amount wasn't given to me, but I'm guessing that it was around £300, which for about 7 hours of a full game is pretty bad for them. Tips were hinted at being around the £90 mark, which they were happy about. Absolutely NO WAY they would implement the same rake structure again, I have yet to speak to the Boss but I assume that she would only let it run again with a session, probably around £8 per half hour. I will post when I know more and have an exact amount. The Vic quoted me the same amount, although to be fair the Hippo has been far more helpful.

Next game mid-January? Quite a few people who live out of town have a preference for the Vic, so drop me a PM and let me know yours if you are interested in playing.

I also have two poker acquaintances who aren't that interested in HORSE but think that they are PLO8 sharks ,if there isn't much interest for HORSE+TD, I think that a 1/2 PLO8 or even 50/1 would get similar interest pre-game, but there is more of a chance of players who didn't know the game was on chancing upon it and sitting. Like Mike said, we had 4 players sit who didn't come directly for the game, a couple of young hold'em regs, an ex-croupier and an old school punter who had played a lot of limit mix in Vegas over decades of playing cards, so I think we got pretty lucky. I think that a minority of PLO players would sit if they see a PL hi/lo running (especially if needled to) but also some of the PL DC big boys would also sit instead of being put off by limit.

Anyway let me know if anyone has any input, and thanks for the interest


***Also: I dropped 20 bets

Thanks for the reports guys, sounds like there's definitely something to build on here. Obviously need to find that sacred middle ground where the Casino is making money but people are still happy to jump in!

I'm definitely in for a mid-Jan game. More than happy to try out a £0.50/1 or £1/2 PLO8 game as well if that's the interest. I have a few mix friends who I'm sure would jump in too.

For me either casino will be fine. I have a personal preference for the Hippo but will go to either

So what the heck has happened to The Vic? I learned to play there 20+ years ago when Jeff ran the room on the first floor. Everything was pot limit and had high blinds. Up until about 2011 I was in London a lot and played there hundreds of times against very, very, very good players for lots of money. The past few years I have not been in London nearly as much. The past two months, though, I have been through a few times and been to the Vic about 6 times. Where are the games?

Tonight, for example, the highest HE game is 1-3 and there is a crummy 2-5 Omaha going. I have only seen a 5-10 of either once in the times I have visited. The mix games are a distant memory, apparently. I was inclined to say that some of this is holiday-related but I am now doubtful. They are just pushing rake-based low stakes tables?

Where have the games gone? I'm coming back to town next month and am looking for something better. Thanks.

[It was nice to see Caroline again. She knows how it was.]

5-10 NL rarely runs. 5-10 and 10-25 PLO runs pretty frequently, you've been unlucky to not see a game, although it seems very hit and miss on the lineup, although I am no authority on this, the highest I play is 2/5 PLO if it looks good or 1/3 NL. Lots more regs from across Europe have come to London as their games have dried up, and the gambling commission has got VERY tight on proof of income for higher stakes cash buy ins. It's known as KYC (know you customer) or Enhanced Due Diligence. As most of the whales who play big either can't prove income/ don't want to prove it for whatever nefarious and/or tax purposes, most of the higher action is now private/semi-private.
Also, from what I hear from people with more money than me, is that its very easy to find huge and juicy private games in India/Dubai/even Saudi etc, so there is no gambling itch to scratch when these guys come to London.

I remember donking around in the hundred holdem in the Vic in 2003, which was 3/3 PL and soft as a marshmallow pit. Which is lucky because if I started playing today I would of lost a lot more!

Cash game festival starting at aspers tomorrow. Anyone have any experience of how it was last time? Games any good?

Hey there folks,

I'll be probably be posting a general thread in a day or 2, but I stumbled upon this thread as it pertains to the first leg of my trip and felt the need to chime in!

I'm looking to travel through Europe cardroom to cardroom trying my best to subsidize the travel through the cardplaying. Looks daunting with the rake structure and sparsity of games above 1/1 and 1/2 blinds, but at the very least it will be a fun adventure I plan on trying to document, and make last as long as possible.

Unfortunately I cannot add much in the way of information, but would love to hear any and all as far as the UK (specifically london) poker scene, especially the PLO games that would be running (looks like just the Vic, i guess?)

Thanks in advance and I appreciate any and all info!

Played the 1/1 games that ran around it and they weren't too good. To me it seemed like it just brought out all the online grinders. Don't know what the higher staked games were like.

Thanks Grim

This pot was solid from the TV table.

So I've been out of the Hippodrome Cash Game loop for about 6 months now but hope to make a return around February time after I've reached my bankroll building target figure. Yes, I've actually had to go out and get a steady job and suffer the indignity of playing 1/1 at The Vic to scratch my itch - but had a lot of fun doing it!! AND I should even qualify for the cash-race freeroll so hurrah for me!!

Anyway...

Question 1: Do they still have a monthly loyalty freeroll? And...
Question 2: Have there been any noticeable changes in the last six months?

Thank you very much for your marvellous up and coming replies.

Hey, sorry can't answer about the last six months in the Hippo as i am about to go around the casino's for the first time in a year myself. I was planning on playing some long 1/1 sessions at the Vic in the next week or two. You found the games beatable? Do 1/1 tables run frequently?

Yes beatable. Though playing 1/1£ makes it hard to have a substantial monthly income.

I would be happy to meetup with any of you at Vic. I always wear black Levis leather cap.