You muggy ****.

This is what happens when you spend all your trip hanging around Leicester Square in the wee hours... ridiculous conclusions about a wonderful city with circa 2000 years of history, you ****ing pleb.

Also, this thread is far too polite and needs some balance 8)

Hey guys,

Few months back I posted a website which was summarizing the twitter updates about cash games in London. Unfortunately, the cloud service where I hosted the website got rid of their free tier. Recently, I moved it to Heroku, so here you go

https://poker-cashgames-london.herokuapp.com

Berba thanks for doing that, seems really helpful.

Great job Berba, thanks for this!

where is it worth playing in London in the period of 6th of march to like the 17th?

There to catch some liverpool game and wanna play tournies and cash.

For the atmosphere and 1/2 cash games (without waiting too long) and the best for table selection, I'd recommend the West End / Leicester Square. That's The Hippodrome and/or The Empire. They'll have at least 12 tables going in total on Fri/Sat night and about 10 tables going prime-time weekdays.

For tournies, I think The Vic generally have more of them, more runners and the best structure. But the atmosphere isn't as buzzing. The Empire have an afternoon tourny but it's not up to much by comparison. The Vic do 1/1, 1/2 and 2/5+ but table selection is no where near as good and you can wait a long time as well.

For 1/1, you could also try Aspers but it's right at the end of the Central Line and the worst of the four venues for location, atmosphere and all-round convenience. There is also a Genting in Leicester Square that have a couple of 1/1 tables.

For craziness, a bit of a gamble and a good time most folks and tourists will pop into The Hippo or The Empire cos it's right there where people are having a good time! The Vic (with a policy of no music) can sometimes seem a tad too serious at times.

Does anyone regularly play the £550 monthly 8-max at the Vic? What's the level of players like and the structure? tx

Assuming this won't be an issue but...just checking and checking which room will be better....

next month I'm doing a business trip to London (from Sydney). My return flight leaves Heathrow at 8.25am on a Friday, so I'll need to be there soon after 6 for check in etc.

I really don't want to pay for a hotel room on the Thursday night, so figured I'd play poker all night. Just checking that there'll be at least a few tables going through the night at either of the Empire or Vic on a Thursday night?

I'll only be playing 1/2 or 1/3 - which one is likely to have more all night action on a Thursday?

supplementary question...do the tubes run at 5am ish from both venues easily enough for me to get to Heathrow?

Vic obviously closer but I don't really fancy walking up Edgeware Rd with a full suitcase so Leicester Square easier in that regard

thanks for any advice/tips

yep, 1/2 runs around the clock at both and 1/3 does at the Vic, afaik. Probably down to a couple tables at Empire in the wee hours of the morning though.

Tube should be running, but with longer between trains than during the day. You can see when the first trains leave in the morning on whichever lines you need here:
https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/tube/first-and-last-tube

GL with the poker and hope you enjoy your time in London.

I would usually recommend the Leicester Sq casinos, but if I were getting a train from Paddington, which is your best bet for Heathrow, I'd probably go to the Vic. It's a quick walk from there, and I wouldn't personally be worried about safety etc.

Rough business having to pay for your own hotels if you're on a business trip!

Or given the full suitcase you can just grab one of the black cabs from the rank outside the Vic. At that time in the morning the trip to Paddington station shouldn't be more than £5 or £6. The Heathrow Express is obviously the pricier bit of the journey (but it is more pleasant than getting the tube).

Eh, you can jump straight on the Piccadilly line from Leicester Square, at 50 minutes it's not that much longer than a cab to Paddington from the Vic, and then the HX, which is going to be 30 minutes or so. Depends on how much you value your time I guess.

As a long time lurker of the LLSTP thread, give me a shout if you're interested in grabbing a beer and I'll join you at the tables for a bit.

Having done both I would recommend the Heathrow Express, but then again, Cab+HR will be circa £25-30, while the other will be however much they're stiffing people for a single on the tube these days.

Actually, looking at it the first tube on a Friday morning is 5:45 to get to T5 at 6:39, so the Vic and the Heathrow Express may be the better option (first train 5:10, gets to T5 5:31).

It was around 6 pounds from central london to heathrow with the tube, 6.25 or something IIRC. I also looked into the express but figured it was not worth it. 6:39 should be plenty if the flight is at 8:20. The 1/3 at Vic plays bigger than the 1/2 at Empire though.
You should be able to sleep better on a plane than me though for this kind of schedule to work out. Been there, done that, but I do not recommend.

thanks everybody for your advice, much appreciated. I generally stay in Victoria and do have meetings around the West End, so I mainly end up playing at the Empire. I do think that the Vic is better placed for an early morning trip to Heathrow and yes, a cab to Paddington and then jumping on a train to the airport probably makes the most sense.

FWWM - flying in the front of the plane, so no fear of not sleeping. Plan will be to get my head down as soon as the plane takes off. (and then start drinking when I wake up!)

joejoe - my own little business and I know I'll be playing cards til late, so just don't see the point of a few hundred quid for a few hours kip

LucasVienna - thanks for the link, that's really useful.

Bloobird -LLSTP...do you mean the Chat thread? (surprised anybody who lurks that would want to meet me!!). Always happy to have a beer...as above, I generally play at the Empire when I'm there - it'll be the week of the 19th March but I like the Vic more in many ways. Where do you play?

I will be in town from the 6th of march til the 15th.

This is kind of awkward but ill be traveling alone. if anyone wants to hang with a dude from Norway, hit me up with a PM!

im here all week for the poker/football/drinking.

I did mean the chat, yeah. I normally play at the Hippo when I play in London (not all that frequently any more), but happy to wander over to the Vic for a change.

Will give you a shout nearer the date - don't think I've got plans that Thursday.

A more visual alternative tax calculator for this is https://www.income-tax.co.uk/ or http://www.after-tax.co.uk/. I hope it's helpful (it was for me)

Ok, see how we go. I’ll most likely be at the Empire or Hippo Mon to Weds that week

Hi guys, how often does the PLO game run at the Aspers? is it bearable when it runs? (past experiences at the Aspers, regarding clientele, have been bad)

Anyone in North London (I'm in belsize park) grind live or online full time and want to hang out? I've got a PG&C if you want to learn about me. Just moved here two weeks ago for full time online. Could work out, get drinks, or do some activities in london etc.

Hi guys,

I will be traveling to London and Dublin next month from the United States. I have a question regarding currency. Will the casinos in London (and Dublin) exchange my USD for GBP/EUR at 1:1 price? I read that in Netherlands the Holland Casinos do. I am looking to buy 1000-1500 each of GBP and EUR to play in the 1/3 or 2/5 poker games when I come.

Does anyone know the cheapest way to acquire these currencies using USD? Would opening a line of credit be possible if they won't exchange USD? I'd appreciate any insight on this!

All the major casinos in London will exchange your USD for GBP, the rate won't be the best. If you call ahead of time I'm sure they'll tell you their current rate.

If you use a bricks & mortar bureau de change such as https://www.thomasexchangeglobal.co.uk you'll get a better rate, probably more than enough to pay for a cab there and back. Their current rate for buying USD is $1.42857.

Exchanging money at a casino is a fish move, you'll get ripped off (almost always, there may be exceptions). It's the second worst option after airport. What the best option is depends on your bank(s). Some banks will give you a good rate and no or little fees when using foreign ATMs, others won't. Some banks will change you cash back home at a good rate, others won't, often depends on your status with the bank also. Maybe there's another place near you that gives good rates, if not, see the above post