I know many many players who made healthly profits when it was this rake. The fact the vic has lowered the cap to £10 only makes it more beatable. I don't know why you think you have to be an amazing reader to profit at 1/2, standard ABC poker works fine.

It was 3/3 deeeeeepstack PL and the games were tough. You will find Neil and most of those players in the £25/50NL now. The Vic has changed a lot since then, all for the better for us lower stakes players

ya it was a steep learning curve that night, especially the transition to pl, (eg AA utg, raise and five to the flop (567 two hearts naturally!)

Fulltilt NO Limit fullring ring has 6.66% rake capped at $2. If you connvert the cap for stakes it's £40, and people still beat that game without rakeback. Live £1 £2 in london is probobly softer than 10nl on Fulltilt.

hey guys iam just about to sign the contract for a realy nice flat in

can somebody post his thoughts about this area?

http://maps.google.de/maps?f=d&sourc...08218&t=h&z=18

the 5/10 PLO game at the Vic seems really juicy. maybe i just caught a good night though. only a 7.50 time charge too...not bad for those stakes.

Yeah, from the small sample i've played it seems pretty juicy. I think to take advantage of the timecharge you need to be rolled to buy in super deep though

What is standard for dealer tipping here? I barely saw anybody tipping. We only had 2 dealers while I was there (seemed like they were PLO specialists or something) so I made a point to tip them both a 5 before I left. I played for about 4 hours.

What is the policy on drinks at the Empire and International? Are drinks free while you play or only some of them?

Also, I have some spare time during the day on Saturday. Does anyone know if the empire games (1/2 NL) run round the clock?

Depends where you play. At the International or Empire it is standard to tip £1 in a decent pot, maybe a few £ in a big pot. At the Vic most people don't tip, mainly because all the tips get pooled and split between all the dealers in the poker room AND the dealers in the casino. There is talk of this policy changing to pool the tips just between the poker room dealers, but your tip will still not be going to the individual dealer.

International - soft drinks, tea/coffee are free, alcoholic drinks you pay for.

Empire - can't remember if you pay for soft drinks but pretty sure you do for alcoholic drinks.

Empire games run 24/7, I don't play there that often but haven't been there yet when there hasn't been at least 1 game running.

I think it's only The Vic who have started charging for non-alcoholic drinks. Most non-alcoholic drinks should be free at the international or empire. But as always, tipping the waitress is good form.

The 1/2 games are pretty much running all the time at the Empire. Although truth be told I've never been there in the mid-afternoon.

I am likely headed to London for the remainder of March. Will want to play some Poker while there. I haven't had a chance to review this thread - I shall do so, but is there a good overview post comparing the various venues (Room details, games spread, number of tables, etc...)?

Really only interested in playing NL Cash Games.

Just got back from a week in London...had a great time. Loved the city! I'm from NY fwiw and have always said that I wouldn't want to live in the city (I'm a bit upstate) but I could def see living in London for a while.

My quick review of the rooms:

Palm Beach - best atmosphere and service by FAR. Played 5/10 NL and the game was super juicy...lots of big dead money on the table.

The Vic - best overall action/game selection. PLO, mixed games, lots of NL. Bad service. Have to pay for drinks (a pound for a soda, wtf???)

The International - didn't actually play here but loved the basement card club atmosphere. Was also happy that they refunded my tourney buy in after I had something come up and canceled literally at the last minute.

Empire - didn't play here either but seemed like a smaller crappier version of the Vic?

General thoughts on the poker seen is that there are a lot of bad, whiny, rude players. Being from the US and having played a lot in AC/Vegas my expectation was that British players would be more proper and polite than US players. Exact opposite was true. I have never seen such immature behavior from grown men at the poker table in my life. I'm talking stuff like throwing cards, berating dealers, whining about beats, whining about how they are card dead, taking forever to showdown their cards, swearing at each other for "slowrolling" when every one of them slowrolls, various attempts at angel shooting, etc. Pretty much everything you can think of that you don't want to see at the poker table.

The Vic has been hit hard by a recent change to the tax laws in the UK meaning the poker room now has to pay 50% of their gross profits to the government, it used to be something like 15%. Obviously they are trying to make back lost revenue where they can - charging for drinks and sandwiches, dealer wages have been cut.

However even before all that The Vic has always had bad service

Well. I made it to London. Probably won't make it out for cards before the weekend. Best option for cash game is the Vic?

Weekend I suggest Empire. Drunken gamblers stacking off with any Ace or King = fantastic

I think I will be hitting the Empire Thursday afternoon/night for some 1/2 but gotta work all weekend.

I am running golden at the moment at The Vic +900bb at 1/1 ftw (and should've won more!).

Never played at the Empire as is a 1/2 game.

I hope to be in London this Spring... The last time I was there (7+ years ago), multiple clubs required registration (membership? or law?) I needed to show my passport and then wait 2 days to get approved. I took a pass at that time on playing in London.

Is this still the case? I read earlier in the thread that you can walk into the Empire and play without membership. Does this also mean you can play if you are from out of the country?

I look forward to playing in England, but hope that rule of having to wait 2 days before you can play is no longer in effect.

If you need to be a member, are there membership fees?

-Callahan-

Yeah that law was ridiculous and has been scrapped a few years ago. I think I am correct that at all places to play in London there are no membership fees or waiting to play. The Empire you can just walk in and play, The Vic you need to be a member (I think still?) which only needs ID and takes a couple of minutes at reception.

I stayed away from the 1/2 game at empire for a while because of the stakes, it is just as soft as 1/1 at other places in london but there are more grinders here, you will spot these within the first half an hour or so at the table. Easy game! Sat with £100 and walked away with over £200 3 hours later, I should have sat with a bigger stack though because most of them sit with about £250+ on the 1/2 game.

im a live 1/2 reg. empire is easy pickings if you play the graveyard shift on a sat night

as someone that moved from NYC and played in AC semi-regularly.... empire on thurs/fri/sat nights is one of, if not THE easiest game i have ever played

i am at empire 5-10 hours a week, you too punchafish?

Couldn't wait until tomorrow, will be at the empire from 7 tonight, glasses, tattoos (pretty easy to spot) come say hi!

How many buy ins do you guys normally take along? I assume you buy in for the max at the £1/£2 games?

When I sat down I just bought in for 50 BB but many of the people have 100+ BB, so to take advantage of stack sizes you'll need to sit with a fair bit more than the £100 I was playing with!