on fridays, from 5pm there was 6 full tables, by 9pm there was 10! its great value, just find the right game!

usually 1 x 1/2 game running too

It started as AAAKK minimum being beaten.

It is now quad 4s or better, both cards used by both players. £118k atm.

How busy is aspers during the week?

ring them up?

theres always a game going, and theres always value, just avoid the good/tight players and you can make money. such a value game, as long as you can handle all the **** that goes with 1/1 and case money wankers!

you have to suffer bad beats, people tanking forever with no real decision, bets out of turn, calling out of turn, etc, etc, but if you can handle this, and play well, you can make good money.

Cheers, going through an epic downswing online so thought I might look to play some live poker to get away from the PC.

Most of my live experience has been in Las Vegas so a little unsure on what to expect, from reading up it seems plenty of fish in the tank

Anyone tried fox poker? Vic is too far away for me.

Hi guys

Just looking for a little advice here. I was an online midstakes grinder on Betfair from 2007-2009 and used my winnings to put myself through film school. I have finished a script for a short that I am looking to shoot and enter into film festivals to try and kick start a career in an industry that is pretty hard to break into to say the least.

I know this sounds like it will just be one of those horrendous poker films/scenes that we see all the time and laugh heartily at and/or die a little inside, but I think I have a different take on the matter. When I returned to the UK, a severely depleted bankroll saw me grinding the 1/2 at The Empire and I was, to put it mildly, amazed at what I saw. I would love to go into specifics but in my delusional mind I am convinced if I did my idea would immediately be stolen by all the big name writers that regularly lurk the Bricks and Mortar sub section of 2+2. No chance you plagiarising b******s.

So, what I was wondering is, do you guys reckon any of the card clubs in and around London would allow me to shoot a scene in their card room? Would they rent it out during hours when the club was shut? I understand this is a question nobody on here would be able to give a definitive answer to, I am just in search of a little advice from people who know these places better than me. I would like my short to have as authentic a feel as possible and, call me a perfectionist, but sticking my beer stained table in a dimly lit room with my idiot friends as extras trying to give smouldering looks into the camera just doesn't cut it for me.

I'm fully aware I'm opening myself up to be flamed here and feel free, I'll honestly be laughing as much as you guys, but if anybody does have any reasonable advice on the matter it would genuinely be appreciated. You might even get a mention in my speech at the Bafta's.

Cheers

Fraser

I'd be surprised if they didn't. They all hire their venues out for tournaments/private events anyway, and those are always during normal operating hours. Have you been to the Loose Cannon? They used to be a member's club for poker but didn't do very well - now they hire the room out for corporate events and mostly it seems to go unused.

The Vic and the Empire are both 24 hour. I can't imagine anywhere letting you film when they are open to customers as some poor bugger might not want to be exposed on camera as being a useless degen.The Fox probably would and it would provide decent shots with it having windows overlookign Shaftesbury Avenue but it isn't a typical poker venue. The international might film well considering it is a basement dive.

Considering alot of live events are now love streamed I dont think you'd run into too many problems. But then again I ahvent got a clue. Try calling up Genting Casinos for example they may be able to tell you.

yes, spent the weekend in london a few weeks ago and played here 3 nights in a row. 1/2 game is really soft and the room is nice with friendly staff imo.

Yay, made it to the Vic for the first time in ages. Any of you lot here tonight?

iv been there every nite this week, took a break, as the games werent great mid week.

need to avoid mondays and wednesdays imo, not great value, just loads of regs earning some points for the freerolls

roll on saturday for some serious cash prize monies!

Gamblino, The Fox is 24 hour too. I would try The International or Big Slick in Purley.

Anyone playing Black Belt East End Live at Aspers today?

Went to Aspers last week for the first time in ages. Really can't say I like it. Yes the games seem relatively soft...but the coat check takes -forever- when trying to drop off or pick up a bag; the line always has 15 people in it and it moves at glacier speed. The toilets are a 15-minute hike. Wait staff take forever, if they bother to come back to the tables at all. The auto-shuffle tables are nice, and really speed up the action and the dealers are all decent (vast improvement vs when they first opened), but the floor does nothing about hit-and-runners doubling up, leaving, then coming back to a different table with their short stack 15 minutes later; saw it twice in the 5 hours I was there; both players and dealers pointed it out to the floor, floor did nothing.

Slightly better rake and slightly softer games, but only 1/1 (no 1/2 going the entire evening). It's a PITA to get to/from, and just seems more stress-inducing more than anything. Plus, I don't like the heavy chips <g>

FWIW, here's a list of the basic rake structure for the major card rooms in London (am I missing any?). I wish I didn't like the Fox so much, the 1/1 rake is really too high. I wish they would cap it at £5 at least. Moral of the story: Play £1/£2 or £2/£5....


Rake Table: SB-BB | Min-Max | Rake

The Vic:
£1-£1: £40-£200; Rake 10% £5 cap
£1-£2: £80-£400; Rake 5% £10 cap
£2-£5: £250-£2,000; Rake £7/half-hour charge

The Fox
£1-£1: £25-£200/50% of large stack; Rake 10% capped at £7
£1-£2: £50-£500/50%; Rake 5% capped at £10
£1-£3: £100-£1,000/50%; Rake 5% capped at £10
£2-£5: £250-£2,500/50%; Rake 5% capped at £5

The Empire
£1-£2: £50-£400; Rake 5% capped at £10
£1-£3: £100-£1,000; Rake 5% capped at £10
£2-£5: £250-£3,000; Rake 5% capped at £10
All pots over £25 have £1 deducted for BBJ

Aspers Stratford
£1-£1: £25-£250; Rake 10% capped at £5
All pots over £20 will have £1 deducted for BBJ
(Note: I couldn't find any cash poker info on the Apsers website...

The Fox is 24hr....but in name only, at last on weekdays. I'd be very surprised if they wouldn't let you film a scene or two some weekday morning. Hey, can I be in it?! Full disclosure, I have a face that is perfect for radio, I don't look like a degen or a grinder, but if your scene has a white middle-aged banker fish role, I'm your guy....

played aspers friday night, thought it was decent. Games were soft, even those who had some sort of clue would make mistakes left and right.

This may become a regular weekend spot for me as its so easy for me to get to and seems to have some easy monies available.

I've been playing live £1/2 and some £1/1 at the Grosvenor casino in Luton this month, the games are soft and I've been running very good so I'm thinking of taking a trip to London to book a hotel room near the Empire and play there all weekend. I just called and apparently they have 1/2 and 2/5 games running 24/7 and the rake is 5% capped at £10, although I've just called back to confirm the rake and now he tells me that the 2/5 game isn't always running but they're doing a special half price promotion so it's capped at £5 when it is on.

Does anybody have any info on how soft the 2/5 game is at weekends and confirmation of how often it runs? Also, any info on the cheapest hotels nearby and how much I can expect to pay for a night would be appreciated! Although I guess I can google that in the morning if not.

Is anybody going to be there playing cash Friday / Saturday this week?

Hi, I am going to London in a couple of weeks. I want to play 5/10 or maybe 2/5 nlhe, are those stakes always running and at what casino?

5/10 almost always running in the evening at palm beach.

2/5 always running at vics
5/10 running almost always of the time.
you can check that online btw, vics cardroom has a twitter acc: http://twitter.com/#!/@TheVicCardroom


//edit: on the softness ... compared to online 2/4 games its ridiculously soft. compared to a random live 3/5 in the states its super tough.

if your a regular 1/2 livegrinder, you might find its a very different game though, and way tougher.

I will be at The Vic tomorow and Friday evenings playing cash and maybe the Friday donkament, from my experience the vic's low stakes games are ******edly soft. Mind you I only play 1/1 and 1/2 there.

I might see you then if you are popping in on Friday. Good Luck

Was at the Fox last night. 1/2 table was full so sat in at the 1/1 table, and it was god-awful. Not in terms of company; guys were friendly and there was good banter going around, but the average stack was easily less than 50bb, only one other guy with full buy-in, and when I sat down with my max buy-in and raised the first hand I played to 6bb there was moaning and groaning from guys that just wanted to see a flop. Table was super soft, with pretty much everyone weak-passive; I won 80% of the pots I was in without even making a hand. Just wish people had bought in for more.

But I also had to give myself a KITN when I went to raise preflop to £6 from MP with Q9s, but didn't realize I had a black chip in my hand instead of a blue chip. Imagine my shock/horror when I hear the dealer say 'raise to £30'. Guy on the button promptly shoves for another £90 or so, and I have to fold because i know he has a hand. He showed AKs. Easiest £30 he'll ever make.

Perfect, thank you

This isn't just the Fox, was playing at the Vic on Friday, was on the (long) list for 1-1 and they opened up a new table. All eight other people bought in for £40-£60. I ended up buying in for £100 and topping up to full buy in when someone passed my stack, no one else topped up. It's obviously table (and I think time!!) specific, couple of weeks earlier I had gone in for the Saturday afternoon tourny, it was about 2pm, so sat down to a 1-1 to pass the time. The whole table must have been playing through the night, I bought in full for £200 and I was a serious short stack, everyone seemed to have £600-£1K!!

The Fox usually isn't that bad; usually most of the table will have at least £100 or so, a few with a bit more and some buying in full, and maybe one short stack ninny sitting there with his £30 trying to decide if he should limp in to see a flop or not. Last night was just particularly bad.