A little off-topic question:

I will be moving to London ASAP and was wondering if anyone was renting out some room I could use? Would really prefer to live with some local poker player/players or someone who moved to England to avoid his country's bad taxes.

I don't actually see the problem with this tbh.

Bars don't let you in with their own drinks. If you play football on a local astroturf pitch you usually have to hire it, tennis courts the same etc etc so why not poker tables.

206 runners for the opening flight of the WPT accumulator

£100,000 garentee

Its only 8 x 30min levels the first day...easy to make day 2 where the 40min clock and gentle structure makes for a good value comp

This is going to sound ridiculous but what stopped me from playing the event is that I don't want my real name used for marketing purposes or listed on the net as anything to do with poker. In my profession, I have to maintain a healthy internet image, so when clients google me and see me listed on hendon mob or ranking hero or wpt then it can cause problems (I have a unique name). Unfortunately, this is one of those comps Aspers aren't willing to blank out names for.

Get a new job imo.

or Google forget me will be ur best friend in future

I always thought this to be the case too. Then word got round, and near enough every colleague or client I've spoken to like it. It's quite a fun hobby, creates lots of (interesting...) questions etc.

I tend to think that people who are scared of what others will think of them for playing cards are the people who are secretly feeling guilty. Or perhaps they're the type who will think worse of someone else for playing too.

That's not the case for me. My colleagues know and have no problem with it. My clients otoh are socially conservative in many cases and have refused to do business with others due to 'moral failings'.

I actually think (and this may sound self centred but i tend not to play major events regardless) that pokersites and rooms should offer rec players the option to remain anon. Even if it is based on paranoia, you want to attract richer rec players who might care about their business image rather than pro players and degens who don't. But then, poker sites don't seem that bothered about live mtt traffic. It's all about the online numbers. Pros should care though.

Hi All,

My name is George and I used to run the poker room at G Casino Luton. I've just moved to the "Grosvenor Golden Horseshoe" which is in Bayswater/Queensway - and was formerly known as Gala Queensway.

It's a 5 table poker room, predominantly all £1-£2 and it gets 2/3 games an evening from what I can tell (still in my first week).

As you're local players, I wanted to know - have any of you actually heard of the place? I am not sure if my biggest problem is actually promoting the existence of the venue or if it's simply considered to be lacking in terms of its promotional offering.

Games are decent, but I want to fill the place up every evening.

We're running a monthly loyalty league currently, but it's being done everywhere now and I am looking for something different.

Ta,

George

Dear George,

Glad to see you're trying to get a new room out there, I think 2p2 is a good outlet for that.
I must admit I haven't heard of the room but I may pop along soon to check it out. A few of (the usual) questions:

What's the rake structure? This includes extra money taken for 'loyalty' freerolls and BBJs

How are the games structured? Min/Max buyin? Is there ever an appetite for bigger games? How about PLO?

And what time does a game usually get going and what time will the last one typically end?

Obviously if you've just been there a week I accept some of your answers may be limited.

All the best,

Joe

Been there once. Seemed ok room but too out of the way for me to visit. Players were worse than the vic.

The rebranding seems a mistake if it doesn't have Queensway in the name!

Who's running the room at the Luton G now George? Rumours are it's Raj but I haven't heard anything official.

I think a lot of people are aware of the Horseshoe, but I wouldn't have had it down as a casino that offered much variety poker-wise. I didn't even know it had a poker room at all until someone at the G said you were off there.

Hi,

Raj is running G Luton now. She'll do well, I think.

• What's the rake structure? This includes extra money taken for 'loyalty' freerolls and BBJs

5%/£10 cap. 5% capped at £5 between 4pm-6pm. There's a monthly cash free roll - which is £1 in every pot of over £25. 5 Points Per Day, 10 on Wednesday. League Playoff on the following Sunday. Rinse/Repeat. Seems to be £8-£10K per month.

• How are the games structured? Min/Max buyin? Is there ever an appetite for bigger games? How about PLO?

What I have seen? £1-£2 (£50-£500) and £1-£2 Deepstack (£200-NoMax). I am told they have had Omaha games sporadically, but nothing particularly consistent and I've not seen it yet.

• And what time does a game usually get going and what time will the last one typically end?

Again, I don't want to be misleading as I haven't seen enough of the business to really say, but they open for a game at 4PM and it tends to be somewhat shorthanded until 6/7PM.

Game seems to last well into the night, but as I haven't worked any late shifts yet there's no way for me to give an accurate indication.

Do people prefer league freerolls to BadBeatJackpots? Are they both disliked? What do people like best? High hand jackpots etc?

Just looking for any kind of feedback, really.

Anything that includes extra money being taken from the pot is intensely disliked on the forum/amongst most live regulars. It's no coincidence that the Hippodrome is the flavour of the month. They have a draw every afternoon for free rake which is worth a decent amount to a few regulars that get down and start games early. If you're going to run a promotion that may get new players through the door, it's really worth thinking about how good the game will be.

These loyalty freerolls take a lot of money out of the community (which you want for rake, we want to win) to the hands of people that roll up for an hour, don't play a hand, then leave. Admittedly, it does give your regulars a chance at a big score - which they'll probably like - but I really think they're bad for the game and the scene in London.

That turned in to a bit of a rant, but I think it's an opinion that's shared here a decent amount.

No additional rake-> rake free periods -> small high hand jackpots--------->bbj----------------------------------------------------------------------------> loyalty freeroll

I'm curious about horseshow now, might go at some point, btw, do you ever run mtts or just 1-2?

Hi,

At this juncture, it's all £1-£2 NLH cash games.

I may well start to run a tournament or two, but I am not sure yet. There are hurdles to overcome before I can consider that, realistically (dealers needed etc)

At Luton, we needed to run tournament poker to draw in a playerbase. In London, I expect that there's a larger captive audience looking for decent cash games in and of themselves, so I need a bit longer to see what it's like before I know which way I'll go.

The problem with loyalty freerolls/BBJ is that on the surface, they appear popular and well liked. It's ultimately hard to guage just what kind of value it has on your business because ultimately, no one that's doing it is going to feel brave enough to stop and try something different.

Being new to the place, I'm in a good position to make that call early on. I don't know if offering free rake etc is enough of an incentive, however, given the venue doesn't seem that well known. I can appreciate it being liked at the Hippo, but they're always going to draw a big crowd because of where they're located.

I think random cash spins are a good idea. You want to bring back the fun in poker and make it exciting to gambly players so even if they do their money they feel they have had a fun time and will come back again. If you can get gamblers and punters then the regs will show up whatever any other promotions you are running. A wheel where people win a prize is a good idea such as tickets to sporting events, a meal in a pricey, famous London restaurant and theatre tickets.

I think this is where the loyalty comps have gone wrong. On the face of it they are great because if you qualify or can buy in for a price way below the mtt value, then you are getting a great shot at a huge score in a soft field. The problem is that the structure on these tournaments usually isn't great and they encourage regs who come often to come more often. You have to come so often that the loyalty tournaments offer no attraction to any punters who make the games and in some cases may discourage them from coming. They can not possibly qualify.

The loyalty mtts also mean that although there may be one more game running than would otherwise be the case, these games will be raking less as they will be tighter and anyone who comes for a night out and sits in some of these dead games may reasonably not return. Furthermore a majority of the people you are rewarding would be in the room anyway and unless you police it very well, you lead to people exploiting the points system.

i played there 2-3 times. i like the place but you should find a way to not have the dealers give chips to the players on the table because it takes ages and you only end up playing like 10 hands per hour and i find it very annoying. Also i find the game a bit too small with everyone buying short. i think it will be very wise to make every game 150 min 1k max. most of the customers you got already are wealthy enough to buy in for bigger but they just like to sit with the min and try and spin up. this will not attract any players from other casinos

oh one more thing STOP the dealers from counting the pot in the middle of the hand is so tilting

Hear, hear!

Lots of London poker regs know about Queensway, hardly anyone calls it the Horseshoe, consider that in your marketing.

I can imagine its tough for you being a small room, when you're competing with the Hippo, Vic, Empire, Aspers and don't forget the Mint. There is actually a fair bit of crossover in recreational players from the Mint/Queensway, so find out who they are and keep them sweet.

My advice would be to build a niche. You'll never compete on a volume basis with the big 4 cardrooms. The Mint is buoyed up by its sister room the Beach, I have regularly seen 5/10 regs playing 1/3 and 1/2 in the Mint late at night, and the Genting poker guys always accommodate 1/2 DC, whether its spontaneous or organised. Plus they have their nightly 'hyper' MTTs which seem popular.

Try and organise a regular PLO on a certain night. Or low stake DC. IIRC some chinese guys used to run a private 25-50 NLHE there about 4 years ago. Whatever you do don't roll out a nightly tourny schedule. There is such little crossover between tourny and cash players in London.

Sort out a facebook page. Tweet bollocks all day. It all helps.

Anyway, kudos for posting here, speak to the B&M mods about getting your account official. I'll have to come in and support a couple nights a month.

Sorry one more thing......this was a relic from the Gala rules, the dealers in Queensway and in Russell Sq when they had poker, used to finish a hand, stack the pot, verify the amount, then rake. A total waste of time, and very tilting. Make that stop!


Just read Nick's comment above......first port of call is train your dealers George!

I think these are two different types of promotions. One encourages players to turn up, play one hand, and go to the next casino with a loyalty promo. These players hold no value for you because they don't rake. These players actually end up taking money from your regulars due to their equity in the freeroll. These players make your room look busy for a new player, right up until the moment that that player actually sits down and plays.

The other rewards people for actually playing. I'm not an enormous BBJ fan because it hits so rarely and it also takes money out of the system. If you make the requirements lower than maybe the prize isn't big enough to attract players. But it's a hell of a lot better than a loyalty freeroll.

I have very little idea of what the legal limitations are on live poker promos, but I'd prefer to run no promo at all than a "loyalty" freeroll.

Another hater of the loyalty freeroll here!! If you legally could base it on time spent, then I think it would go down better, but when you could have one person playing 10*12 hour session a month not get in because of a load of players playing a hour per day. It's not equitable.

The BBJ sounds good in theory but it's usually set to such an unlikely level of being hit, it's nothing I ever think about. I hit a straight flush at Aspers when they were still running the BBJ and the BBJ never went through my mind.

I think a high hand promotion is a better way to go. I think the Fox did something were certain hands got a set prize and the weekly high hand got whatever was left. I'd be up for this sort of thing.

what london cardrooms have 2/5nl and 5/10nl on a daily basis? does anything higher ever run?

Is there a 2p2 thread, or a general place on the internet where there are rooms available (anywhere from 0-12 months) for poker players in London. I think a better way would be to state that I plan to move down to London primarily to play poker, my budget probably isn't sufficient to pay for my own 1bed apartment but if I was to house share I'd rather do it with fellow poker players rather than muggles, for obvious reasons.

BigA.