It depends what you're after, I'm pretty sure that at least two £5/10 NLs are running there a night and neither of them are going to be particularly bad.

Sandra you should re read my post. I wasnt specifically asking about cash games at PB being good, I know that if they run they are good. I asked about the Big Game and if theres any mid-high stakes turbo type mtts in London - they often create good cash game action (or at least did).

OK cool sorry

So how hard should we be fighting for pots with 56s in the Empire?

It depends.

No it doesn't. The answer is: very

Really? Even when you know that your opponents are doing the same thing?

Well if I'm sure they're doing the same thing I know it'll be a split pot so I'll just go all in to see if they fold.

Well if it's your last hand I wouldn't bother, if you've sat for 5 mins and planning to play a long time id say it's worth going hard for.

You mean...it depends? Here's a free tip: Never always do anything...

Fighting for pots isn't a thing per se. What matters is maximising your expectation. On some boards against some people, that means being pretty bluffy with marginal hands.

Obviously. assuming early in the session i meant the 56s bonus is going to mean extra value from future hands so clearly we should be tending towards taking lines we might not take as frequently if we didn't have 56s.

i had the hand for the first time the other day since the promotion started and it turned out standard anyway but I was deliberating if I needed bother if it involved some marginal situation like float oop on the flop against a guy who checks back a lot of turns/bluff river etc.

can someone do the maths on the odds of getting one of the 4 combos of 56s please? i have no idea how to do that ****.

Has anyone played with the turban guy in the empire?

Odds of first card being a 5 or 6 is 8/52, odds of the second card being the suited other card is 1/51, so 1/331.

Don't know turban guy. Must be shark or whale to merit a mention... I bet whale.

Thanks. I got the hand twice last night, and the first time apparently decided it would be cool to spazz out vs a donk who clearly wasn't folding. Fun.

What do people think of the new room? Seems kind of sterile. better lighting than the other one. even worse table service than before, if that were possible

I've not yet been dealt that effing hand in many hours of playing there

Cashed in my £150 of MyVegas credit today. Had three shots at picking 10 roulette numbers for £5 each, and had a proper sweat before binking on the third go. Took the £175 to the poker room and ran it up to £325, so all in all a decent evening's work.

Minor Trip Report

Played a 10 hour session of 1/2 at the Empire last week during a business to London. I thought the new (temporary) room was a significant upgrade on the old one. Liked that they brought food to the table too.

My Lord that's a soft game though. The general play standard was really loose passive - very little three betting pre and way too much showdown oriented play post. Not sure I'd ever feel the need to play bigger if I lived in London. There were a couple of really lol bad day time regs there who just wanted to complain about their cards so much they almost seemed to be death riding themselves. One guy with a beard and three key chains who literally seemed delighted to lose a hand so he could roll his eyes at the dealer. And while it was really annoying that people were allowed to buy in so short, none of them seemed to have any idea how to play SS and they were literally burning money. There were a couple of villains who clearly knew what to do and one guy who I definitely would describe as a good, winning player but a very soft game in general.

Best of all though was that buxom redheaded massage girl. My word...if I was a reg there, my entire bankroll may get blown in a few weeks

+1 for Buxom, a truly wonderful specimen

Perhaps not the right forum to ask, but is there anyone around here that has a spare room to rent out, or knows anyone? I'll be handing in my economics master on december 1st, and I am currently planning on moving to London next year. This is due to ridiculous rules regarding poker in Norway, and I've heard that the rental market is quite tough over there. Planning on playing >100k hands/month at MSNL (400-600). Apart from that I'd describe myself as a positive and laidback kinda guy. Hit me up if you've got something or know someone, would be great to be roommates with another grinder(s)!

The Empire refurbishment is a definite improvement. It looks and feels a lot more spacious and the new tables are great which reminds me of the colour scheme they have at The Venetian. I think I also counted ten tables in all (which rivals The Hippo) and you can actually move around more freely both while moving around the room and sitting down.

Personally, I still find the lighting too bright and would much rather it would be the spotlight variety (like The Hippo) which focuses more on lighting the table rather than the entire room. The atmosphere itself has been a little quiet with a slight hint of a cliquey vibe which I'm not a big fan of as it attracts regulars and puts off the casuals which obviously means less soft spots. In saying that though, I've only been Tuesday and Wednesday and have yet to savour the weekend atmosphere.

Their 56s promotion is pretty good (scooped my first rake-free card last night with an £11 raise on the button followed by a delayed C-bet with air on the turn when no one showed any interest in taking the pot) and it can actually be very profitable if you bink it early and are looking to sit a marathon session!

The main issue I have with The Empire, like The Vic, is that they have a cash-race which means you need to force yourself to play around 22 days a month if you want to see some sort of reward for all those £1s you've been contributing in those pots over £20. No wonder so many players play almost exclusively at The Hippo and rack up those points.

One schedule is to start your evening off at The Vic then to tottle on over to The Hippo, stay a little if the table is good and then to finish off at The Empire before the 6AM cut-off point kicks in... and then to rinse and repeat this routine for around 22 days of the month! This way you get variety, table selection opportunities, a few Hippo points, a bit of exercise, PLUS entry to a couple of MTTs worth combined buy-ins of around £1K.

Of course, with this schedule, you probably don't get to have that marathon session with the rake-free card should you be lucky enough to win it but hey-ho, as long as you can squeeze in a visit to both The Vic and The Empire in one day for about 22 days of the month - without going too crazy with frustration and despair - you'll get those two shots.

Hey all. I plan on going to london for 3 months. To mostly do online poker. I prefer pokerstars. I currently reside in the us. Any good advice on, Places to rent for 3 months. Was thinking of something near, Or in the main downtown area. Will also play live a couple days out of the week. Also was planning on coming between February thru April. Of 2016.

Rents in London are covered a lot here and generally, even if you've been told to expect it to be expensive, it's still likely to be considerably more than you thought!! Especially for somewhere central (downtown). Also in your case, only wanting a 3 month rental, this will add a lot to the cost and cut down on options, as landlords just don't want to rent less than 6 months and are often looking for a minimum of a year.

I really like London, lived here for nearly 20 years but if I was you and wanted to get out of the US to play on Stars, I'd pick somewhere in South East Asia, like Thailand for example.

If you're stuck on coming to London, to give you ideas of locations, we'd need an idea of budget.

Quoting to add: Try negotiating a deal where you pay a lump sum in advance. For most landlords, guaranteed cash in hand >>> most other situations. Especially if it means keeping a room occupied while they're in the process of searching for a more long term tenant.

Hey guys, I just finished a website you guys will probably find very useful. It gives an overview of all poker games in london currently going. Currently shows Hippodrome, Vic, Empire and Aspers.

It doesn't work 100% yet for uncommon games like triple flop and DC etc. But I'm still working on improving it. Next up is a notification function where you can get an email once a specific game is going.

Would like feedback on any other features you would like to see.

Here it is: http://pokerstatus.co.uk

Congrats! I could see myself using this as much as petrolprices.com! Nice to have all the twitter feeds in one place...