London?
 

Living out in the British countryside, London's my nearest possible live poker destination -- I was wondering if anybody knows of any good places to play.

The Gutshot Card Club seems an obvious choice. Any experiences?

Thanks,
Louis.

Re: London?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Living out in the British countryside, London's my nearest possible live poker destination -- I was wondering if anybody knows of any good places to play.

The Gutshot Card Club seems an obvious choice. Any experiences?

Thanks,
Louis.

[/ QUOTE ]

Guess not . . . did you go/what did you think?

I'm in town on business but will be sticking around for an extra day-and-a-half, and would love it if someone could give me the #/location/name/whatever of a casino in London that spreads a decent game.

EDIT: Never mind, just found all of the threads about both the Vic and the Gutshot [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]. Question to you Londoners -- which is the easiest to get to by the Tube?

Re: London?
 

Not a Londoner, but I played at the Vic a few months ago while on vacation. The Vic is a few blocks away from the Marbe Arch tube stop. It's not a bad part of town, but I still wouldn't take the walk with significant cash in my pocket, especially the walk from the casino to the tube late night.

Re: London?
 

Gutshot is about 400 yards from Barbican tube (Circle, Metropolitan lines), also walkable from Farringdon and Old Street (about half a mile).

If you're not already aware, they're going through a landmark court case this week:
Background: http://www.gutshot.com/e/legal/press.php
Daily updates: http://www.gutshot.com/e/article.php

Re: London?
 

Finally my territory!

Gutshot is nice but you need to check out on the website what they are playing, most of the times they have rebuys with very low buy ins (5/10£).

Freeze out start from 20 pounds but over the week end they have a couple of higher buy ins (100£ or 300£) with dealer.

Vic (victoria grosvenor casino) is probably better, far more professional and people more friendly, level of donks is definetly higher at Vic, saturday torney is nice (55£) but again self dealt, cash games are soft and very loose.

There are few other card rooms like the loose cannon in the city which has just opened (did not try it yet) and the western club.

Re: London?
 

The Vic is located on Edgeware road in London which has a very high Lebanese population. There are shisa shops everywhere, which is cool if you're into that, and lots of middle eastern food. It is also located close to the Paddington or Marble Arch Underground stations.

Re: London?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Living out in the British countryside, London's my nearest possible live poker destination -- I was wondering if anybody knows of any good places to play.

The Gutshot Card Club seems an obvious choice. Any experiences?

Thanks,
Louis.

[/ QUOTE ]

Avoid the gutshot. PM me if you want details.

I'm now a regular at the Vic, take a look at my previous posts and you'll find a detailed depiction of the £3 -£3 PLHE game going on there. They also spread smaller cash games (although without dealers) and have some good tournaments if that's your thing.

Another alternative is the Western club. I have never been there so I can't comment but bear in mind that it's conceptually the same sort of unlicenced 'poker club' as the Gutshot, which is definitely not the same thing as a casino (such as the vic).

Re: London?
 

[ QUOTE ]

EDIT: Never mind, just found all of the threads about both the Vic and the Gutshot [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]. Question to you Londoners -- which is the easiest to get to by the Tube?

[/ QUOTE ]

Both within a short walk of a tube station, although they are very different sorts of establishments. I wouldn't consider them fungible.

Re: London?
 

[ QUOTE ]

Vic (victoria grosvenor casino) is probably better, far more professional and people more friendly, level of donks is definetly higher at Vic, saturday torney is nice (55£) but again self dealt, cash games are soft and very loose.

There are few other card rooms like the loose cannon in the city which has just opened (did not try it yet) and the western club.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think I'd like to try the Vic, but I'm not sure what the cab fare will be from here to there -- 'here' being a stone's throw of the British museum. ? If it's relatively cheap seems like a better bet than trying to navigate the tube given this is my first time in London.

Re: London?
 

[ QUOTE ]

I think I'd like to try the Vic, but I'm not sure what the cab fare will be from here to there -- 'here' being a stone's throw of the British museum. ? If it's relatively cheap seems like a better bet than trying to navigate the tube given this is my first time in London.

[/ QUOTE ]

For a first timer in London, riding the tube is a must, provided that you don't travel during rush hour.

From near the British Museum, you may not even have to switch trains. You can take the <font color="red">Central Line</font> from Holborn to Marble Arch, then walk up Edgeware Road to the Vic.

Mind the gap.

Re: London?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

I think I'd like to try the Vic, but I'm not sure what the cab fare will be from here to there -- 'here' being a stone's throw of the British museum. ? If it's relatively cheap seems like a better bet than trying to navigate the tube given this is my first time in London.

[/ QUOTE ]

For a first timer in London, riding the tube is a must, provided that you don't travel during rush hour.

From near the British Museum, you may not even have to switch trains. You can take the <font color="red">Central Line</font> from Holborn to Marble Arch, then walk up Edgeware Road to the Vic.

Mind the gap.

[/ QUOTE ]

As a veteran of the Chicago "L" and the Boston "T" -- and taking the tube once already from Heathrow, and finding myself on the wrong train -- trust me, I don't think I'll be missing much else if I avoid the tube this time [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].

Also, I was considering this, from another poster:

"Not a Londoner, but I played at the Vic a few months ago while on vacation. The Vic is a few blocks away from the Marbe Arch tube stop. It's not a bad part of town, but I still wouldn't take the walk with significant cash in my pocket, especially the walk from the casino to the tube late night. "

Unreasonable?

Re: London?
 

[ QUOTE ]

"Not a Londoner, but I played at the Vic a few months ago while on vacation. The Vic is a few blocks away from the Marbe Arch tube stop. It's not a bad part of town, but I still wouldn't take the walk with significant cash in my pocket, especially the walk from the casino to the tube late night. "

Unreasonable?

[/ QUOTE ]

Let's say a bit xenophobic on the character of the street. The walk, though, is a couple blocks.

Cab fare is likely less than £10 for you. So if you are going to be at all uncomfortable because of the neighborhood, walking distance, weather, etc., just take the cab.

Marble Arch
 

You can take a taxi to/from the club if you feel safer, but if you are in London on a Sunday morning be sure to take the tube to the Marble Arch station, then walk over to Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park. Free speech at it's finest, always entertaining.

Re: London?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Living out in the British countryside, London's my nearest possible live poker destination -- I was wondering if anybody knows of any good places to play.

The Gutshot Card Club seems an obvious choice. Any experiences?

Thanks,
Louis.

[/ QUOTE ]

Avoid the gutshot. PM me if you want details.

I'm now a regular at the Vic, take a look at my previous posts and you'll find a detailed depiction of the £3 -£3 PLHE game going on there. They also spread smaller cash games (although without dealers) and have some good tournaments if that's your thing.

Another alternative is the Western club. I have never been there so I can't comment but bear in mind that it's conceptually the same sort of unlicenced 'poker club' as the Gutshot, which is definitely not the same thing as a casino (such as the vic).

[/ QUOTE ]

Theres absolutely no reason to avoid the Gutshot, Im a regular there and its great. In my experience the Vic card room is jus not a hospitable place. Gutshot is a much better environment and enjoyable atmosphere. Non regulars always complain about the lack of high stakes, which I could see as one of the few legitamate complaints. If you want to play higher than £2-£5 then you may have to go elsewhere.

Has anyone tried Loose Cannon yet? (the membership/no rake club)

Re: London?
 

Hey Grisgra,

I just got back from London and after doing the same research as you are, I wound up playing at the "Sportsman". Now, they had no poker there the night I played (neither did many other places as it was over X-Mas), but the place is professionaly run, clean and upscale.

http://www.thesportsmancasino.com/

GL - London is an awesome city!

Successful visit :) Mini-trip-report
 

Some notes:

1) I took the tube there and while I somehow failed to manage to buy a ticket by credit card, feeling like a moron the whole time (after I inserted the card the only option it gave me was 'multiple tickets' . . . what's up with that?", I did successfully manage the rest of the way.

2) I confess I grew to appreciate the general jihad in the States against smoking indoors -- no smoking at the table, but enough floating through the club to stink up my clothes. Ah, well.

3) Pedro--who I take to be a regular there--is quite a character. He must be the unluckiest player in the history of the world. He never wins with aces, always gets outdrawn, and in general gets constantly beat by worse players. At least, that's what he told me over the course of the ~6 hours he and I were at the same table. The poor guy, I would have felt sorry for him if he would have ever shut up for more than 10 seconds [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].

Oh: online poker is fixed, and he played up to 500/1000 six years ago. Online.

4) What's with the player-dealer stuff? Didn't expect it! I felt like an idiot not knowing the correct shuffling/dealing procedure, but to their credit everyone at the table was exceedingly tolerant and helpful, and I was very appreciative.

5) On that note, in general everyone was fun to game with.

6) Finally, I must note that as a limit player, the only thing I know about winning in NL is to limp with pockets and flop sets. I did, 4 times, and by the end of the night more than tripled up off of my 100-pound buy-in. Woohoo!

[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Re: Successful visit :) Mini-trip-report
 

[ QUOTE ]
Some notes:

1) I took the tube there and while I somehow failed to manage to buy a ticket by credit card, feeling like a moron the whole time (after I inserted the card the only option it gave me was 'multiple tickets' . . . what's up with that?", I did successfully manage the rest of the way.

2) I confess I grew to appreciate the general jihad in the States against smoking indoors -- no smoking at the table, but enough floating through the club to stink up my clothes. Ah, well.

3) Pedro--who I take to be a regular there--is quite a character. He must be the unluckiest player in the history of the world. He never wins with aces, always gets outdrawn, and in general gets constantly beat by worse players. At least, that's what he told me over the course of the ~6 hours he and I were at the same table. The poor guy, I would have felt sorry for him if he would have ever shut up for more than 10 seconds [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].

Oh: online poker is fixed, and he played up to 500/1000 six years ago. Online.

4) What's with the player-dealer stuff? Didn't expect it! I felt like an idiot not knowing the correct shuffling/dealing procedure, but to their credit everyone at the table was exceedingly tolerant and helpful, and I was very appreciative.

5) On that note, in general everyone was fun to game with.

6) Finally, I must note that as a limit player, the only thing I know about winning in NL is to limp with pockets and flop sets. I did, 4 times, and by the end of the night more than tripled up off of my 100-pound buy-in. Woohoo!

[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

1) Get an oyster card, much easier
2) Yeah problem in the tourney room I guess, but not in the cash room downstairs at least.
3) Pedro is a very good player (assuming your talking about Pedro Perreira). He won the Gutshot Series of Poker two years ago and has a good tournament record. He probably just saw you as a new face, assumed you were the usual newb and was trying to confuse, intimidate, or give u the impression he wasnt very good.
4)Quite a lot of clubs only have dealers for Cash and Larger (100 pound ish) tournaments, not ideal but thats the way it is.
5) Well not EVERYONE [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]
6) Nicely Done

Re: London?
 

[ QUOTE ]

Theres absolutely no reason to avoid the Gutshot, Im a regular there and its great. In my experience the Vic card room is jus not a hospitable place. Gutshot is a much better environment and enjoyable atmosphere.


[/ QUOTE ]

There are plenty of reasons to avoid the gutshot, among them the number of angle shooters, hustlers and worse.

I guess that being able to run all over the table and get away with behavior that wouldn't be tolerated in any half-serious establishment is what makes the 'enjoyable atmosphere', and on the other hand the fact that the vic makes an effort to protect legit players and run a fair game is what makes it 'inhospitable'.

Re: London?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Theres absolutely no reason to avoid the Gutshot, Im a regular there and its great. In my experience the Vic card room is jus not a hospitable place. Gutshot is a much better environment and enjoyable atmosphere.


[/ QUOTE ]

There are plenty of reasons to avoid the gutshot, among them the number of angle shooters, hustlers and worse.

I guess that being able to run all over the table and get away with behavior that wouldn't be tolerated in any half-serious establishment is what makes the 'enjoyable atmosphere', and on the other hand the fact that the vic makes an effort to protect legit players and run a fair game is what makes it 'inhospitable'.

[/ QUOTE ]

Are you serious? Or did you just have a bad session and Ade was around to tip you over the edge?

Re: Successful visit :) Mini-trip-report
 

[ QUOTE ]
3) Pedro is a very good player (assuming your talking about Pedro Perreira). He won the Gutshot Series of Poker two years ago and has a good tournament record. He probably just saw you as a new face, assumed you were the usual newb and was trying to confuse, intimidate, or give u the impression he wasnt very good.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't know if it was the same Pedro, but this guy just couldn't stop bitching and moaning. He did seem more than willing to make plays at the pot, though -- I didn't get the impression he didn't know what he was doing.

Until he said he played 500/1000 6 years ago on the internet (did ANY site spread that that long ago? Doubt it) and was going on and on about how it's all fixed. Shees!

Re: Successful visit :) Mini-trip-report
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
3) Pedro is a very good player (assuming your talking about Pedro Perreira). He won the Gutshot Series of Poker two years ago and has a good tournament record. He probably just saw you as a new face, assumed you were the usual newb and was trying to confuse, intimidate, or give u the impression he wasnt very good.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't know if it was the same Pedro, but this guy just couldn't stop bitching and moaning. He did seem more than willing to make plays at the pot, though -- I didn't get the impression he didn't know what he was doing.

Until he said he played 500/1000 6 years ago on the internet (did ANY site spread that that long ago? Doubt it) and was going on and on about how it's all fixed. Shees!

[/ QUOTE ]

If he sounds Portuguese then its the same guy. I assure hes good though, probably just trying to throw you off as a new face (and surely coming unstuck with the online comment, I dont know anyone who spread that high that long ago). Maybe hes having a bad run.

Re: Successful visit :) Mini-trip-report
 

[ QUOTE ]

If he sounds Portuguese then its the same guy. I assure hes good though, probably just trying to throw you off as a new face (and surely coming unstuck with the online comment, I dont know anyone who spread that high that long ago). Maybe hes having a bad run.

[/ QUOTE ]

He really didn't sound or look Portuguese to me, but on the other hand I'd be surprised if there were two regulars named Pedro there. Weird if this is the same guy, though -- I mean most good players aren't constantly constantly bitching about aces never holding up, etc.

Re: London?
 

[ QUOTE ]

Are you serious? Or did you just have a bad session and Ade was around to tip you over the edge?

[/ QUOTE ]

I find Ade's antics about people raising his big blind slightly annoying, and the man is really loud, but that's not the issue, here I'm talking about properly malicious behaviour.

Re: Successful visit :) Mini-trip-report
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

If he sounds Portuguese then its the same guy. I assure hes good though, probably just trying to throw you off as a new face (and surely coming unstuck with the online comment, I dont know anyone who spread that high that long ago). Maybe hes having a bad run.

[/ QUOTE ]

He really didn't sound or look Portuguese to me, but on the other hand I'd be surprised if there were two regulars named Pedro there. Weird if this is the same guy, though -- I mean most good players aren't constantly constantly bitching about aces never holding up, etc.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah definitely is wierd, but I find Paul's comments even wierder. Ive been a regular for almost 2 years now and I have never seen anything malicious at the Gutshot whatsoever. Maybe your experiences were before I was a regular (on which I cant comment of course), but I cant think we're even talking about the same club I visit!

Re: Successful visit :) Mini-trip-report
 

Oh and the Ade comment was just a joke, I dont know how anyone cant find him annoying.