London vs. Sydney - cardroom vs. lifestyle comparison
 

I'm thinking of studying abroad sometime within the next couple years, and I'm still deciding whether or not London or Sydney is what I want. Could those of you that have been to both places just compare the two and just give me a feel for what it would be like living there, with emphasis on poker and night life and, oh yeah, the business aspects of each too (I'm an econ major)? Gogogogogogooogogo

http://www.chinatownconnection.com/i...yaustralia.jpg


http://www.copyright-free-pictures.o...on-england.jpg

Re: London vs. Sydney - cardroom vs. lifestyle comparison
 

sydney if only for the weather

Re: London vs. Sydney - cardroom vs. lifestyle comparison
 

Definately melbourne [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: London vs. Sydney - cardroom vs. lifestyle comparison
 

What's the weather like in each? I know it rains a bunch in London and it's normally like 50 degrees year 'round, but what about in Australia? And how is Melbourne?

Re: London vs. Sydney - cardroom vs. lifestyle comparison
 

def OZ...we're both members of an elite club...former renegade cast-offs of the British Empire <<grin>>, besides LSE is run by a bunch of socialists

Re: London vs. Sydney - cardroom vs. lifestyle comparison
 

Sydney
1.nice weather
2.lower cost of living still high but lower
3.hotter chicks

Re: London vs. Sydney - cardroom vs. lifestyle comparison
 

Well i've lived in London for sbout 20 years and have also speant some time In Sydney, so here are my thoughts.

In terms of doing the sightseeing thing, London takes it, there's just so much to see there historically and culturally. yea sure Sydney has a bridge and some weird opera house but London is much better. True it does rain a lot but if you come over the spring/Summer/Autumn you might be suprised at how good the weather can be here. Where in Sydney you would be gauranteed 7 days of sunshine a week here you would get 5/6.

In terms of business London surely takes it hands down. I know Sydney has quite a populas and affulent CBD but nothing could really top working in "the city" in London. It would look much better on your CV.

As for Poker cant really tell you much about poker in Sydney as i did not really play when i was there but in London the scene is pretty good. A few casino's with decent cardrooms and a few independant cardrooms, that have decent tourny's (some have 4-5 a day), and a massive spread of low/mid/some high ring games. So the poker scene is pretty good. Some of these clubs are rake free but you would have to pay a membership fee (something like £100($200), for 3 months.

Hope this helps, obviuosly i am biased towards London, but i think that Sydney is a great place for a holiday for a couple of weeks, but London would make the most sense for you

Re: London vs. Sydney - cardroom vs. lifestyle comparison
 

Sydney is a large town, so compared to other spots in Australia is not as easy-going and laid back, but it's still a much more relaxed place to live than London, which can be rather hostile at times.

Leisure time: can't talk about Sydney, but the man who's tired of London is tired of life.

Business: For the financial sector, London is one of the most important centres in the world, on par with NY. Scores of graduates are hired every year. If that's your thing, then it's not even close.

As far as poker goes, I must say that London is rife with opportunities if you're willing to adjust your game: NL Holdem cash games are non-existent, but they spread some Pot Limit games that are typically extremely loose and play as soft as 0.5/1 on stars, just for 10 or 20 times the stakes. A Sklansky-educated 2+2er with a hundred thousand hands under his belt can profit at 90% of the games in town, but he'll have to adjust, as that sort of game just does not take place online.

PM me if you want more details.

Re: London vs. Sydney - cardroom vs. lifestyle comparison
 

i recommend melbourne ahead of sydney.

i went to uni now there (i now live a couple of hours north of sydney) and i believe that the city is much all-round "better" than sydney. there's a thread that i ran in TL:DR answering people's questions about Australia where i answered a series of questions about this issue... you can probably search for it if you want more info.

Re: London vs. Sydney - cardroom vs. lifestyle comparison
 

I studied abroad in Sydney and it was the best 6 months of my life. I highly reccomend it. Nothing against London, but I think you would have much more fun in Australia. Also, there is so much to see in Australia and New Zealand that you might never get to see if you don't study abroad there. If you like beaches and natural beauty, Australia is definitely the way to go.

And as someone else mentioned, London is a lot more expensive. Sydney is not cheap, especially since the US dollar went into the toilet, but it's still much better than London. As a very rough rule of thumb, stuff in the US, Sydney and London cost the same nominally, but 1 US$ = 1.27 AU$ = .52 GBP. London is rated as the 4th most expensive city in the world and Sydney is 19th. ( http://www.finfacts.ie/costofliving.htm )

Re: London vs. Sydney - cardroom vs. lifestyle comparison
 

I have spent a few months in London and lived in Sydney all my life.

London - alot more to do but you gotta expect this as its alot bigger then sydney. The other big bonus of London is its close to europe. So travelling is fantastic and very very cheap. Another bonus is the english pound. Dont know what econ major gets paid but I work as a programmer and london is big big dollars for IT. Downside is the horrible winter. It gets dark at like 3pm in winter and its freezing. That sort of crap is unheard of in Australia [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Didnt play poker when I was in london but other ppl have already commented on that side.

Sydney - Its tiny compared to london. Sydney lifestyle is mainly pubs not night clubs. Weather is great and we have good beaches. Bondi, Manly etc. Poker in sydney is crap. If you are used to poker in the USA then you will be severly dissapointed. Our main casino, Star City, hates poker. There are some spots to play poker such as Newtowns Pokerdome (google it) but as I said not many, I dont know why. That said Melbourne is only a 1 hour flight away and Crown Casino has a fantastic poker room. Up there with anything I saw on my last Las Vegas trip. They host the aussie millions at Crown. Job wise not sure for what you do but Sydney has the most jobs out of all Australia cities. Pays well too. Travelling from sydney is crap. Its 18 hour flight to London from here.

So to sum up....

Go London if you want to travel. You can hit the rest of Europe cheaply on weekends. That is a huge plus for London. Especially if you have not seen europe before.

Go Sydney if you are happy to spend your time mainly in Australia. Poker here is average except for Crown Casino. Weather is awesome. Girls are hot. Sydney is more laid back. Its stubbies and thongs all year round [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: London vs. Sydney - cardroom vs. lifestyle comparison
 

Sydney is awful for poker.

Re: London vs. Sydney - cardroom vs. lifestyle comparison
 

Sydneys cardroom is one of the worst in the world. Go to melbourne instead. It has a similar feel to london and you'll have an awesome time

Re: London vs. Sydney - cardroom vs. lifestyle comparison
 

I think I should add that in my opinion the availability of poker rooms should be only a tiny factor in your decision of where to go. You will have the entire rest of your life to play poker and you'll always be able to play online in either the UK or Australia. If you spend a lot of time couped up in a card room in either place you will really be missing out.

Re: London vs. Sydney - cardroom vs. lifestyle comparison
 

I have played poker in Melbourne and visited Sydney and London. If I had to live in any of those 3 cities I would choos Sydney 100% of the time. Teh people, weather and the city itself are fantastic. London is great too but the weather is a BIG negative factor. Add to that the very high cost of living and it becomes a problem where you either stay home or have to go to an expensive destination because it is too cold/wet to just hang out at a public beach/bowdrwalk.

As for Melbourne, go here only if you don't mind a MILLION/BILLION/GAZILLION flies swarming you whenever you leave the house. I was there for a week and could not stand it any more, the city is simply infested with them.

Re: London vs. Sydney - cardroom vs. lifestyle comparison
 

London's gotta be the best for nightclubs & music scene.

You do get NLHE cash games spread sometimes - I saw one at the Gutshot just the other day, very soft indeed.

Re: London vs. Sydney - cardroom vs. lifestyle comparison
 

If Australia is so great why are there so many Aussies over here????

Re: London vs. Sydney - cardroom vs. lifestyle comparison
 

[ QUOTE ]
You do get NLHE cash games spread sometimes - I saw one at the Gutshot just the other day, very soft indeed.

[/ QUOTE ]

Touche. My sources confirm that they started spreading some NL at the gutshot. What size was it for, Jim?
I realize that I had so vehemently (and slightly incorrectly) denied NL's existence partly because in some establishments, such as the Vic, it's confined to the small stakes self-dealt tables.

Re: London vs. Sydney - cardroom vs. lifestyle comparison
 

Last time I played in Sydney (about a month ago) guys were taking chips off the table - when I queried this they explained it was a house rule that the government had insisted on. Also the dealers use a poker shoe to deal out of WTF? London FTW!

Re: London vs. Sydney - cardroom vs. lifestyle comparison
 

I would choose Sydney over London any day, but the best poker room I saw down under was at the Crown in Melbourne. It has some 40+ tables or so, has to be the biggest in the southern hemi. I didn't have any problems with flies when I was there. Nor did I have any trouble finding soft games in that poker room. I didn't play poker in Sydney nor have I played in London, though I have been to both cities and have traveled in both countries.

Australia has the advantage of better weather and some very nice beaches and bays. Plus you can wonder out to the bush for camping, hunting, fishing; if you're into that. Aussie women are typically hotter than their English couterparts, at least IMO; and better weather + nicer beaches equals more hotties in bikinis and more often. Also, consider that there are more people in the UK than in Australia, and Australia is a considerably larger country in terms of land area.

London has the advantage of being a major city on par with New York, Hong Kong or Tokyo. More people generally means more opportunities for business and social interaction; however it also means more traffic/crowds, and probably crime. Because the UK is a smaller island(s) and where it is situated, weather is more diverse and also more dynamic. Cooler weather that can get cold, and with more annual rainfall, make it somewhat less desirable if you're an outdoors type. Perhaps the largest advantage to London over Sydney is its proximity to other major cities in Europe, and even America.

Cost of living in either country will be higher than in the USA, but the UK will be higher than Australia.