London vs. Sydney - cardroom vs. lifestyle comparison

[QuattroFour4]

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

[xedin]

sydney if only for the weather

[ShipitFMA]

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

[QuattroFour4]

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?

[pacecar86]

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

[gamblegood]

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

[magicratx]

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

[Paul Levy]

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.

[Josem]

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 TLR 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.

[slickpoppa]

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 )