London vs. Sydney - cardroom vs. lifestyle comparison

[goatsnake_au]

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]

[Jago]

Sydney is awful for poker.

[Oki-Oki]

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

[slickpoppa]

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.

[jackdaniels]

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.

[luckyjimm]

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.

[luckyjimm]

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

[Paul Levy]

[ 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.

[kiwi]

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!

[eastcoaster]

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.