London Poker Review

It's safe for me to assume that if you're reading this article you enjoy playing poker. If this is the case, it shouldn't matter where you play it- in a Saville Row suit with ceramic chips fresh from the mould, in a grimy pub with matchsticks and dirty cards or at home late at night in your underwear with one hand on the mouse and the other in a pack of Doritos. A well-timed bluff or a difficult call that paid off are thrilling in any location, and AK is still a dog to QQ no matter where you're playing.

London is one of the most famous cities in the world, and with a population of 7.5m people, the opportunities for good poker games are there for you to take. Firstly, I would recommend you open a new tab and go to Meetup.com before you do anything else. Register and get to know the people. There are dozens of games in clubs and houses all over London there, and they all provide a friendly atmosphere and decent prizes. Entry ranges from £10 to £20, which is affordable, but some have enough people to pay out big prizes. "Jim's Game," for example, in south London regularly has 50-70 competitors with a prize pool in the hundreds. Cheap food and drink and good, friendly Londoners to play with should make this a regular haunt for the London player.

 London Poker
London Poker

If you live in the west London area, I recommend the Kingston cash game at Fairfield Park. A £0.50 blind game, and open invitation to any players, the pub it is played in (The Cricketers) has a good drink selection and a nice atmosphere. Just bear in mind if you're a smoker then under new UK laws you'll have to sit out a few hands to indulge your habit.

But perhaps you're an ambitious traveller or London resident. You want the glitz and glamour of the West End and the high rolling casinos. Look no further than Leicester Square (Americans: that's pronounced "Less-ter") where The Empire Casino runs five poker tournaments a week as well as other casino games. The £10 rebuy on Sunday evenings is the best bet for a fish-hunter, but if you want to challenge yourself pop along to the £275 freezeout on Tuesdays. You can register online for free, which entitles you to bring up to six guests assuming you have valid photo ID.

Don't dust off the tuxedo yet, though. Ripped jeans, hoodies and white sports trainers are a no-no but just shirt and jeans is fine. You won't look out of place either- not everyone from Britain dresses like 007. Apply online at The Casino LSQ. North of the river? Good, it's easier to get a cab. Also, head down to Camden, avoiding the druggies but making sure to get a pint at The World's End, a great pub that claims to be the biggest in the world, and head down to The Circuit. Open six days a week and offering various cash games on Friday, this is a great haunt for the middle-stakes tournament player, with £10+ freezeouts and rebuys. Sunday holds a £5 beginners night, but the prize pool rarely climbs high, so even for fishing it's not worth a look.

If casinos or home games aren't your thing, check out Riley's in Greater London . A pool and poker club with good food and drink, membership is cheap from £5 a month and the poker league is well-run. And if you get busted out you can always watch the footie or play some snooker.

Overall, you shouldn't struggle for a poker game in London, and if all else fails you can just go out and make some friends to play with. But don't make friends in Soho, West London. Unless you're into that sort of thing.

Article by Matt Perry

Last Updated - November 28, 2007