Queen Vic

I haven't been to the Grosvenor Victoria casino for a long, long time. It certainly remains one of the foremost and most famous poker venues in London (or anywhere, really) but I consider gutshot to be my home ground so I rarely go elsewhere.

However, I plan to play the GUKPT (Grosvenor UK Poker Tour) main event there: 6th-9th March. Max 400 runners (2x day 1), £1,000 buy in.

So, I needed to go to buy in. Technically I didn't have to go in person - a friend offered to take care of it, or I could have even phoned it in. However, I thought it prudent to check out the logistics since it's been a while since my last visit.

So, indeed, I learned that (i) TomTom satnav is really, really irritating for driving in London especially when you have a pre-conceived idea of what the route should look like. (ii) valet parking can't cope with 100++ poker players filling up the casino. (iii) you can't take a bag onto the floor. Must wear a jacket with lots of pockets next time !

Of course once I was there, and had bought in, I had to play a little. Lots of games, most of them too big to seriously consider. I settled on the £1/3 NLH. My mental picture of cash games at the Vic is that they are tough but I think that really applies to the bigger ones.

This particular game that I sat down in was the most passive NLH game I can ever remember. The table comprised of one part rock to two parts fish. I didn't play particularly well and was lucky to get away with some moves before I realised that no one at the table knew how to fold.

Came away a few-hundred up. I'd be cautious about extrapolating one session too much, but I'll certainly play the cash games again if I'm knocked out of the tourney early tomorrow.