Tournaments

All tournaments are dealer dealt. Afternoon tournaments typically have 20-30 runners, while evening tournaments can have anywhere between 80 -120 runners. Their monthly £300 NLH Freezeout on the last Saturday of the month is a popular comp with 20,000 chips and 50 minute levels
(Tournament details may change - please contact the cardroom directly to confirm tournament details)

Cash games

All cash games are dealer dealt. They just made some changes recently and rake is now a London-best 5% capped at £8. You will normally find a table or two for the £1-£1 and £2-£2 NL Holdem games, as well as 50p-£1 and £1-£12 PLO/RoE. You generally don't have to wait too long to get in a game. On busier nights, you will find higher stakes up to £1-£3 NL Holdem and £2-£5 PL Omaha. Their Dealer's £1-£1 games also happen pretty regularly - they have a half hourly voluntary donation instead.

Gutshot Online

Join their online room and take part in the International's special promotions including their 100K Bounty tournaments!

Background

The International is a popular member's club that opened in 2008. However, this is an experienced operation, as much of the staff, players, and management came over from the Gutshot, which closed shop around the same time.

If you are new to poker in London, the Gutshot was a poker landmark, that closed as a result of well-publicized legal tassle with the authorities. But don’t confuse the two - the International is a new company, that conforms to the 2005 Gaming Act and has been granted a Club Gaming Permit.

This is a busy card room, with afternoon and evening tournaments, and cash games running regularly. There are a lot of regulars at the International, and the atmosphere is quite friendly and the action quite loose.

However, having said that, the level of play at the International is definitely higher than your average cardroom in London. Sure you get some complete fish and beginner/recreational players, but you do have a lot of solid poker players coming here.

Food & Drink

The food is decent. You will get your regular bar food here - sandwiches, burgers, pasta, etc. The bar is open until 2am. Tea is complimentary when you are playing. You can purchase food and drinks using iPoints if you have them.

Loyalty & Promotions

Loyalty schemes are difficult for cardrooms and very few have them, which is one thing we like about the International. With your membership card, you can collect loyalty points called iPoints, when playing in tournaments and cash games - just make sure you tell the staff there, and they will swipe your card. You can redeem your iPoints for food, drinks, and tournament buy-ins.

They have also run 2 cash game races so far in 2010 for their players - one which ran from Jan-March and had a hefty £64,427 prize pool, and one in April which had a prize pool around £20,000! There's another running at the moment from May-July which is estimated to bring in around £65,000.

Live Webcast

Their live poker webcast streams play from their Featured or Final tables every day during the afternooon and evening tournaments. Come down and maybe you'll end up at the table - so get your friends ready to watch you over the Internet!

Membership

The International is a private members club now, so you need to be referred by two other current members. If you don't know anyone, don't worry - you can easily find two random people there to sign the form for you! You can become a member on the same day, just make sure you bring some form of id.

Other activities

There's a couple of pool tables to play on. You can also surf the Internet for free or play online poker. If you play on Gutshot.com , it is free, but if you play on other poker rooms, the fee is £1/hour. They also offer chess and backgammon.

Reviews

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4 reviews

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