Pop Cap Poker Club

the home of live poker games in London

Playing bad cards out of position since 2003…

Pop Cap Poker Meetups

but were too bloody apathetic to ask:

Who or what is Pop Cap Poker?

Great question. I’m glad you asked it. Pop Cap Poker (or PCP, if you’re lazy) is an extensive, friendly community of poker enthusiasts and home game players from all over London, and is the LARGEST poker meetup group outside the continental USA, and THE FIFTH LARGEST IN THE WORLD, DAMMIT.

Not that we let it go to our heads, or anything. Nossir.

Over 1000 Members and rising!

What’s it all about then? Eh? Eh?

The clue’s in the name folks. Poker. .Pop Cap Poker is all about providing people with a means to meet up with fellow poker players in London, so whether you’re looking to make new contacts, have a chinwag about poker, arrange home games, learn new skills or just sit down and enjoy a friendly game of poker or two (for small stakes), then you should probably make us your first port of call, especially if you want to:

- Meet other novice and amateur poker players in your area

- Find friendly, small stakes home poker games in London

- Participate in private live and online poker tournaments.

- Crack jokes.

- Have a good time.

- Discuss power tools.

We meet up regularly to welcome new players to the game, talk about poker, arrange home games and small tournaments, and drink beer. Mostly we drink beer. Well, I do. When we play poker together the emphasis is very much on low-stakes, having fun, and learning the ropes on the cheap, with none of the attitude you might cop at formal casinos and cardrooms. Many new members have commented on how refreshing it is to not be playing poker with a “bunch of arrogant tossers“, and we’re not ones to argue.

We have a lively message board (which is largely unmoderated) to enable you to get interest going in casino raids, promote home games or other tournaments, buy or sell stuff (poker stuff, usually, but who knows?), or just share interesting or amusing anecdotes with the rest of the group. We take a bit of a dim view of spamming and can usually be quite acerbic in our responses to such guff – affiliates beware!

Quite simply, Pop Cap is a friendly, unintimidating way to meet other poker players in your local area, and attempt to take their bus fare. Come to a meetup and see!

What sort of people join?

Friendly, sane ones.

We have members from all walks of life, the only real unifying factor within the group being the love of poker. Most of our members are relatively new to the game and those that aren’t are always happy to share their knowledge with newcomers. No-one in the group takes themselves too seriously and no-one (thus far anyway) has proved to be an axe-wielding psycho-billy, so it should be a fun night out and you’re almostguaranteed to get home in one piece. We have over 1000 members, and they are quite diverse in their poker experience, bankrolls and playing ability. Whilst some are happy to play $1 Sit N Gos, others play 4p/8p limit, whilst a few regularly multi table the $5/$10 NL tables and sit down with a $1000 on each table. Got a poker question? Post it on the message board and you’ll get a reply. You might have to wait a while, but you’ll get one eventually, and it might even be funny as well as being helpful. I said might.

Whether you primarily play online and are looking to make the move to live play, belong to a home game and are looking to broaden your horizons, a complete novice who feels they’re not quite ready yet to set foot inside a casino or public cardroom, or an experienced enthusiast and would like to just come and meet, chat and play with the friendliest poker crowd in London, then Pop Cap is for you.

How much does it cost to join?

Nada. Nish. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Squat. Goose eggs.

London Poker Meetup is FREE. At least for you it is. I get stung. Meh.

Pop Cap is a private members club run on a voluntary basis by poker players for poker players. As the Organiser I’m fortunate enough to get bushwhacked by Meetup no less than twice every year, but our members don’t pay ANYTHING to join the group. Lucky old you. POP CAP is run on a strictly ‘not-for-profit’ basis and there have never been nor will there be any dues payable for membership. Nice.

I want to do my bit – where do I send the money?

Goody. I like you. If anyone’s feeling particularly philanthropic and wishes to help with the running costs of the group with a voluntary contribution it’s always greatly appreciated, and such donations can be easily sent to me via Paypal by clicking on the button below. A paltry £7 covers the group’s costs here on Meetup for an entire month. Don’t send any more, I’ll only fritter it away on the gee gees or in buying the favours of women of dubious reputation. Much safer to just buy me beer when you next see me. I like beer.

How often does the group meet?

At the moment we have games running every week. These can be anything from a single table home game with 8 players, right up to a group raid on a casino/cardroom with 100+ competitors. As a PCP member you are welcome to come to any or all of these events. Or none of them. Up to you. See if we care. A complete listing of all of our current events can be viewed simply by clicking on ‘Events’ over there on the left. Hardly rocket science, huh?

Can anyone come to the Meetup and play?

If coming for the first time you AND your guests must register as members, as in order to keep things legal we operate as a private members club. This means you will need to fill in a registration form on arrival at the venue and show some form of ID (passport/driving licence/student card etc) so we know you’re not still at school. If a credit/debit card is used as your ID then we’ll also need to see something with your address on. We’re a suspicious bunch aren’t we?
It’s worth re-iterating from the get-go that the primary purpose of our club is a SOCIAL one – in other words the club exists to enable its members to meet people, arrange home games, and basically knock back a few frosty ones and jaw about the game. You MUST fill out a registration form to become a member of the club and attend one of our events. There are no joining or registration fees and no ongoing dues of any kind to be a member of London Poker Meetup.

There ARE usually games going on at all of our regular meetups which you’re free to join, but the fact that there is a game doesn’t mean you HAVE to play. Feel free to just park it, have a beer, something to munch and just talk about poker to whoever will listen. Nosh nosh, gurgle gurgle.

“Anything is possible, and everyone is welcome”

I don’t know how to play poker

Join the club! Don’t worry if you’re a complete poker novice – one of the great things about the LPM is that people are more than happy to ‘show you the ropes’ without coming off as a complete arse. Ever wanted to learn Stud, Omaha8 or Triple Draw? Want to know where the best home games and live tournaments are? Don’t know how to shuffle? Whether you already know how to play or want to learn how to play poker and meet others with similar interests, LPM is just the place. And if you’re shy, I’ll be playing at the table in the corner, you’ll be in good company.

Do I REALLY have to bother RSVP-ing?

No, but it helps me know how many chairs and tables to set up, so if you can be bothered to do it please crack on and earn my undying gratitude. At the very least you’ll actually have somewhere to sit. Even if you RSVP ‘NO’ to the monthly meetup it at least lets me know that you’re still out there and not buried underneath someone’s patio, so please try and take the trouble to RSVP and save me some sleepless nights.