The casino room
Enter the front room and take a seat
Five tables
Know the tables of the casino room
The front room is a long, high space with a polished timber floor, lined on both sides with louvres that are opened for the evening breeze. Ceiling fans turn slowly overhead, the lamps over each table have green shades, and the sound of the room is a low hum of voices punctuated by the click of chips.
The roulette table stands nearest the door and is run by Daniel Fitzgerald on Thursdays and Saturdays. Two blackjack tables occupy the middle of the room, where every hand is explained aloud. The two poker tables at the far end offer Texas Hold'em, Omaha, Seven Card Stud and Five Card Draw, and each dealer announces the game in play.
All of it is played on chips, and the chips are worth nothing. There are no entry fees, no stakes and no prizes in the front room, and a hand won or lost is only a hand. The pleasure lies in the game, the company and the unhurried pace. A guest who arrives at seven and leaves at nine, having won and lost nothing at all, has spent the evening exactly as it was intended.
I should add what the room does not contain. Not a single pokie or gaming machine stands in the room, and there are no screens, no online tables and no app. Nothing can be played from home. Guests must be eighteen or over, and they must be here, in person, with a dealer opposite them.
Roulette
One wheel, dealt on Thursdays and Saturdays
Blackjack
Two tables, each hand explained aloud
Poker
Two tables across four familiar games
I came for the pumpkin scones and was dragged, protesting, to the roulette table by my daughter. Daniel never hurried me, and now I ask for the same seat every Thursday.
At the tables
Observe these customs at the tables
Greet the dealer when you sit, and thank the table when you leave, since both are customs of the house and neither takes more than a moment.
Keep your cards visible to the dealer and your hands above the felt at all times.
Let each hand finish before discussing it, and never comment on what another player holds.
Chips stay on the table or in your tray; they are never carried to another table without the dealer's leave.
Telephones are silenced and kept in pockets while hands are in play, and calls are taken on the verandah.
Dealers explain rules and options, but they do not advise on which choice to make.
A seat left unattended for ten minutes passes to the next name on the list.
A guest who is rude to a dealer or to another guest will be asked to leave for the night, and may return on another.
A first visit
Prepare for your first evening in the front room
Come for supper, since the evening is easier on a full stomach and the kitchen will time your pudding to match the opening of the tables at seven. Tell Alana Curtis at the door that you intend to visit the front room, and she will check your proof of age and add your name to the list.
Once inside, tell the nearest dealer that you are new. Every dealer here has taught beginners many times, and none will make you feel foolish. Daniel Fitzgerald recommends blackjack or roulette for a first evening, since both can be learned in a few hands, and poker for those who enjoy a longer conversation.
When you have had enough, stand up, thank the table and return your chips to the tray. The tea interval at nine is open to everyone, whether or not they have been playing, and there is always a slice of sponge to be shared with new friends. Many guests say that the interval is the part of the evening they enjoy most.