Table games room
“Five tables I made myself”: the casino room at the lodge
Roulette, blackjack and poker in a long room behind tall doors, dealt by hand and played on chips that carry no money value.
The room
“Roulette, blackjack and poker, under low lamps”
The casino room lies beyond the dining room, through a pair of tall timber doors that Lachlan Griffiths made to open silently. Inside, five tables stand in a row down the middle of the floor, each under its own hanging lamp, and the ceiling is low enough that voices stay soft without any effort.
The roulette wheel is nearest the doors, where newcomers usually begin. Beside it are the two blackjack tables, each with six seats and a croupier who explains the game as it goes. At the far end are the two poker tables, where Texas Hold'em and Omaha are dealt, and on Thursday evenings Seven Card Stud and Five Card Draw.
All five tables are dealt by hand. There are no screens, no electronic tables and no gaming machines of any kind. Megan Atkinson, our croupier, says she likes the room best on a cold night, when the only sounds are cards and a clay chip on baize.
Every game runs on chips. They are heavy clay counters that carry no money value, and they cannot be bought, sold, lent or taken out of the room. When a guest rises, the croupier counts the chips back into the rack, and the evening is simply over, with nothing owed in either direction.
Visitors who would rather watch are welcome at the rail along the wall. A few of our most devoted guests have stood there for a season before sitting down, and their first hand, when it came, was met with a quiet cheer.
Roulette
One wheel, spun calmly, with the layout explained at the first spin.
Blackjack one
Six seats, dealt from a shoe at a steady country pace.
Blackjack two
The table most groups of friends choose to share.
Poker one
Hold'em and Omaha, with a croupier dealing every hand.
Poker two
The same games, plus Stud and Draw on Thursdays.
In the room
“Eight courtesies for the casino room”
Greet the table when you sit down, and say goodnight to it when you rise; both take a second and mean a good deal.
Leave the cards on the cloth and the chips in front of you until the croupier asks you to move them.
Speak softly; if you cannot hear the person beside you, you are probably a little too far from the table.
Do not touch another guest's chips, even to tidy them, and do not offer advice unless you are asked.
Phones live in pockets and bags, and calls are taken on the verandah, where the signal is far better.
Photographs of the room are fine when it is empty; photographs of people need their permission first.
If a ruling troubles you, say so to the floor manager after the hand, and not to the croupier during it.
Anyone feeling tired, upset or simply finished is warmly encouraged to leave the table and sit on the verandah.
Getting started
“Never played? Start at the rail”
Most guests who have never played begin at the roulette wheel, since it asks least of them. A croupier calls the game as one of numbers and colours, and a first-time player need only choose where to place a chip. Nothing about it is hurried.
Blackjack is the next step. Megan Atkinson explains the game's three decisions in a minute and lets the cards do the rest. The table is friendly, the pace is slow, and several regulars who started at blackjack now prefer it to anything else in the room.
Poker takes longer to learn, and the croupiers know it. If you are curious, sit at the rail of a Hold'em table for half an hour, and ask questions in the pauses. By then you will know the shape of a hand. After that, a seat can be found for you at a table where the other players are patient.
Nothing is online, and there is no way to practise at home on our behalf. The room exists only in the building on Mottram Street, for adults aged 18 and over who are present, and that is a large part of its charm.