Austro Lounge18+
Play

Five tables, two legs and a change at nine

Cards for points in the bench bays, a free hour for new players on Thursday, and not a cent riding on any hand at any hour.

How a table runs

Bays, legs and the change

Three bays fill from whoever is waiting when a leg begins. Two can be held by phone for parties of up to six, and a held bay is released ten minutes after the agreed time.

Decks are changed weekly, each bay has its own lamp, and scores go on a paper sheet that is collected and binned at close. Nothing carries into another evening.

A dealer is on the floor on Thursday and Sunday. They explain rules, deal when asked and make certain that whoever arrived alone is sitting somewhere by the second leg.

Cards mid-hand in one of the bench bays

What is played

Five hundred, euchre, cribbage and friendly poker, all for points.

The change

Nine o'clock: everyone stands, the bays are redrawn, the second leg starts.

Score sheets

Paper, per bay, collected and binned when the board is wiped.

At the table

Five points the floor holds to

Six players to a bay at most, four at the new players' table on Thursday.

Chips stay in the building; they are not currency and cannot be exchanged for anything at all.

House decks only — a personal pack does not come out of the bag.

At the change everybody stands, without exception and without a negotiation.

Scores are wiped with the board and nothing is carried into the next evening.