Four tables under the old rafters
The floor plan has barely changed since the chandlery days — four tables, a chip cage on the old counter, and a quiet corner kept for whist.
Four tables, zero machines, one dealer
Every table is dealt by the house, which keeps the pace even and the rules consistent from one hand to the next.
Five hundred fills the two tables nearest the door most nights; euchre and crib share the back of the room, with bridge and whist toward the window.
A standing table of poker among friends runs with no buy-in — house chips only, worth nothing once a player leaves the room.
Seating
About forty across four tables and the counter
Dealing
House-dealt at every table, every night
Chips
Points only, handed in at the door on the way out
One table plays by a different rhythm
The whist table sits closest to the window, furthest from the door and the noise that comes with it.
Regulars who favour a slower game claim it most Sundays, and new players are steered there when they say they would rather talk than race.
Nothing about the stakes changes from one table to the next — a chip is worth exactly the same nothing wherever it sits.
Who plays there
Whist regulars, mostly the Sunday four
Why it is quieter
Furthest table from the door and the counter
Joining in
New players are welcome; ask the dealer for an introduction