Everyone changed trains here. Now everyone changes tables.
Two railway gauges met at this town and nobody crossed it without getting off and getting on again. The benches and the departure board stayed put; we added a kitchen, a bar and five card tables, and kept the idea of changing over halfway.
For the better part of a century a journey across this part of the country came with a compulsory pause: one railway ran on one width of track, the next ran on another, and this room is where everybody sat between the two.
The long benches are original — worn shiny in the middle, still bolted to the floor in the same places. So is the board above the bar, which took a fortnight to get working and now announces nothing more urgent than dinner.
Fifty-five people fit comfortably. We stop taking bookings there, because the acoustics of a high room with a tiled floor punish a crowd.
Five tables
Set into the bench bays, one lamp and one lantern each.
One board
The original departure board, chalked up each afternoon.
Two legs
The evening splits at nine and everybody changes over.
Guidelines
Six things the room runs on
Everyone in the building is 18 or over, dining bays included, and photo ID may be asked for at any point in the evening.
House chips record points. They are not sold, not bought back, and carry no monetary value once the board is wiped.
No money is played for and none changes hands at a table — no side bets, no wagers, no cash prizes at the end of a leg.
There are no gaming machines anywhere on the premises: no pokies, no terminals, and no intention of installing either.
At the change everyone stands and the tables are redrawn; keeping a seat through the change is the one thing the floor will not budge on.
Alcohol is served responsibly and service stops when someone has had enough — the bar decides that and the decision holds.
In pictures
Benches, board and the long light down the room
Programme
Five nights, and the board reads differently on each
Thursday4.30pm – 12am
New players' hour at five, free, dealer on the table
Friday4.30pm – 12am
Full house, gauge change at nine as usual
Saturday4pm – 12am
Long service, two legs, change at nine sharp
Sunday3pm – 10pm
Afternoon board, one leg only, no change
Monday4.30pm – 11pm
Quiet night, tables at half pace, kitchen short
TuesdayClosed
Benches waxed, board repainted
WednesdayClosed
Deliveries and nothing else
Visit us
The corner of Dean Street, under the old canopy
Where we are
533 Dean Street, Albury NSW 2640
Phone and email
+61 2 6021 7752 · enquiries@loungeaustro.com
Doors
Thursday to Monday, 4.30pm – midnight
Play
Five tables in the bench bays, and no stake on any of them
The card games here are played for standing and nothing else. There is no buy-in, no pot, no entry fee and no prize — the chips are the house's, they count points for the evening, and they are worth nothing the moment the board is wiped.
Each table sits in one of the old bench bays, which means high backs, decent sound insulation and a genuine reason to speak at a normal volume.
At nine the board flips and the room changes over. Whoever is playing stands up, tables are drawn again, and the second leg starts with different company.
Open bays
Three tables seat whoever is next when a leg begins.
Held bays
Two can be reserved by phone for parties of up to six.
New players
Thursday from five, an hour with a dealer, no charge.
Asked at the bar
The questions that come up most weeks
Is there a game I can join from this website?
No. There is no app, no account and no online room attached to this address. The tables sit in a building on Dean Street and that is the only place to reach them.
What are the chips worth?
Nothing. They record points for one evening, they cannot be bought or redeemed, and there is no pot, no rake and no wagering of any sort.
Do you have pokies?
Not one machine. That is deliberate, and it is the reason a good number of our regulars drink here rather than somewhere else.
Do I need to book?
For the kitchen on Friday and Saturday, yes. For a table, no — three of the five bays fill from whoever is waiting when a leg starts.
What actually happens at nine?
The board flips, everybody stands, and the tables are drawn again for the second leg. It takes four minutes and it is the best part of the night.
Can I bring my kids to eat?
No. The licence and the guidelines cover the whole room, so the age limit does too.
Kitchen & bar
Border cooking: river on one side, dairy on the other
The kitchen looks both ways across the river. Murray cod and yellowbelly come up from the fishery, the cheese comes off Riverina dairies, and the two of them share a board more often than you would expect.
The bar is built around fortified wine in the Rutherglen style — muscat and topaque poured in small glasses at the end of an evening, alongside a short list of reds and two taps.
The kitchen finishes at ten thirty. After that the bar keeps pouring and sends out cheese, bread and pickled river greens until the last hand is done.
From the river
Murray cod and yellowbelly, grilled whole or in fillets.
From the dairy
Riverina cheese, four at a time, served with the local honey.
From the fortified shelf
Muscat and topaque by the small glass, poured after ten.
The departure board
How an evening is scheduled in the old waiting room
4.30pmDoors unlocked, kitchen takes the first orders of the evening
6.30pmFirst leg begins — tables seated as they fill, no signal yet
9pmThe change: everyone stands, tables are redrawn, second leg starts
11.30pmLast orders at the bar, final hands played out on the benches
The original board still hangs over the bar and we still chalk it up, though what it announces now is dinner, a change of tables and last orders rather than anything with wheels. Times move a little with the kitchen.
Bookings
One phone call holds a bay for the evening
Somebody is on the phone from two in the afternoon. Tell them the number of people, the time and which leg you want to be here for, and it goes up on the board.
