Blanks on the wall, five tables on the floor
Boards were shaped in this bay for nineteen years, and the racks, the planes and the foam dust in the rafters are still here. Under them are five card tables, a coastal kitchen and a bar. Doors move with the sunset. Nothing is staked, nothing is cashed, and none of it happens anywhere but in this room.
Nineteen years of foam dust, then five tables
Number nine was a shaping bay: two racks, a dust extractor that never quite worked and a roller door that stayed open to the street all summer. Boards went out of it to every break along this coast.
When the shaper retired we took the lease and changed as little as we could get away with. The racks hold blanks and offcuts. The planes and the sanding blocks stayed on the wall. The extractor ducting is now the light rig.
Forty people fill it. Past that nobody can hear a rule being explained, which defeats the point. The door is adults only and the crew ask for ID without any embarrassment about it.
Five tables
Built on the old shaping stands, felt over marine ply.
Coastal cooking
Whatever the trawlers landed, plus fruit from the hinterland.
Sundowner start
First sitting is called when the light goes, not by the clock.
Five tables, and not a cent riding on any of them
The tables sit where the shaping stands were, spaced the same distance apart, which turns out to be about right for cards as well as for a nine-foot longboard.
Chips are discs cut from resin offcuts, each one a slightly different colour because they came off different boards. They count points for one evening. They are not sold, cannot be exchanged for anything and are collected at close.
Ash runs the teaching table on Tuesday and Wednesday. Otherwise the tables run themselves and the crew only step in to seat someone who arrived alone.
Three open tables
Walk in, sit down, no booking and no fee.
Two reserved tables
Held by phone for groups of up to six people.
Teaching table
Tuesday and Wednesday, from six, free, no experience assumed.
Six evenings, each with its own shape
Teaching table from six, free, six seats
Teaching table again, slower room
Sundowner sitting, kitchen at full stretch
Every table taken by seven, book to eat
Early doors, ladder table from eight
Long afternoon, quiet tables, early close
Deliveries, repairs and a day off
What we ask of everyone in the bay
- Adults only, all of it — the kitchen side included. ID gets asked for at the door and sometimes again at a table.
- Resin chips count points for the evening. They are not sold, not cashed and hold no monetary value.
- Nothing is staked on a hand: no pot, no side bet, no money moving between players anywhere in the bay.
- There are no gaming machines here, and there is no version of this room on the internet.
- Keep the roller door area clear — it is the fire exit as well as the smoking corner.
- The bar serves responsibly and stops when the crew say it stops, which is not a conversation.
Jonson Street, the roller door
The bay
9 Jonson Street, Byron Bay NSW 2481
Phone and email
+61 2 6685 3390 · bay@playbondix.com
Doors
Tuesday to Sunday, 4pm – 11:30pm
What people want to know first
Do you run anything online?
Nothing whatsoever. There is no app, no account, no live stream and no online room. Everything happens between these four walls on Jonson Street, in person.
What are the resin chips worth?
Points, for one evening. They cannot be bought or cashed, and there is no pot, no buy-in, no prize money and no wagering attached to any table.
Any pokies?
None. No gaming machines of any description, and none planned. The bay would not fit them and we would not want them.
What time do doors actually open?
Four in the afternoon, but the first sitting is called at sundown, so in January that is late and in June it is early. Tonight's time is chalked on the door.
I have never played cards properly. Where do I start?
The teaching table on Tuesday and Wednesday. It runs from six, costs nothing, and you will not be the only beginner at it.
Can my seventeen-year-old sit with us for dinner?
No — the venue is adults only throughout and we cannot make an exception for a meal.
Off the trawlers, out of the hinterland
The fish comes in whole and gets broken down here, so the board depends entirely on what came over the side that morning. Some nights that is four species and some nights it is one, and we write it up either way.
Half the board is meat-free and not as an afterthought: finger lime, macadamia, green mango, whatever the growers up the hill have too much of that fortnight.
Three taps come from breweries within an hour of here and rotate when a keg blows. The kitchen stops at ten; after that it is cold plates, bread and pickles until the last table finishes.
Whole fish
Broken down here, listed by species, sold until it runs out.
Half the board meat-free
Not garnish — the same care as the fish gets.
Three rotating taps
Local breweries, changed whenever a keg empties.
Racks, felt, taps and the street door
Who is holding what while you are here
Small room, small crew, and everyone does two jobs. If something needs fixing, one of these four is the person to grab — nobody minds being interrupted mid-shift.
Eat first, play after, or the other way round
Ring us from two in the afternoon. Tell us how many, and whether you want the kitchen, a table or both, and we will chalk you up.
Ring the bay