Six tables. Not a dollar on any of them.
You'll find Reefsidelo Card Lounge inside the old Franklin Street creamery that Reg Colbran leased in 1961, the same year he hung up his keys from the cream run. The cans and vats are long gone; six card tables sit where they stood instead. You won't book a seat through this website — you arrive, you sign in, and a hand starts. Every chip you're handed stands for a point on your card, never a dollar, and you won't find a single poker machine anywhere on the property.
Not a casino, just a very old creamery
“I’ve driven a cream run further than most,” Reg Colbran used to say, “and this was always the easiest delivery.” He took the lease over the old Franklin Street creamery in 1961 and never looked back.
Today you'll find six card tables where the milking vats once stood, and you are welcome at any of them from six o'clock, eighteen and over, every open night.
- Est. 1961
- Reg Colbran's lease, still the one this room runs on.
- Six tables
- You'll find euchre, bridge, five hundred, crib and whist.
- Not a dollar
- Every chip you're handed counts a point, never cash.
How a night at the table actually goes
How does a hand actually start?
You sign in at the door, and the rostered dealer seats you at the next table with room.
What happens if you don't know the rules yet?
You'll be talked through them before the first hand — nobody is expected to know euchre or crib on sight.
Do you keep your own score, or does the house?
The house dealer keeps the board; you simply play your hand.
What if you and another player disagree mid-hand?
You raise it with the rostered dealer, and whatever they call stands for that hand.
Just tea, and a place to sit
You will find a small counter where deliveries to the creamery once came in, pouring coffee, tea or something cold for whoever is rostered on.
No kitchen runs behind it — a board of cheese and crackers comes round after nine, and you should not expect anything heavier than that.
Your chips are never accepted at the counter; drinks are paid for in the ordinary way, kept entirely separate from whatever is being scored on the felt.
- Coffee and tea
- A short list, poured by whoever is rostered on.
- Around nine
- A board of cheese and crackers, and little else.
- Payment
- Cash or card at the counter; your chips stay on the felt.
What six tables of cards actually looks like
Six tables where the vats used to stand
The building kept its old roofline, high enough that the room stayed cool through summer back when it held milk instead of card players.
You'll find two long tables near the entrance carrying euchre and bridge most of the week; five hundred owns the far corner and tends to be the loudest table by nine.
Crib and whist share a smaller table by the wall, and once in a while you'll come across a late hand of poker on a Saturday — no buy-in, points only, a dealer watching the count.
- Euchre & bridge
- Two tables by the entrance, running most nights of the week.
- Five hundred
- The far corner, and usually the loudest table after nine.
- Crib & whist
- A smaller table by the wall, for a quieter kind of night.
Come by whenever the doors are open
- Where
- 61 Franklin Street, Traralgon VIC 3844
- Phone
- +61 3 5174 8925 · club@reefsidelo.com
- When
- Thursday to Sunday, six in the evening until midnight
What keeps a night running smoothly
- You will be asked for photo ID at the door, member or guest, without exception.
- You will find no digital way in — no app, no online form, only the door and a signature.
- A chip you are given stands for a point, and nothing more; it is never bought, sold or exchanged.
- You will not find a gaming machine anywhere on the property, and no stake is ever placed on a table.
- Whatever the rostered dealer rules will stand; please raise any disagreement before the next hand.
- You are asked to keep phones away from the felt; the scrapbook page is where photographs belong.
Six dates worth marking down
Ask about pokies. There aren't any.
Not a season goes by without someone asking whether you'll find a poker machine here. You will not — there never have been any, and the board only ever tracks tables and turns.
Six tables, Franklin Street, most nights
You need no login and nothing to download — arrive after six, bring photo ID, and a rostered dealer will settle you at whichever table has room.
+61 3 5174 8925
Drop in