Jade Tavern

If the smoking laws weren’t so strictly enforced nowadays, this would have the feel of a really dingy poker den. But as it is, it’s just a basement bar with a few poker tables and a TAB. It’s not a bad place to go and play poker and they have games running from about 3pm (Tuesday to Sunday) with varying buy-​ins.
The poker room here (known as Sin City) opened around the time of the poker boom (2006-​08) and has managed to outlast the Poker Dome venues at Newtown and Coogee RSLs. Being located in the heart of Chinatown means it’s easily accessible, and if you’ve ever been to the casino, you know that the Asian population doesn’t mind a gamble here and there, which is probably one of the main reasons it’s managed to operate long after the boom has fizzled! I haven’t been here in a while, but if you are a poker newbie then you may want to get a few home games in first, not because you’ll get busted in the same amount of time it took you to sit down, but because unfortunately one of the reasons that poker has dipped in popularity is that well-​established players are very impatient with newcomers. As I’ve found with Aussie sportsmen in general, there’s very little humbleness when they believe they’re better than average, and this is the same with poker players, which can quite easily make you uncomfortable, especially when you’ve just come for a quiet game. But oh well, that’s the way it is I suppose!
The bar itself does some pretty good drink deals and they also have $ 2 hot dogs, which in my opinion, is awesome! Oh, and if you’re a Kiwi, the Jade is home to the All Blacks Supporters Club!