One of the best parts of Sydney just got even better with prized local venue, Watsons Bay Hotel, setting up a 14ft Mercer Shuffleboard Table in their newly renovated balcony bar overlooking Sydney Harbour…
Famed actor Liam Neeson – star of Schindler’s List, Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace and Taken – appeared on The Late Night with Jimmy Fallon recently to promote Taken 2 and challenge Jimmy to a game of Bar Shuffleboard…
Colin Kuchel (left) with winner Paul Campbell (right)
Outdoor home improvement company, Australian Outdoor Living, recently took ownership of an ash/walnut 12ft Armstrong Shuffleboard Table. To christian the table, the company flew in seven of their top outdoor blinds Design Consultants from around the nation to compete in a winner-takes-all shuffleboard tournament during their Sales Conference…
Sydney based advertising agency, The Marketing Zoo, are the proud owners of a new 12ft Armstrong Shuffleboard Table & celebrated in style over Halloween with some freaky Friday fright night shuffleboard at their office…
The city of Portland in Oregon, USA, has several popular locals. Sportswear giant Nike’s headquarters are situated there. The Portland Trailblazers NBA basketball team run the city. And now the Sunshine Tavern is entertaining more and more people daily thanks to its grubbing food and a proud shuffleboard table that’s setup smack-bam in the middle of the venue. Sounds like heaven…
Jon Irvine writes, “Sunshine Tavern: Shuffleboard and monte cristo’s, what else can one ask for?” on his blog. (NB. Monte cristo’s is a fancy way of saying toasted ham and cheese sandwich).
Britt Q writes, “One word: Shuffleboard! I’ve been looking for a good place to play shuffleboard in Portland and Sunshine Tavern has perhaps the nicest table in town. Great, spacious and modern bar.” on Yelp.com
Lynn E writes, “Sunshine Tavern has two of my favourite things – shuffleboard and slushy margaritas.” on Yelp.com
Food blog Zagat spoke with venue owner Jenn Louis this week and here are a couple of the Q&A’s from their interview…
Zagat: What inspired your restaurant Sunshine Tavern? With the comfort food, soft serve ice cream and games it seems like it was built out of guilty pleasures?
“It started as a series of conversations that my husband David and I had about what we wanted on our days off. We want pizza, we want burgers we want homemade soft serve ice cream. We thought putting a shuffleboard table in the middle of the dining room would be awesome. It’s fun, it’s free, and everyone plays. So we created this great place for days off that we never get to enjoy because we don’t want to go to work on our days off.”
Zagat: Who is the better shuffleboard player, you or David?
“Probably David because I never get to play.”
Jenn and David have recently started promoting their first ever casual shuffleboard tournament, which is a team setup competing a double elimination draw. Cost is $5/person with a requirement of two per team and winner takes all!
We really hope to find some like-minded Australian venues keen to emulate this American success story here in Australia – willing to let shuffleboard help them attract customers through the door and in turn keep their regular patrons happy.
We’ve been handed a stack of research and findings out of the UK and USA that shows young adults want to frequent bars, pubs, clubs, lounges and other venues with bar games. Customers want an experience. They want to be engaged! Click HERE to check out some recent findings out of the UK.
Add shuffleboard to your venue alongside great food, awesome service and a great vibe, and you’ve served up a winner… Contact us to make your inquiry now!
The Spring 2012 issue of Clubs & Pubs Manager Magazine is hot off the press and we’re excited to reveal that the issue features a cracking 4-page feature story on Southern Cross Shuffleboards and the game of shuffleboard!
Clubs & Pubs Manager Magazine is distributed to venue managers throughout Australia and we’re obviously hoping this helps kick-start shuffleboard’s launch into bars, pubs, clubs and hotels across the country.
The story is a beauty, outlining the what/when/where/who/how and why of table shuffleboard. It outlines the rules and fine intricacies of the game, while highlighting plenty of the reasons the game will soon be a success and permanent fixture in Aussie watering holes.
Have a read of the article! Click here to download a PDF version: Shuffle Up To The Bar
It was non-stop action on the shuffleboard table we exhibited at this year’s Melbourne Lifestyle & Retirement Expo, held at Caulfield Racecourse on September 7, 8 & 9!
We were told the line for free roast chicken would likely be the longest at the Expo, but the cue to shuffle was something to behold all weekend outside our Southern Cross Shuffleboards exhibitor stand. The table was never lonely!
Retirees, pensioners, kids, parents, event organisers, cleaners and fellow exhibitors were all intrigued and involved on the table throughout the Expo. Some had seen the game before. Many hadn’t. Several had played when they were younger and happily rekindled fond memories with a simple stainless steel puck slide down the 12ft Armstrong table…
Another reason the line to the table was constant was our daily “Trick Show Wine Giveaway”, which saw visitors compete in a trick shot challenge to win themselves a bottle of wine. The challenge was either to leave 1 x puck in the 3 zone & 1 x puck in the 1 zone OR 1 x puck in the 3 zone & 2 x pucks in the 1 zone for repeat players. The failures were many, but the photo below proves we rewarded some super-shooters with their deserved prizes. NB. The women out-shone the men!
We had an opportunity to speak with plenty of visitors and a chance to show-off the quality of our tables to all of the Australia’s best Lifestyle & Retirement Resorts, such as Aveo, Stockland, National Lifestyle Villages and plenty of others.
The Expo also proved how successful Table Shuffleboard is for people and venues looking to rent tables for an event, function or party. The rules are easy to learn, the game is easy to play, it’s social, fun and very addictive!
If you’re just getting into the world of shuffleboards and you’d like your own equipment, but you’re not entirely sure where to look or what to look for, then it’s worth having taking note of a few starter points to guide you in the right direction.
1) What you need.
If you’re going to start playing, there’s one big question you need to ask yourself before you do anything else – are you playing indoor or outdoor shuffleboard? It’s like the difference between poker in Vegas and http://www.poker.de – you’ll need completely different equipment depending on which one you pick.
Once you know, you’ll need the accessories of choice – a shuffeboard table, pucks and speed wax if you’re keen on the indoor version (the game we sell and promote) or you need to find a shuffleboard court, some poles/sticks and discs if you want the outdoor version of the game.
2) Where to get it.
You’ll need to think carefully about where to get your gear from, but generally it’s best to stick to two rules – quality and price. Try and find a balance, but err on the side of low prices for a beginner’s set, because just like with a pool table, bad quality equipment can lead to problems (often sooner, rather than later). We stand by the quality and pricing of our shuffleboard tables, and welcome you to seek a quote elsewhere and present any better offers to us!
If you’re in Melbourne on September 7, 8 and 9 this year, make sure you head down to Caulfield Racecourse to visit us at the 2012 Melbourne Retirement & Lifestyle Expo!
We’ll be exhibiting our shuffleboard tables on all three days – just look for the Southern Cross Shuffleboards signs in Stall 162 on Ground Level.
Come have a shuffle, have a chat, win some prizes and see how high quality our tables are!
Click here to visit the Expo’s website and please contact us if you’d like more information.
“The first thing you notice when you walk in is the shuffleboard table front and center.”
So reads the opening paragraph of realclearsports.com’s peak-behind-closed-doors article about the office of SB Nation – the world dominate sports network.
Most Aussies haven’t heard of SB Nation, but many of us having unknowingly visited one or more of there 300+ sport websites online… The company has defined a new wave of sports journalism & of course the legends have a shuffleboard table in there office!