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…

Watsons Bay is a harbourside suburb of Sydney, nestled on the end of South Head peninsula next to Vaucluse. Boasting picture-perfect views east across the harbour to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and 180 degrees sea views west over the Pacific Ocean, the small suburb is one of the most prized in NSW.

And things just got better…

The prized Watsons Bay Hotel, which is over 125 years old & stares directly into Sydney harbour, just got a 14ft Mercer Southern Cross Shuffleboards Table to top-off a series of renovations & exciting additions to the venue. And it’s free to play!

Situated in a new multi-level bar/eating area, the table plays west-to-east and aiming for the 3-zone is almost like aiming for the Sydney Harbour Bridge when you shuffle your first puck.

While the table is obviously the most popular new kid in town, Watsons Bay Hotel also boasts amazing food, plenty of cold drinks, DJs, ping pong, accommodation, shuttle buses, ferries and more…

Is Watsons Bay Hotel the best venue in Sydney? It gets our vote & will no doubt get yours…

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…

Fallon is a huge fan of the bar game and was excited to get the Irish actor on the table. Neeson, nursing a glass of red, got the game started with the first shuffle – a 1 pointer. He quickly began the sledging, faking a sneeze just as Jimmy was about to take his first shot. Unfazed, the comedian shuffled a 2-pointer. Game on…

Neeson struggled in the first round, knocking his own pucks off the table and even joking about a “broken hand” he “once suffered”. The score was score was 4-2 at the end change, with Jimmy leading.

Round 2 was as dramatic as they come. Neeson faked another sneeze while Jimmy shuffled his first puck, but again the host lodged a 2-pointer. The duo went back and forth until Liam – holding the last puck – faced a 6-5 deficit with the final shot.

The Hollywood A-lister took his time and…… Hit play to watch the climax!

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…

Paul Campbell from the Victorian branch took out the winning prize of a brand new Mazda 2, kindly donated by AOL’s suppliers. With all competitors new to the game of shuffleboard, it was an excellent way to provide an even playing field. By the end of the afternoon everyone was not only a fan of the game itself, but each wanted their own shuffleboard! Hooked!

Owner Colin Kuchel, who first played shuffleboard in the USA, joked that you could cut the tension with a knife during the round-robin tournament:

“It was an awesome way to finish the day and the grand prize made competition very serious. You could literally see the sweat beading off players foreheads during the finals.”

Loaded table. Nerves of steel...

We were stoked to hear the news from Colin and his team, and can’t wait to see what else they have in store for their new prized piece of office furniture.

If you’re in Adelaide, be sure to call past their office to check out their Shuffleboard & their outdoor living work: Level 1, 43-45 The Parade, Norwood, SA 5067.

Big Prizes. Big Games.

Be sure to check out Australian Outdoor Living online & on Facebook

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…

Owner David Lo and his team of horror-dressed ghouls traded the standard candy hunt for some serious shuffleboard time. It was a Friday afternoon in Sydney, so no doubt there were some beverages had as well!

Shuffleboard. Scary...

We hope those injuries weren't shuffleboard related...

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.”

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!