Who actually keeps Rooke Street's card room running?
Paperbark Row began as one storefront in a row of produce traders near the Devonport wharves, and the name has stuck to the card room that eventually took over the middle unit.
The row
Who traded on this stretch before the cards came out?
A produce merchant held the corner unit for decades, weighing out grain and vegetables for farms across the north-west before the bigger jetties downriver took the shipping trade away.
Two doors along, a chandler supplied rope and canvas to the fishing boats working out of the Mersey, and a saddler kept the middle unit before the produce trade folded in the 1970s.
When the row emptied out, it was the middle unit — number nineteen — that reopened first, as a card room, and it's kept its lights on every year since.
Produce merchant
Held the corner unit into the 1960s
Chandler
Rope and canvas for boats off the Mersey
Card room
Opened in the middle unit, still trading
Behind the room
Who's actually running the floor?
Who deals the cards each night?
A house dealer, always — never one of the players sitting at the table.
Is it the same staff every week?
Mostly, yes. A small, steady team runs the floor and the counter most evenings.
Does anyone who works here ever play a hand?
No — the house deals and never competes for its own chips.
Who do I ask if I have a question about a rule?
Whoever's nearest the counter; they'll either answer it or find the dealer who can.
Are you 18 or over?
Paperbark Row is a card room for adults. Everyone on the premises must be 18 or over, and we'll ask for ID if there's any doubt.
Paperbark Row only exists as a physical room in Devonport, Tasmania. Nothing here can be reached online, and nobody under 18 is admitted.
This site keeps two small entries in local storage — one for your age confirmation, one for this notice — and sends nothing anywhere else.Read more here
