An evening at the club is a handful of small tables in one good room. Members choose the games. The host runs hosted tables alongside them. This is how one comes together, step by step, with every time given in Spain time.
Weeks before: a table is opened
Everything starts on the shelf, the owner's collection of board games, card games and miniatures. A member picks a game and opens a table for it at an evening, in Marbella or in Estepona. Two evenings a month are planned, the first in Marbella and the second in Estepona. Dates and venues are not set yet.
The member who opens the table says how it will be played:
- New to it. The rules are taught from the start. A first game is fine.
- Played it. A short reminder of the rules, then play.
- Know it well. Straight in, at full pace.
This describes the table, not the people at it. Any member can join any table. A table can be left open to members, or booked whole for a group, in which case it is not listed and the players join through a private link.
The days before: seats fill
Members see the tables for the evening in the members area. Each one shows the seats taken, the seats free and how many more players it needs. A member takes one seat per evening. When a table is full, the next names go on a waiting list in order, and a released seat goes straight to the first name waiting, who is told.
A table goes ahead once it reaches the game's minimum number of players. Until then it shows as needing players.
Three days before: the game is fixed
Until noon three days before the evening, the member who opened a table may change its game. After that, a different game needs a vote of the players already seated, and anyone who does not want the new game may leave without penalty.
Two days before: seats settle
At noon two days before, seats settle. A table that has its minimum goes ahead. A table that is still short has until 18:00 that day. If it is still short then, it does not go ahead: its players are offered a seat at a hosted table where there is room, or the table is cancelled. Nobody is penalised either way.
From noon on settle day, leaving a table that is going ahead counts as a late cancel. That is the one firm line in the calendar, and it exists so that the people who did come have a full table.
On the evening
The host arrives with the boxes, checked and set out. Hosted tables run alongside the member tables: the host teaches, keeps time and answers questions, so nobody reads a rulebook at the table. The evening has a start time and a firm close.
Four house rules apply at every table, including when a member brings a game of their own:
- The games belong to the owner. No lending and no taking home.
- No eating at the table. A small plate is eaten at the bar or a side table.
- Drinks off the board, on a side table or the bar.
- English at the table, whatever the language of the box.
At the close
The host packs every game and counts the pieces before it leaves the room. You leave with the evening. The box leaves with the host.
The full detail is on How it works and the questions page. To be told when the first evening is dated, request a place.