Klub Evenings
Four rhythms of card play.
Members' social card play across four cyclical formats — weekly, monthly, quarterly, and by invitation. Table fees cover hospitality. Prizes are exclusively in kind.
The four formats at a glance.
Tuesday Card Evening.
Weekly · Tuesday 19:30 · table fee £35 · max 36 guests
The Tuesday Card Evening is the salon's weekly rhythm. The room opens at 19:30 with welcome drinks and a plateau between two; the first hand is dealt at 20:15. The cards run until last play — usually around eleven, sometimes later if the table is engaged. The kitchen continues serving small plates throughout the evening; the bar continues until last call.
The table fee covers hospitality; the prize structure is in kind. Three vouchers redeemable on salon hospitality are awarded per table at the close of play. The card hosts are present throughout; the play is sober, the conversation easy, the cigars discreet. (We allow cigars in the rear courtyard between hands.)
- Cadence
- Every Tuesday, year-round
- Doors
- 19:30 · first hand 20:15
- Format
- No-limit hold'em · pot-limit Omaha by demand
- Hosted by
- Helena Marchwood & the card hosts
The Hertford Deepstack.
Last Friday monthly · 20:00 · table fee £85 · max 48 guests
The Hertford Deepstack is the monthly long-form sitting — eight guests per table, the play deeper than Tuesday's, the menu set. The starter and main come from a four-by-four matrix prepared in advance; dessert and digestif are à la carte. The room is fully open across both floors. Beatrice Whickham personally pours the wine flights for the deepstack tables; Helena Marchwood directs play.
The first prize is a magnum of either Nyetimber Classic Cuvée or Wiston Estate Brut, the choice the winner's. Second prize is a £200 hospitality voucher; third is £100; the per-table consolation is a small box of Tilling's macaroons. Card play closes at one. The kitchen is closed by midnight; the bar continues to last call.
- Cadence
- Last Friday of every month
- Doors
- 20:00 · play closes 01:00
- Menu
- Two-course set · sommelier flights
- First prize
- Magnum, Nyetimber or Wiston Estate
Marylebone Quarterly Sitting.
Second Saturday quarterly (March · June · September · December) · 15:00 · table fee £160 · max 54 guests
The Marylebone Quarterly Sitting is the salon's most considered card programme — held once each quarter on the second Saturday. Six tables of nine; mixed formats, with a fixed-limit Stud table that rotates structure each quarter. The kitchen prepares a three-course set menu for the sitting; the sommelier presents a flight of three glasses chosen for the season — a sparkling on arrival, a white with the starter and main, a red with the cheese.
The first prize is a weekend at the Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons in Great Milton — twin room, breakfast, and a dinner-tasting-menu for two, total value approximately £1,200, redeemable within 12 months. The second prize is a £400 hospitality voucher; the third is £200; the per-table runner-up receives a magnum of an English sparkling.
The Quarterly is the salon's principal card calendar event; reservations open six weeks before the sitting for Klub members and four weeks before for non-members. Long-staying guests are welcome to remain in the bar after play closes; the kitchen serves from a small late menu until 22:30 and the bar continues until 01:00.
- Cadence
- Second Saturday of March, June, September, December
- Doors
- 15:00 · play closes 22:00
- Menu
- Three-course set · flight of three
- First prize
- Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons weekend, redeemable within twelve months
The Hedera Hour.
First Friday of even months (February · April · June · August · October · December) · 20:30 · invitation-only · max 24 guests
The Hedera Hour is the salon's invitation-only evening, held six times a year on the first Friday of an even-numbered month. Twenty-four members and their host gather across three tables. The host of the evening — a rotating role between Klub members and Helena Marchwood — chooses the format; the salon prepares the kitchen and the wine; the room is dressed differently than for the public evenings.
The Hedera Hour is named for the Aldus hedera — a printer's-ornament glyph from the late fifteenth century, used by Aldo Manuzio's Venetian press as a divider on book pages, lifted by us for the salon's hair-rule and for the Klub member's annual token. The winner of each table at the Hedera Hour is awarded a hand-engraved silver-plate token bearing the hedera and the date of the evening. There is no monetary prize; the token is the prize. Members who accumulate three tokens over a year are eligible to host the following year's Hedera Hour cycle — six evenings hosted personally — should they wish.
The room is closed to non-members during the Hedera Hour; entrance is by member's-name list at reception. Members are welcome to bring one guest to one Hedera Hour per year (counted against the twelve-pass annual allowance). The kitchen serves a single tasting-menu, paired with three flights from the cellar by Beatrice. There is no service charge added on Hedera Hour evenings; the entire cost is covered by the membership and a small voluntary tip box at the bar at the close of play.
Saspherton Klub evenings are members-only social card play. They are not gaming activities licensable under the Gambling Act 2005 — no money stakes are placed in exchange for participation, and prizes are exclusively in kind. The salon does not hold a Gambling Commission operating licence and does not offer any form of money-stake gaming. If you have any concerns about your gambling, please visit begambleaware.org or contact GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Reserve a Klub-evening seat.
Tuesday Card Evening, Hertford Deepstack and the Marylebone Quarterly Sitting are open to both members and non-members. The Hedera Hour is invitation-only for Klub members.