DJ and the Mug went on a new adventure today - The Albion Charles in Northcote.  Walking in to the Albion Charles means business.  There is no other reason for the existence of this place than to punt and drink.  While there is a pokies area, it is the only PubTab I’ve been to thus far where the punting area dwarfs the pokies area.

In the entrance to the pub are  some hopefuls trying to sell sausages.  Wrong!!  These should be free to punters.  Instead, they’re trying to suck into your stake before the punt has even begun, all in the name of pets with muscular dystrophy or some such.  Just wrong in so many ways!

The entrance leads straight into a punting haven second only to the mecca of Crown Casino.  It is so big it is even divided into 2 rooms, both with screens.  The main room is amped - I counted 26 separate small screens running odds, different race meeting video and the obligatory Read Ratings.  Built into the back wall is the big screen running Sky.  There are sets of punting tables setup all facing the big screen like a theatre - low tables with round backed chairs at the front, high tables with stools at the back.  Lining the walls are the many form guides for the day and ticket stations.  The second room has only a half dozen screens, and although it does have another big Sky channel screen, the volume was off which was a bit disappointing.  The room is for the relaxed punter with some comfy sofas set in the middle.

The bar is also dedicated to punting.  4 terminals taking up about 3 times the  space dedicated to serving beer - all manned, no waiting (which could not be said for the bar).  They also had a couple of the machines that seem to be popping up everywhere, letting you bet straight from your phone account.

And the punters!  This was Mugpunter homeland.

First there was Fat George.  Fat George was parked at the front table in the main room.  And there he slept.  He did not rise to get beer.  He did not smoke.  And for the best part of the afternoon he did not bet.  He just slept.  He took up a nice reclined position, loosened up the belt, tucked the formguide into the short front and dozed away the afternoon.  So when he did rise to bet (Mel R7, Wildcoast, $20 ew) we took notice.  Unfortunately, the horse didn’t finishing in the last few.

There was  Combover Charlie, who had the uniquely devised diagonal comb over.  Not long sides and across, not front to back, but left front to right back.  Amazing!   There was the obligatory punting grumpy old men, the guy and his wife who sat on the table next to us for the whole afternoon and did not speak to each other, the young guy slamming the table after every race, and adding cream to the cake, our second punting Lesbians - could this be a demographic?

But the place definitely lacked the normal essentials - no free food, no cab drivers, no trackies - and with the big ban coming July 1, no smoke.

Overall, recommended for hardcore punting, but not much else