It is 11:30pm on Tuesday. You are in bed with your phone, trying to grab a badminton court for next week. The page spins. Then it stops. The slot you wanted goes to someone who booked at 10:55.

That is the scene the Leisure and Cultural Services Department has put on the calendar. It announced on October 9 that SmartPLAY will be suspended for system maintenance twice.

The first time is from 11pm on October 13 to 6am on October 14. The second is from 11pm on October 15 to 6am on October 16. That is a Tuesday night and a Thursday night.

Eleven pm is when a lot of people are still up, phone in hand, doing the booking they could not do during the day. The notice does not say whether any slots open inside those windows, so if you are the type who sits up for a release, don't count on tapping through.

The department's advice is to use the system before or after. So book your court on Monday evening, or Wednesday morning.

The system comes back at 6am on October 14 and again at 6am on October 16. If you are the early-bird type, that is your next chance.