I dont get it.....

snipershot

snipershot

Go ahead.....run for it.
Silver Member
I have been in Belvidere/Rockford Illinois for about a month now, and I see the same thing here as I do back home, no pool playing. I have been to a few bars, but the only time I have seen others playing pool is if its free, or at one of the pool halls. When I was younger (and Im not that old yet!) I remember seeing the pool table busy all night, so what happened? I have a theory on it. When I was a kid growing up, pool cost a quarter a game. No big deal really, I could play all day on a couple of bucks. The years went by and a few places raised it to fifty cents, well that sucked, but its still okay. Now, everywhere you go, its a dollar or more per game. What the hell is wrong with these places! Its the same here as it is back home, I go to a bar, and there are one, two, four , or even more pool tables sitting empty, because people will not pay a dollar for a game of eight-ball on a sloppy pocket Valley table. Its no wonder pool is dying in America. If it were a quarter a game, Ill bet people would have been playing, and drinking more beer too! Sorry for the rant, Im drunk, lol.



Joe
 
Yeah, and beer used to cost a quarter too...so did gasoline! It's called inflation. Get used to it! It's not the cost of the table...it's just that people don't play like they used to...in many cases.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

snipershot said:
I have been in Belvidere/Rockford Illinois for about a month now, and I see the same thing here as I do back home, no pool playing. I have been to a few bars, but the only time I have seen others playing pool is if its free, or at one of the pool halls. When I was younger (and Im not that old yet!) I remember seeing the pool table busy all night, so what happened? I have a theory on it. When I was a kid growing up, pool cost a quarter a game. No big deal really, I could play all day on a couple of bucks. The years went by and a few places raised it to fifty cents, well that sucked, but its still okay. Now, everywhere you go, its a dollar or more per game. What the hell is wrong with these places! Its the same here as it is back home, I go to a bar, and there are one, two, four , or even more pool tables sitting empty, because people will not pay a dollar for a game of eight-ball on a sloppy pocket Valley table. Its no wonder pool is dying in America. If it were a quarter a game, Ill bet people would have been playing, and drinking more beer too! Sorry for the rant, Im drunk, lol.



Joe
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Scott Lee said:
Yeah, and beer used to cost a quarter too...so did gasoline! It's called inflation. Get used to it! It's not the cost of the table...it's just that people don't play like they used to...in many cases.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Click to expand...

Beer wasnt a quarter a bottle ten years ago. Theres a bar here that has 1.00 beer night, so a buck for a beer, and a buck for a game?


Joe
 
A local bar solved this problem by selling $2.25 beer and $.75 per game of pool. Buy a beer and low and behold your holding enough change for the pool table.

I also think pool league has something to do with this. In our league the tables are open for practice. The once a week players are accustomed to playing for free, so they are unwilling to pay for it in non league situations.

:cool:
 
12310bch said:
Looks like you found a market niche. Buy a bar and promote cheap barbox pool. It would probably work.
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Ill bet it would work. One bar here is never busy, but they have free pool one night a week, and the place is packed. I believe there may be some sort of connection, lol.


Joe
 
I think it's like that everywhere now.The gameroom I grew up playing in was a 24/7 joint and now your lucky to see 3 cars in the parking lot.
 
DelaWho??? said:
A local bar solved this problem by selling $2.25 beer and $.75 per game of pool. Buy a beer and low and behold your holding enough change for the pool table.

I also think pool league has something to do with this. In our league the tables are open for practice. The once a week players are accustomed to playing for free, so they are unwilling to pay for it in non league situations.

:cool:
Click to expand...

Thats some clever thinking on their part, lol. On the other hand, if it were .50 a game, and 2.50 a beer, Ill bet people would play more pool, and in turn, buy more beer:confused:. I dont know, maybe im just stupid, but cheap pool is always a draw for customers. Im a member of the American Legion back home, and pool is a quarter a game, and that table is used from open to close most days, and then there are the folks who just sit there and drink beer and mixed drinks, just watching the pool games. Its a win-win deal, Im just a little surprised more bar and pool room owners dont see it that way. Im probably way outta line and totally wrong, but it seems right to me.

Joe
 
Before I moved to where i am now, while visiting my parents for a couple days, I met up with a board bro to shoot some pool, we met up at a local bowling alley / bar, and they had two barboxes and the games were .25cents or .50cents a game.... IDK but myself and my friend sat there and played pool for about 3 or 4 hours while drinking beers and pop lol...

We even played doubles vs a couple locals for a while too,,,,, I mean the games were cheap enough and the bar equally made money on us just from drinking......

I mean yes 1$ a game is stupid, expecially for above avg players....

But if you have a place that does .25cents a game, hell you'll probably make more money off it that way, from guys playing and drinking......unless you have a bunch of people with wads of money to burn..
 
there are a few players in town that will put up the cash. But I would say your best bet if your looking for a money game would be to goto the carom room in beloit
 
fsarfino said:
there are a few players in town that will put up the cash. But I would say your best bet if your looking for a money game would be to goto the carom room in beloit
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I dont gamble, so thats probably why it seems too high. I did go to the carom room saturday, and it was freakin awsome! I should have pm'd u, and seen if you were gonna go, sorry man.


Joe
 
pfduser said:
They only had bar tables at .50 a game and that was 10+ years ago when the place was packed.They still charge .50 game and can hardly get anybody in there to play.
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Bummer man. Maybe it will turn back around.


Joe
 
I should have read your post a little more thoroughly, If you looking to play a few games at a bar. here is some of the places in Rockford where I've had luck picking up a friendly game.

Latham tap - 1 Valley bar box plays like total crap seems to have sand on the cloth lol

The Barn - Almost right next door to Rockford Billiard Cafe. Has 2 Valleys I heard they were getting recovered if they haven't been then they are also pretty rough

Cousins 1 & 2 - Both of these have 2 Valley's that play ok and were in decent shape.

Whiskey road house - they also have 2 valleys in decent shape

I'm sure there are a few other places in town that I forgot to mention but most of the time when I'm at a bar around town I really dont wanna play unless I'm with a friend. I guess I just loathe playing 8 ball with "bar rules" :rotflmao:
 
fsarfino said:
when I'm at a bar around town I really dont wanna play unless I'm with a friend. I guess I just loathe playing 8 ball with "bar rules" :rotflmao:
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Im not much into bars anymore, but I dont get off of work till midnight now, so Shooters is closed, and by the time I get to the Carom room, I will only have an hour of pool to play, so a bar is the only place I can get some play in now. I did find a place over in Rockford called the Crazy Penguin that has 6 tables. They are cheap tables, but they play surprisingly tight! I played for a few hours over there Sunday. Ill catch you around sometime man.



Joe
 
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