The smoking issue

G

Grady

Pro Player
I was going to answer Donny Mill's query about could anyone justify smoking in today's pool rooms? On the thread though, it was far off topic. I'll try and please non-smokers don't light into me. As I do this, remember I don't smoke.
90% of my customers smoke. Go out my front door in either direction one mile and it is legal to smoke but not in my little parcel of the township where my room is located. My town wants me to be non-smoking and also build a deck for my customers to go outside to smoke.
Playing pool and having a few drinks and enjoying smoking with friends is Americana at it's finest,NOT going outside in
the cold to enjoy one of life's greatest pleasures.
American pool rooms have to fade internet poker, casinos, inflation, taxation up the ying-yang. Lots of places are out of business and more to come. How about giving me and others a break about the smoking? I promise that I have suffered a lot more from alcohol and drugs than I ever did from smoking.
Thanks for your kind attention.
"The Professor"
 
Grady, unfortunately, it's not enough for people to make decisions for themselves....these days, they also need to tell others what to do and how to run their business.....even though none of their own money is on the line.....for most people though, the smoking issue doesn't effect them personally, so they are comfortable enacting their will.....the funny thing is the next time it might not be something they agree with, or worse yet, the next banning might be something that effects their own job.....I wonder if their tune will be the same????

I do wish you all the best of luck and hope your business can stay afloat....times are tough, but keep the faith.....
 
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I think the owner of a bar/restaraunt/pool hall/bowling alley should have exclusive rights to determine weather they want it smoking/or a non smoking. I'm a life long non-smoker.

In Ohio we have a smoking ban in all those places. I recenly went to Michigan and they don't. When I was there I frequented a couple of smoke filled bars and woke up the next morning with bleeding sinuses. I had a bloody nose for 2 days.

I would never again frequent a smoking establishment. I do feel you have the right to have one if you so choose. If you do go smoke free- there is no going back. 90 percent of Ohioan's love the smoking ban. The 10 percent who don't are smokers and bar owners.
 
I quit smoking about 5 years ago and have gained 60 pounds (which isn't healthy either). Smoke doesn't bother me at all. I don't have to tell you about second hand smoke. The bottom line is consideration of others.

I do agree with you that I have a decision to make about entering a pool room were smoking is allowed. I did enter pool rooms where smoking is allowed. Now that Washington & Oregon doesn't allow smoking in public places anymore I don't have to make that decision.

As you know in business there are changes that occur and how you handle them can make your business survive or fail. Build an outside covered smoking area or move outside the restricted area are the only two choices you have.

Build an outside covered smoking area. You will be surprised how many of your current customers will continue to be your customers with this little inconvience. Afterall its Grady's Place!
 
The problem is that some think they have the right to go to a smokefree buisness(poolhall)...They do not...but what they do have is the right to not go to a buisness that allows smoking....And if they think that a non smoking poolhall is so profitable they have the right to start one....I do hope you survive this non smoking era...and I am sorry because I no longer go to any area pool hall but instead I go the the bars that allow smoking because thats where most of the local players went...I hate to contribute to the downfall of any of my local halls but I still play to have fun and for me thats playing with others who also enjoy the game with or without the smoke
 
Grady said:
I was going to answer Donny Mill's query about could anyone justify smoking in today's pool rooms? On the thread though, it was far off topic. I'll try and please non-smokers don't light into me. As I do this, remember I don't smoke.
90% of my customers smoke. Go out my front door in either direction one mile and it is legal to smoke but not in my little parcel of the township where my room is located. My town wants me to be non-smoking and also build a deck for my customers to go outside to smoke.
Playing pool and having a few drinks and enjoying smoking with friends is Americana at it's finest,NOT going outside in
the cold to enjoy one of life's greatest pleasures.
American pool rooms have to fade internet poker, casinos, inflation, taxation up the ying-yang. Lots of places are out of business and more to come. How about giving me and others a break about the smoking? I promise that I have suffered a lot more from alcohol and drugs than I ever did from smoking.
Thanks for your kind attention.
"The Professor"
Click to expand...

Well you are lucky but all the guys working at Hi Pockets when you went through w Allison in my town of White Plains, that you met-Micky, Tommy and George all heavy smokers and all died within 2 years of each other from Lung Cancer.
 
I've been a 1-2 pack smoker for 45 years so I guess you can call that an addiction. If I go to a bar, a pool room, a restaurant, a poker room, etc and it's no smoking then it's no big deal to me. I can survive without it and if urge gets the best of me then just walk outside and light up. Although I know what you're saying about lifes pleasures I respect that non-smokers shouldn't have to be exposed to a stinky room full of cig smoke. I notice the difference myself. And FTR it's a lot colder up here by Chicago but we deal with it.

Added - there's a place up here that puts a patio heater outside which seems to work ok.
A minor expense to keep some people happy.
 
Last edited:
krelldog
If you do go smoke free- there is no going back. 90 percent of Ohioan's love the smoking ban. The 10 percent who don't are smokers and bar owners.
Click to expand...
The problem with that is that the 90% are not putting any money into the places that the 10% frequent...
 
They say 1 out of 5 people in the US smoke, those are some big numbers, I wonder what the percentage of people are who smoke in poolrooms, probably 3 out of 5? :confused:
 
Nostroke said:
Well you are lucky but all the guys working at Hi Pockets when you went through w Allison in my town of White Plains, that you met-Micky, Tommy and George all heavy smokers and all died within 2 years of each other from Lung Cancer.
Click to expand...

Chinese Mickey?


Eric
 
Grady said:
I was going to answer Donny Mill's query about could anyone justify smoking in today's pool rooms? On the thread though, it was far off topic. I'll try and please non-smokers don't light into me. As I do this, remember I don't smoke.
90% of my customers smoke. Go out my front door in either direction one mile and it is legal to smoke but not in my little parcel of the township where my room is located. My town wants me to be non-smoking and also build a deck for my customers to go outside to smoke.
Playing pool and having a few drinks and enjoying smoking with friends is Americana at it's finest,NOT going outside in
the cold to enjoy one of life's greatest pleasures.
American pool rooms have to fade internet poker, casinos, inflation, taxation up the ying-yang. Lots of places are out of business and more to come. How about giving me and others a break about the smoking? I promise that I have suffered a lot more from alcohol and drugs than I ever did from smoking.
Thanks for your kind attention.
"The Professor"
Click to expand...

Sorry Grady, but if you think people sitting around inhaling toxins that kill you is one of our country's greatest characteristics, you're nuts. And as for the second comment, smoking is using a drug, it just happens to be a legal one. And before anyone says anything, this is coming from someone who used to smoke and is still trying to quit smokeless tobacco.
 
Grady said:
enjoying smoking with friends is Americana at it's finest,NOT going outside inthe cold to enjoy one of life's greatest pleasures.
Click to expand...

Grady,

That type of talk is really bull. If you think smoking is Americana at it's finest, then go down the the cemetery and mark the graves of former smokers who have shaved 20 years off their lives and explain it to their families, or to the local hospital watching COPD suffers breathe oxygen through a tube, struggling for each breath.

That's the kind of talk that convinced me it was cool to smoke for 30 years. Smoking has tragically ended many, many lives prematurely.

Chris
 
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Eric. said:
Wow. The man dodges robberies, shootings, etc and lung cancer gets him. RIP.


Eric
Click to expand...

Yeah you heard about his pool room being shot up by a certain gang back in the 70's i think.

Anyway 30 years later if you asked him about it, he would shake his head no and then not say a word and i was probably his second best friend.
 
Nostroke said:
Yeah you heard about his pool room being shot up by a certain gang back in the 70's i think.

Anyway 30 years later if you asked him about it, he would shake his head no and then not say a word and i was probably his second best friend.
Click to expand...

Condolences on your good friend, Nostroke.


Eric
 
Honestly, I don't care if a pool room owner chooses to allow smoking in his room (If the law allows it) or not. I'm 38 now, but used to play in smoke filled pool halls for half my life before the smoking ban came about and I don't smoke myself. It was my choice. However, today I have a young son who often likes to go with me to shoot some pool, so unfortunately while I think it is your prerogative to allow smoking or not, I wouldn't take my son or play pool at your pool hall.

As for how it affects business? Well, I guess here in Hawaii there are not too many pool halls to begin with, so the smoking ban hasn't really affected them all that much. The ones that did close down more than likely had to do so due to other reason. The 2 pool halls I would normally go to are doing just fine after the smoking ban went into effect about 10 years ago.
 
I hate smoking but at the same time I also can recognize that if there was a smoking ban in pool halls and bowling alleys there would be a drop in customer attendance. The question is would you gain enough patrons to cover that? I'm guessing no.
 
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