As most of you know, I'm a college student. I use the nine footers at the student center as my practice/playing tables. Problem is, they charge us $3.60 per hour to play. I'm trying to come up with a way that I can get a reduced price so that I don't have to blow the little money I do have paying table fees. I found out who the manager is today, so now I just need to come up with a strong argument to support the idea that it would be a good idea to give me a reduced rate. I've no problem paying, but considering the fact that I figure I would 15 hours per week for practice/playing this would come up to $54 per week, or $216 per month. This would come up to about $2,500 per year. There's no way I'd be able to justify spending that unless I was buying my own table. I mean, hell, after two years that table would be payed for. Any ideas to help out a poor college student? Thanks in advance.
Any ideas?
- Thread starter AKStickGuy
- Start date
Yeah most of the time you are not just playing by yourself so split the table time with your partner. Ours was about the same for an hourly rate. I ended up getting a job at our union pool hall on Sundays and got all of the practice I wanted...when I wasn't helping customers. Made for a fairly quiet place to finish my homework instead of the big house with 6 other roommates.
Thanks for the advice so far. Anyone else have any ideas? I was also thinking of changing out their tips, and maintaining their cues in exchange for table time. And I also was thinking of a monthly flat rate.
Does your school participate in the AUCI national tournament? See if you can talk your Student Union Director to sponsor you as a Pool Player to represent your college in the ACUI Regional Tournament by giving you free practice time.
Here's a link you may find useful in making your case.
http://www.acui.org/billiards/
Your college may also have a Billiard Team. I was fortunate to represent the University of Florida at the regional ACUI tournament while I was a student there. It was great fun and our team got free practice
Good Luck
When I went to college I joined the UT-Austin pool team and that helped my game but I don't remember them having free pool. Then I got lucky and got a job as a bartender at a pool hall. Working weekend nights I made good tip money and had free pool time during the week.
Check if your college has a Billiards Club. If not, it is usually quite simple to start a club, and you can request funding from the student board. All you would need formally is to have some regular meetings, and you can probably request reduced rates for club members.
=) Excellent advice so far. I don't think I'm ready to play in any 9-ball tournaments, though. It's definitely something to look into, though. I'll have to check and see if our school has a billiards team (I doubt it, though.) Anyone else want to contribute?
Thirty five years ago i started shooting at a small local room.
Never asked for free or discounted play time.
Never went to collage.
Went to work.
Bought a house.
Put a pool table in the basement.
Still dont get to play for free or discounted rate.
Funny how things work out.
Slim
Never asked for free or discounted play time.
Never went to collage.
Went to work.
Bought a house.
Put a pool table in the basement.
Still dont get to play for free or discounted rate.
Funny how things work out.
Slim
=) I'm glad things worked out for you, Slim.
In addition to the above suggestion, maybe ask if you could volunteer to run tournaments or a free clinic to help their business in exchange for free time.
Good luck.
Dave
$3.60 an hour isn't bad if u ask me. Cheaper than I ever paid. Good luck to you. Just show that you are an everyday customer and I'm sure he will work somethign out with you.
I was thinking of the same thing, DTL. It would be a win/win situation for sure.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that $3.60 an hour is bad, I'm just saying that if I'd like to keep my meager savings, I need to find an alternative. I'm not working at the moment, so there's no money coming in.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that $3.60 an hour is bad, I'm just saying that if I'd like to keep my meager savings, I need to find an alternative. I'm not working at the moment, so there's no money coming in.
Good suggestion here.
You ever turn any tricks?
You ever turn any tricks?
See, new page!!!!!!!
blah blah
Shoebat
the working a shift or two is a great idea- usually staff get free time all the time anyway, so I'd just be asking for the dirtpaying job and hoping for the free time that goes with it. Good job for a student, too, because you can often sneak in some studying while watching the room.
I wish that I'd done the college team thing- ours was very disorganized and loose, but i could have made an effort to join and help.
thanks for the memories of college poverty- where spending $1.50 for either a piece of pizza at Fat Slice or Blondies OR a hot dog at Top Dog was really a joyful treat away from the old cheezits in a cup of noodles
good luck.
I wish that I'd done the college team thing- ours was very disorganized and loose, but i could have made an effort to join and help.
thanks for the memories of college poverty- where spending $1.50 for either a piece of pizza at Fat Slice or Blondies OR a hot dog at Top Dog was really a joyful treat away from the old cheezits in a cup of noodles
good luck.
Not to date myself but...my 1st year in college, I paid $1.60 for a small cheese pizza delivered from Domino's (may have been one of the 1st stores).
:boring2:.Dave
Your school wouldn't have to have a billiard team. they could just send one player to the regional tournament which could be you.
It's probably easier to get the Student Union director to approve it, if you don't have a billiard team.