smoking in a pool hall?

BasementDweller said:
Call me crazy but I sometimes (not always) miss that rotten stench I used to bring home with me after playing pool ALL NIGHT LONG! I will now pause 10 seconds while you all call me crazy.

There's something about the mixture of the smoke, the chalk, and the grease from the rails. When you combine those three it just makes me think about the good ole days. Man, it has been a while since I stunk that bad. Now that I think about it, I haven't stained up a pair of jeans at the thighs in a while either. Ah too bad.

Now when I go play pool for a few hours I come back smelling exactly how I smelled when I left. No more sneaking my clothes into the bottom of the dirty clothes pile. Now I just drop them right on the floor and I just have to worry about getting yelled at for being a slob. How boring is that???

Maybe someone could bottle that smell for me. Stinky-Pool-Hall-Smell-in-a-Can. I would buy that.


P.S. ON A SERIOUS NOTE, WE ALL KNOW THAT SMOKING IS BAD FOR YOU SO QUIT BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE. MY FATHER IS DEAD BECAUSE HE WAS A LIFE-LONG SMOKER. THERE'S NO EXCUSE FOR IT.
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They say that smell is the sense most attached to memory. Most likely you have simply built associations between the foul stench and some good times of your life. You for you stench=good times. Hey, with that, you might consider a career as a garbage man...it would be heaven for you. Ha ha...just kidding, but seriously I bet it has to do with the associations.

KMRUNOUT
 
Smoke in a pool hall? Try working working in a bowling alley on league night! Pee-uuuu!

Smoking in Colorado has been banned for awhile and playing in the pool hall is so refreshing now. When it first started, some rooms created smoking rooms which they were allowed to. Some pool halls tried to be sneaky about it (Quinn's on the Hill in Boulder) but I believe fines eventually caught up to them. I haven't seen any smoking rooms for awhile so maybe they are not allowed any longer in Colorado? It's pretty much go outside and some of the smarter bars will setup a nice patio area with heat lamps for the cold months.

Whether smokers like it or not, whether it's right or wrong, whether it hurts business or not, it's how our culture is changing and I don't think it's going to reverse itself since it is a major health issue. There's always that initial threat that smokers will stop going to bars, but like the human race normally does to adverse situations, we learn to adjust & adapt. Maybe some businesses are affected in the beginning but the smokers will come back around to the same local haunts and continue spending their money.

Personally, I like the change. It's nice to breathe and I'm hoping the roll of the dice determining my fate doesn't involve lung cancer. However, I also don't like seeing people's rights taken away. I think every bar should somehow accommodate for the smoking crowd since drinking and smoking and bars go hand in hand.

The thing I dislike the most about smoking bans are the ones who are so addicted that they have to delay a pool match in the middle to go outside for a quick drag. I've seen plenty of tournaments extended due to players not being courteous to their opponent so they can get their addiction on.
 
Big Perm said:
Sure, here are my thoughts....

I don't like smoke in a pool hall.....I don't like to smell like smoke....it bothers my eyes after a while.....I prefer not to play where there is smoking......I do enjoy an occasional cigar, but typically that is outdoors on my patio or someone elses, enjoying a cigar with friends...

With that being said, I am 100% against a smoking ban.....it should be the business owner's decision to allow or disallow smoking....people can vote with their $$$ - ie, they can take their business to a place that supports their habit....

Someone made a comment earlier regarding a business' customer base.....the truth is, many of the staunch supporters in communities, rallying against smoking in town halls and press conferences, are not bar or pool hall customers......

Cheesefries are incredibly unhealthy - if you had a restaurant and many people like to enjoy the fries, would you support a ban?
Liquor, beer, and wine in quantity are dangerous and unhealthy - maybe the govt should regulate bars where every patron is only allowed 2 drinks?
TV has been proven to be fairly unhealthy - should .gov set up a blocker on your TV where you can only watch 3 hours a day?
Govt healthcare is on the way - maybe they should force everyone to exercise at least 1 hour a day....I mean, it's healthy and better for us, right???
Al Gore told me cars hurt us all - why don't we ban cars??? We can just be college hippies and bike everywhere....

It's getting to the point in society where people expect the law and government to tell us what to do......why don't we just manage ourselves??? Don't like smoking, don't go there.....

A few years back, visited a buddy in South Carolina and we went to dinner.....in a restaurant, like half the people were smoking, LOL.....I didn't like it, but he smoked and it was one meal......I could have told him I wished to go somewhere else, or even just picked up some food to cook at home and voted with my $$$'s......

Instead of banning something everytime someone doesn't like something, how about they just not like it......plenty of crap offends me, but I don't go on protest every day.....I get offended by people that get easily offended, but I don't ban them - I just avoid them :D

It's a slippery slope.....
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Here is the other side to your position:

We *as a society* want to improve. We want to have a successful, productive society. Some of us do anyway. There are many things that we have collectively determined are not good for our society. Murder, smoking crack, rape, etc. Part of being in a society, by definition, is *giving up your rights*. ALL societies with law restrict our personal freedom to some extent. There WILL be times when you personally don't agree with a particular restriction, and feel it is limiting personal freedom. It is. No argument there. The problem is that there are simply not that many smart capable people, and a whole lot of selfish, stupid, and ignorant people. The closer we get to total freedom, the more the will of the least common denominator prevails. If we take our society seriously, just letting people do whatever foolish things they want is not necessarily the best approach to building a golden age.

So just like a pool team, people need to decide what the goals are. If we as a society are out to win, to do well, to play our best...should we really be moaning over a smoking ban, which so obviously is designed against smoking, an activity which is obviously bad for us? On the other hand, maybe we as society are just out for a good time, have a few drinks, don't need to try to hard..."hell, we're all gonna die anyway right?"...if that is our attitude, then yes, we should cling hard to our rights to destroy ourselves.

So your question was "why don't we just manage ourselves?" Well, I wish I knew...but we clearly don't. Instead we act selfishly and inconsiderately, and then argue that it is our right to do so. "You don't like it, leave." If that attitude is "managing ourselves", I hope that the apocalypse comes soon. Time for something new.

KMRUNOUT
 
Addendum: Usually a very small percentage of those complainers often create a bigger problem than the problem they complain about....creating MORE laws! (the tail wagging the dog!)

A larger percentage of pool players are smokers than even smokers in bars! N.C. started the no smoking in pool halls/bars a year ago and it is being contested in the NC courts. I am not a smoker, but I believe a person has the right to smoke (IF the proprietor allows it). The BIG problem with pool and smokers is the player having to go outside to smoke. It takes time away from the player being at the table when he is supposes to be playing pool. The league nights have gotten at least a 1/2 hour longer due to this problem.
F.Y.I.
 
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Big Perm said:
Sure, here are my thoughts....

I don't like smoke in a pool hall.....I don't like to smell like smoke....it bothers my eyes after a while.....I prefer not to play where there is smoking......I do enjoy an occasional cigar, but typically that is outdoors on my patio or someone elses, enjoying a cigar with friends...

With that being said, I am 100% against a smoking ban.....it should be the business owner's decision to allow or disallow smoking....people can vote with their $$$ - ie, they can take their business to a place that supports their habit....

Someone made a comment earlier regarding a business' customer base.....the truth is, many of the staunch supporters in communities, rallying against smoking in town halls and press conferences, are not bar or pool hall customers......

Cheesefries are incredibly unhealthy - if you had a restaurant and many people like to enjoy the fries, would you support a ban?
Liquor, beer, and wine in quantity are dangerous and unhealthy - maybe the govt should regulate bars where every patron is only allowed 2 drinks?
TV has been proven to be fairly unhealthy - should .gov set up a blocker on your TV where you can only watch 3 hours a day?
Govt healthcare is on the way - maybe they should force everyone to exercise at least 1 hour a day....I mean, it's healthy and better for us, right???
Al Gore told me cars hurt us all - why don't we ban cars??? We can just be college hippies and bike everywhere....

It's getting to the point in society where people expect the law and government to tell us what to do......why don't we just manage ourselves??? Don't like smoking, don't go there.....

A few years back, visited a buddy in South Carolina and we went to dinner.....in a restaurant, like half the people were smoking, LOL.....I didn't like it, but he smoked and it was one meal......I could have told him I wished to go somewhere else, or even just picked up some food to cook at home and voted with my $$$'s......

Instead of banning something everytime someone doesn't like something, how about they just not like it......plenty of crap offends me, but I don't go on protest every day.....I get offended by people that get easily offended, but I don't ban them - I just avoid them :D

It's a slippery slope.....
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I don't agree with a "Cheesefries ban" either, but if someone eats cheesefries, they are the only ones that get the taste and the calories/grease/and any other bad health effects from it. It is not the same with cigarettes. If someone smokes, I get the smell and bad health effects from it even though I am not the one smoking it. If I got the bad calories and clogged arteries from every bit of bad food that someone else around me eats, then I may not want to sit around people eating bad food either. You just can't compare bad food to cigarettes. I have to smell it and breath it in and get it all over my clothes from smokers. I actually think dipping tobacco is gross, but at least I don't get the bad health from hanging around someone that does that. As long as they throw their spit cups away and don't get the stuff everywhere, I think that is way better to be around. It is much easier to compare dipping to bad food instead of cigarettes, but I just don't think you have a valid argument with the bad food comparison. Once I start gaining weight from every person that eats some cheese fries or a bacon double cheese burger near me, then maybe your argument would hold up.
 
Yes

billiardchick7 said:
I don't agree with a "Cheesefries ban" either, but if someone eats cheesefries, they are the only ones that get the taste and the calories/grease/and any other bad health effects from it. It is not the same with cigarettes. If someone smokes, I get the smell and bad health effects from it even though I am not the one smoking it. If I got the bad calories and clogged arteries from every bit of bad food that someone else around me eats, then I may not want to sit around people eating bad food either. You just can't compare bad food to cigarettes. I have to smell it and breath it in and get it all over my clothes from smokers. I actually think dipping tobacco is gross, but at least I don't get the bad health from hanging around someone that does that. As long as they throw their spit cups away and don't get the stuff everywhere, I think that is way better to be around. It is much easier to compare dipping to bad food instead of cigarettes, but I just don't think you have a valid argument with the bad food comparison. Once I start gaining weight from every person that eats some cheese fries or a bacon double cheese burger near me, then maybe your argument would hold up.
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I totally agree with you. I wish that all the rooms would ban smoking.
One of the rooms in the Dallas/Ft Worth area made it a "private club" to keep smoking. Many of my league matches play out of it. So, i have to go on league nights, otherwise I would never go there.
 
14-1StraightMan said:
I totally agree with you. I wish that all the rooms would ban smoking.
One of the rooms in the Dallas/Ft Worth area made it a "private club" to keep smoking. Many of my league matches play out of it. So, i have to go on league nights, otherwise I would never go there.
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it is real simple if your quest is for a tobacco free room.you just go and open one up.there is no laws to stop a person from opening up a tobacco free room.then you can get all your league play in your room.their are a lot of people on this board that talk love of pool and no smoking.are they going out and building new poolrooms.NO! when a room gets closed they drift to the next one and bring the same complaints with them.the non smokers need to quit complaining and get building.let them old smoke joints die out.

bill
 
I just wonder what will be the next "killing pool" controversy after the "non-smoking" laws. Most the USA is non-smoking already and the few holdout states will not be that way for long. 5 years perhaps? I personally think rent and wages have killed more pool halls than everything else combined but I don't see a lot of threads about it. Always fun to read these threads tho. :smile:
 
cueandcushion said:
I just wonder what will be the next "killing pool" controversy after the "non-smoking" laws. Most the USA is non-smoking already and the few holdout states will not be that way for long. 5 years perhaps? I personally think rent and wages have killed more pool halls than everything else combined but I don't see a lot of threads about it. Always fun to read these threads tho. :smile:
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rent is the big one.fire laws and insurance hurt too.they will start beating on the gambling and tournaments next.if you have a prize reward that is not a trophy,it will be a target.winning a trip to vegas from your league will be considered a cash reward.state and local gov are running out of money.they will start looking for places to hand out some form of a citation.

bill
 
Smoking

vasilios said:
it is real simple if your quest is for a tobacco free room.you just go and open one up.there is no laws to stop a person from opening up a tobacco free room.then you can get all your league play in your room.their are a lot of people on this board that talk love of pool and no smoking.are they going out and building new poolrooms.NO! when a room gets closed they drift to the next one and bring the same complaints with them.the non smokers need to quit complaining and get building.let them old smoke joints die out.

bill
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Bill:
Your point is weak. All other rooms down here are non-smoking and their businesses are doing fine. That is the only room that made itself a private club. That is fine with me and I accept it, that is why I continue to play in the leagues. Because, I do Love playing pool. I just wish it was a non smoking place b/c of all the reasons that people have listed on this Thread: health, smell etc.
It is very easy to say go open a room up yourself. Many of us chose different paths in Life all leading to different careers. Most people have hobbies and want to enjoy themselves while participating in what ever they chose and do not want smoke to be in their faces.
 
14-1StraightMan said:
Bill:
Your point is weak. All other rooms down here are non-smoking and their businesses are doing fine. That is the only room that made itself a private club. That is fine with me and I accept it, that is why I continue to play in the leagues. Because, I do Love playing pool. I just wish it was a non smoking place b/c of all the reasons that people have listed on this Thread: health, smell etc.
It is very easy to say go open a room up yourself. Many of us chose different paths in Life all leading to different careers. Most people have hobbies and want to enjoy themselves while participating in what ever they chose and do not want smoke to be in their faces.
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I understand your opinion and your position and i respect it.the point that i was trying to make is that their are many more non smokers than smokers.you would think that in the last thirty years their would be 10 non smoking rooms built for every smoking room.but this has not happened.in your area you mention many rooms are now smoke free.how many were new rooms opened after the ban.don't include a room that was reopened in the same spot.

bill
 
Smoking

vasilios said:
I understand your opinion and your position and i respect it.the point that i was trying to make is that their are many more non smokers than smokers.you would think that in the last thirty years their would be 10 non smoking rooms built for every smoking room.but this has not happened.in your area you mention many rooms are now smoke free.how many were new rooms opened after the ban.don't include a room that was reopened in the same spot.

bill
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Bill:
All the rooms are the same old sports bars that have been here for years & years. There are no "Real Pool Rooms" in the DFW area.
I am envious of when I see photos of great looking pool rooms that get posted here on AZ from around the Country. We have "Bars with poor pool tables" down here.
Getting back to the topic. All those rooms have adjusted well and it is so much more enjoyable to play in those places. Speaking for myself.
I don't think there has been any new ones but again. I do not go around to other places and I only play in the BCA league down here.
I do most of my playing at home.
 
KMRUNOUT said:
Here is the other side to your position:
We *as a society* want to improve. We want to have a successful, productive society. Some of us do anyway. There are many things that we have collectively determined are not good for our society. Murder, smoking crack, rape, etc. Part of being in a society, by definition, is *giving up your rights*. ALL societies with law restrict our personal freedom to some extent. There WILL be times when you personally don't agree with a particular restriction, and feel it is limiting personal freedom. It is. No argument there. The problem is that there are simply not that many smart capable people, and a whole lot of selfish, stupid, and ignorant people. The closer we get to total freedom, the more the will of the least common denominator prevails. If we take our society seriously, just letting people do whatever foolish things they want is not necessarily the best approach to building a golden age.
KMRUNOUT
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KM,

Kudos to you, I feel your passion. Ultimately, I'm with you regarding us improving as a society. Personally, I'd rather give my business to pool halls, bars, and restaurants that don't allow smoking. Even with the rare cigars I enjoy, I still don't like the way I smell afterward, and neither does my wife :D

With that being said, I don't like the ban approach. IMHO, we, as a society, are going backwards because of the government. We count on the law and government to tell us how to act and what is approrpriate instead of relying on ourselves. Additionally, the government (ie, responsible taxpayers) subsidize the mistakes of the irresponsible - they aren't forced to learn lessons because they can just claim hardship and we hand them money. Instead, we need to remove safety net programs so people will think before they act, ultimately improving decision making and improving as an individual.

When these threads show up, 2/3 of the posters claim they have the high ground, they are 100% right, and anyone that doesn't agree is an idiot. They praise the govt and areas for bans, claiming that it's healthy and for the good of all people. That smokers are just a bunch of selfish a-holes who could care less for anyone or anything. Well, I have quite a few friends on this board who smoke and many of them are the nicest, most caring people you could ever meet. They are considerate about smoking and do their best to manage thier smoke stack :D

But just banning something because it is unhealthy is a very slippery slope.....there are so many things that we do, whether daily or on the weekends, that are risky and unhealthy....whether it's people that drink a little much now and then, or eating too much, or risky sports, or whatever.....and people only associate smoke as having an impact on them, but that is short sided.....alcoholics cause accidents, people with poor eating choices drive up the car of health costs.....hell, I love big people......I have friends and family that are hefty, and I love them, but I don't want to sit between two bigguns on a 5 hour flight from San Diego to Atlanta (actual occurence, worst flight I've ever been on).....bad decisions often impact other people, whether it increases costs, or destroys families and friends.....there is no bad decision that ever effects just one person....

We need people to do the right thing on their own.....we tell them what to do, and they become sheep, they stop thinking for themselves and ultimately become more dependent....

Again, I don't like smoking and prefer to go where it's nonsmoking, but I don't like telling a business owner how to run their business.....we make people smarter by making them decide, not by telling them what to do.....

To the OP, sorry if I derailed your post man......don't like smoking, but also don't like smoking bans, and when pool comes up, this is always a hot topic :D
 
What about pool?

There are many people that think that pool halls are bad for society.....that we should ban pool halls because it brings a bad element.....what if they did a study on it's impact on your back and starting shoving legislation to outlaw pool due to it's longterm effects on the back.....ie, costs on healthcare and negative impact on the health, as well as the drug trade it attracks :D

Just saying.....somebody might decide our beloved sport is unhealthy and try to ban us.....you might think it's a stretch, but there are many well-to-do people in high circles that see pool as a breeding ground for crime and drugs....
 
14-1

maybe it is time you and some of your friends ban together and do a room.show those other joints how it should be done.set the standard for what the modern room should be.centralize the pool action and do in house leagues.good pool rooms need good leaders.

bill
 
Hmmmm

Big Perm said:
What about pool?

There are many people that think that pool halls are bad for society.....that we should ban pool halls because it brings a bad element.....what if they did a study on it's impact on your back and starting shoving legislation to outlaw pool due to it's longterm effects on the back.....ie, costs on healthcare and negative impact on the health, as well as the drug trade it attracks :D

Just saying.....somebody might decide our beloved sport is unhealthy and try to ban us.....you might think it's a stretch, but there are many well-to-do people in high circles that see pool as a breeding ground for crime and drugs....
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It's just a weak argument. Smoking is a health hazard, just like they banned asbestos. Where oh where are the asbestos folks saying that should never have been banned because that will just lead to other stuff being banned.

If we had enough folks with enough common sense in this country, we could live without laws and regulations. Man, they banned child labor in this country, yet, could not that lead to banning ME from working too, I mean it is a slippery slope??

But we have more incompetent folks that competent, and that is why there are seat belt laws because parents would NOT even bother to belt their own kids, so we had to make it a law. Think about that....the parents would not take the 3 seconds to save the kid from flying through a windshield...... That's one example out of thousands I could use.

How do you protect a worker from breathing in 2nd hand smoke. Obviously, the owner is not too worried about it. Just like in the day of installing asbestos and other dangerous stuff, until someone told them you cannot do that anymore and you must protect the health and safety of your workers. They would (many of them, not all) not do it unless they were told to.
 
Hmmm

Big Perm said:
Yes, there are legal businesses that offer:
prostitution
poker machines
hit men to dine
abortions
weed
sell materials to make bombs/explosives

....
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Really, the pool room owner in Chicago can have prostitution in his place of business? NOPE. Can perform abortions in the back room of the pool room? NOPE. Sell weed in the pool room? NOPE Sell bomb making materials, including plutonium? NOPE. Poker machines? NOPE
Why can't the pool owners do any of it. Heck, some hooker giving a guy a blow job has no affect on me in the pool room, but smoking sure does.

The framers of the constituion were more conservative that you or I even, and they started this country with, yes, rules. THere is no big consipiracy that if they take smoking out of pool rooms, that in another 20 years, they can find a way to elimante barboxes?? they just are not that smart, nor do they even think that far ahead.
 
Until recently, I was unaware of any nonsmoking pool rooms in OKC.

Not too long ago I wandered into AAA billiards to get some cue work done, and found out that they are non-smoking.

My "usual" room is Chester's, and it is a good place. Decent, affordable food, beer, and pool. I like the folk at Chester's. It is closer, has better hours, and has really good greasy burgers -- but it reeks of smoke. Over the years, my smoke tolerance has really dwindled. I avoid smokey bars, and only frequented smokey pool halls because I thought there were no other choices.

I still go to Chester's, but mainly when AAA isn't open or when I want a beer and burger.

I estimate that I'm spending at least 70% of my pool time (and $$$) at AAA. Considering they close fairly early, that is saying something. One good/bad thing about AAA - there is almost always a golf game going on, which isn't doing much for my sanity.

bes
 
ChicagoRJ said:
Really, the pool room owner in Chicago can have prostitution in his place of business? NOPE. Can perform abortions in the back room of the pool room? NOPE. Sell weed in the pool room? NOPE Sell bomb making materials, including plutonium? NOPE. Poker machines? NOPE
Why can't the pool owners do any of it. Heck, some hooker giving a guy a blow job has no affect on me in the pool room, but smoking sure does.

The framers of the constituion were more conservative that you or I even, and they started this country with, yes, rules. THere is no big consipiracy that if they take smoking out of pool rooms, that in another 20 years, they can find a way to elimante barboxes?? they just are not that smart, nor do they even think that far ahead.
Click to expand...

Yes, that is exactly what I was saying.....we should sell explosives, abortions, and prostitutes out of pool halls....maybe offer them in vending machines......your reading comprehension is so more advanced than mine....

My conclusions were so wrong, you've dominated me with your superior intellect.....I give up....

Ban away :rolleyes:
 
Smoking in pool rooms

dukeboy1977 said:
I'm sure there are others who feel that smoking doesn't have to be a part of playing pool, so feel free to chime in please! I went to the pool room last night for some photos and stayed about 1 1/2 hours. I haven't played in over 5 months so it was kind of nerve-racking the whole time, needless to say my fiance' asked me to shower right after I got home! I was going to anyways cause' I REALLY stunk!! I couldn't believe how bad it smelled after I'd been away for a while. It made me realize just how nice it is not going through that on a nightly basis anymore! Weren't they supposed to have to stop allowing it? Are there any legit places that don't allow it to be? It was like everyone in there was chain-smoking! lol I was going to stay for a while cause' a well known, very strong player was supposed to be coming but I could stand it no longer. Seeing him play would have made for some awesome photos for my 'sports portfolio', but I'll do without if I'm going to have to endure that to get them. YUK!

any thoughts?
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We've been no smoking (and no alcohol) for 22 years, and I think we were one of the first no smoking rooms in the country in 1988. That was before any smoking bans, so it was by choice. I just didn't want to spend 12 hours a day breathing second hand smoke. The non smokers obviously appreicate the lack of smoke, the place stays much cleaner, and the smokers adjust to stepping outside for a smoke. As long as it's the same for everyone I think people will adjust. In a couple instances-Gesham/Portland, and Phoenix/Mesa are examples- one city went no smoking and the other didn't. That was a killer for the room that had to go smokeless, while a room a couple miles away didn't. After all these years, I'm glad we did it the way we did. That being said, though, I realize that if there had been another room in town that allowed smoking it probably wouldn't have worked.
 
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