How much is pool time at your neck of the woods?

When I started to play, we gave the racking boy $0.10 per game, and it cost us about $0.75 an hour; minimum wage was something like $1.65/hr.
 
MitchAlsup said:
When I started to play, we gave the racking boy $0.10 per game, and it cost us about $0.75 an hour; minimum wage was something like $1.65/hr.
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Same here. Russell’s in Belle Glade FL (closed almost 30 years ago) was a dime for 9 ball and beer was $.45!!! Great place to learn the game as he wasn’t busy in the PM till about 7:00 PM. Even had hustlers stop in on the way to Miami. One showed up just before Thanksgiving in 1968. Said he would play 9 ball with anyone for $100 per game. Had his 6’8” goon with him just in case. Russell played him even till 4 AM; Russell ran the bar and had not played all day. Had Russell practiced some, might have been a different outcome.
 
ShootingHank said:
One place is $16/hour up to 4 players.

Another is $16/hour each. Must get another table if 2 or more players. It could be the pandemic but pool has exceeded minimum wage years ago. I use to play for $5/hour.

Sadly, pool has become a luxury here just like bowling. An evening of bowling, drinks and food for two is over $100.

A 3 hour session of pool and beers cost me near $100 with a friend.

Rich man's game. Have to buy equipment to play if you don't already have your rig. It's becoming like golf. Heck, it's more expensive than golfing.
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My local pool hall cost $5 an hour, but that was over 10 years ago when it closed. Now it's 75 cents to $1.50 per game in quarters. I play at my house or my buddies shop, the only cost there is drinks and whatever it costs my pride to lose all the time! 🤣

League is like $5 a night which gets you 5 games that takes you 5 hours to play with all the waiting. I'd much rather play on personal tables.
 
philly said:
Five buck an hour at my local room.
Ten bucks from 10am to 2pm six days a week.
Sunday 10 bucks from 9am to 2pm.
They do not serve alcohol but do serve food.
Don't play much in the evenings anymore so this just suits me fine except tonight.
Feel like playing in the 9 ball tournament.
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Where's the room at? Name?
 
Howdy All;

Over in Alamogordo, NM at Mission Billiards http://www.hunterclassics.com/cues/room/missionbilliards.html
Nice that the owner is married to Wes Hunter of Hunter Classic Cues. They also sell tables and do the installs as well.

Half the distance from me is The Olhausen store in Las Cruces, NM. They sell the tables but also have Jerry O's about
6 or 8 tables for about $3.00/hr.

Neither has a bar, both are Non-smoking both have N/A drinks available and snacks as well.

hank
 
chefjeff said:
It's harder when, like this past week, we waited for 2 hours to get a waitress to ask us for a drink.

2 hours.


Jeff Livingston
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Big Dog's in Des Moines is a real treasure. As Jeff pointed out, $10 to play all day on immaculate blue label Diamonds. They even have a 10' Bigfoot as well as a heated Søren Søgaard 3-cushion table. Jeff's right about the service, though. There's no dedicated employee working the pool counter and it's not uncommon to wait half an hour before getting the barkeeper's attention so you can get a tray of balls.

There are a few other places with great day rates like Big Dog's.

Shooters in Olathe is $7 to play all day between 11 AM and 6 PM.

Bill's in OKC is also $10 during the day and is a top notch action room. I think they also have a monthly rate of $100 for regulars.

Cue & Cushion in Saint Louis used to be $20 all day but you have to "call your shot" by requesting the day rate in advance. Main Street Billiards in Mesa, Arizona, had a similar policy and was around $16 during the day if I remember correctly.

Beezers in Russellville, Arkansas, used to have a really fantastic deal at $35 a week.

In the Chicago area, Red Shoes Billiards in Alsip has a $10 day rate between 11 AM and 6 PM as well according to their Facebook page.

Lots of times these deals aren't publicized much and you need to specifically ask whether there's a discounted rate for regulars.

I appreciate the few rooms that understand serious players practice a lot and caters to them in some way. Just try not to be the stereotypical cheapskate pool player who hangs out without buying any food or drinks so these places can stay in business. Tipping the staff can also go a long ways and often works to your benefit in the long run.

Somebody already mentioned Pockets in Tucson, but that's one place where the food is worth going there even if you don't play pool.
 
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philly said:
Markley's Billiards.
Norristown, Pa.
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Ah, I forgot about Markleys. Are they taking care of the place? My brother owned Mainline Billiards in Frazer for a couple of years until he passed. There was a connection between the two. Partners in Markleys had falling out; some of the equipment was used to start Mainline. The one room close to me in not in good condition; haven't been inside in a couple of years and it's less than a mile away. I'm lucky to have a Vets club that has to oversize eight tables or I'd be shooting on seven footers exclusively.
 
Southwest Florida is $10/hour but free pool until 7pm (Diamond Tables)
We have another place that is free pool if you play on leagues.
I use leagues for my practice, they usually provide a free practice table(s), and jump into tournaments on the weekends. And almost all my teams have credit from the end of session tournament winnings, so most of the time we dont even have to pay for dues

I can usually play for free all week minus tournament entry fees and league dues which arent so bad.
 
Tom1234 said:
Same here. Russell’s in Belle Glade FL (closed almost 30 years ago) was a dime for 9 ball and beer was $.45!!! Great place to learn the game as he wasn’t busy in the PM till about 7:00 PM. Even had hustlers stop in on the way to Miami. One showed up just before Thanksgiving in 1968. Said he would play 9 ball with anyone for $100 per game. Had his 6’8” goon with him just in case. Russell played him even till 4 AM; Russell ran the bar and had not played all day. Had Russell practiced some, might have been a different outcome.
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I talked to an old timer shooter here in Florida and he used to own a room in Ft Myers. I have never heard about paying per game. He told me 9 ball and 8 ball were different prices. That was all new to me.....
 
Felt in Englewood Colorado (suburb of Denver) it's $3.50 hour to play on the 9 foot Diamonds 10 AM to 4 PM.
I play on Saturday from 10 to 3 eat lunch leave a $3 tip and my total is about $26 or so.
 
In my neck of the woods, it really feels like the product has been devalued over the years. In the mid 90s, halls were packed Thu-Fri-Sat nights. Room with 26 tables would have a waiting list every one of those nights. Pool was a touch over $10/hour back then - no deals or discounts. Lots of the traffic was couples on dates and very casual players, but also more serious players as well. Either way, by 10PM the 3 main pool halls in the city all had waiting lists for tables.

Just myself - I wasn't earning close to what I am today, and I had no problem going with a friend and splitting the $60-$80 pool tab at the end of the night.

Today? I earn exponentially more than I did then, and I can't imagine paying even close to that much just for pool. Over the last few years most places have started offering all you can play deals, and honestly other than exceptional circumstances, I won't pay for anything other than the deals on offer.
 
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I got 10 GC4's to play on at $4.00/hr til 6(per person) and $10/hr(per table) from 6-til-close.
 
claymont said:
Ah, I forgot about Markleys. Are they taking care of the place? My brother owned Mainline Billiards in Frazer for a couple of years until he passed. There was a connection between the two. Partners in Markleys had falling out; some of the equipment was used to start Mainline. The one room close to me in not in good condition; haven't been inside in a couple of years and it's less than a mile away. I'm lucky to have a Vets club that has to oversize eight tables or I'd be shooting on seven footers exclusively.
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Markley's is Markley's.
They redid the tables a few months before Covid.
The tables play great and a pretty friendly group of guys.
 
Iron City Billiards in Birmingham Alabama
About 25 - 7' Diamonds - $5 all day till closing
About 10 - 9' Diamonds - $10 all day till closing
Great venue and well-maintained.
AAA+
Poppa G's is just as good but smaller. Prices are close, couple bucks higher.
 
In my neck of the woods pool time can sometimes cost you a marriage and alimony. Pretty expensive.
 
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time is related to their costs and what the market will bear.

however the poolrooms run by poor business people or those that run a pool room as they did in 1970 or so wont make it as time has passed them by as well.
 
Not quite the same but in our retirement association I pay $500 per year to use all the facilities. We have three rooms, almost all Diamonds
and 1 snooker table. I play ever day about 3 hours, haven't done the numbers but cost per hour can't be much. If we didn't have this I would have to go to Tucson and play at Pockets. Don't think I would be doing that more than a couple of times a month.
 
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