Golden Fleece rumor

I see your point but playing on 9ft is not just about walking a lil more. The lion's share of players in the US are never going to play much on big boxes. When you combine league pool and the number of bb events it just adds up to not a lot of 9ft pool. There are a LOT of players in my general area(Ok,ks,Tx,Mo,Ark) and i'd say 90+% all play only on little tables. There's no money to be made on them, league or tournament. Only 1p gets played on them and not much of that.
it was a joke ... conveyor belts ect...


it more about the game is just much more simpler on a smaller table
 
it was a joke ... conveyor belts ect...


it more about the game is just much more simpler on a smaller table
I know, i got it. To me it all boils to one thing: time. People can learn to play decently pretty fast on a bb. 9ft takes a pretty big time/effort investment that most just don't want to go for. Plus all league/tourn. play is on the bb. Can't blame them for staying where they have some success.
 
so in simple terms what do you pay to use this club per month. as opposed to the poolrooms which i see many have a 100 dollar or so a month fee for unlimited use.

not comparing benefits but just price per month to play.
anyone??
This is the one in NY I think the monthly fee is something like $300
 
This is the one in NY I think the monthly fee is something like $300
At NY rents i'm surprised its not higher. In the right locale with a decent # of members you could probably run one at 100-150/mo per member. I haven't run #'s on one so that's just a WAG. I do think that for bigtable pool these types of clubs may be the future. Regular business want to make money fast and that generally leads to a lot of bb's.
 
simple fact is they pay the bills in almost every spot. place i play has 13 big tables and they're only busy on fri/sat night. only reason they get used then is they don't have enough bb's. the more serious players play mostly during the day. maybe half of the bigs get used by better players during the day. they could take out every big table and it wouldn't cost them a quarter, they'd probably make more money. sad but true. VERY few actual big table lovers around here.

328 people are playing in the 9ball tournament in Olathe this weekend (on Shooters barboxes). It’s hard to argue with those numbers.
 
I was just in Philly for work and went to Markley Billiards. In the afternoon five 9’ tables were being played on and one BB. In the evening when the 9 ball tournament was taking place was the only time the bb were going

In Spokane and Couer d Alene the one 9’ table doesn’t get used much
 
328 people are playing in the 9ball tournament in Olathe this weekend (on Shooters barboxes). It’s hard to argue with those numbers.
last i heard it was 260 in the 9b and 68 in the 1p. they haven't had one since covid so the 9b # is bigger than usual. this event usually draws 64ish in the 1p and 128+ in the 9b. i couldn't make it, great place/great event all around.
 
I was just in Philly for work and went to Markley Billiards. In the afternoon five 9’ tables were being played on and one BB. In the evening when the 9 ball tournament was taking place was the only time the bb were going

In Spokane and Couer d Alene the one 9’ table doesn’t get used much
At Magoo's the only people that play 9fts during day are older/retired. About half are used during day. Night crowd only uses them because they run out of bb's. Only tourn. they use them for is the occasional, rare is more like it, 1p tourn. They've tried having 8b/9b events on them but the turnout is maybe 1/4 what the bb's draw. I love it, i never have problem getting a table. ;)
 
Pool, on the bb, is very popular in the the Midwest US but other than 1p next to nobody plays on 9fts. They don't have the time/desire to put in what it takes to play 9fts. Simple as that.

simple fact is they pay the bills in almost every spot.

Completely agree with both of these thoughts. I am in the Midwest and lucky enough to play out of a club with 9-footers and BB’s. I have an 8’ at home. Other than my sparring partner and me playing 8/9/10, the only thing played on 9’ is 1-pkt, including at the club. Those in the bars that venture onto the 9’ tables are usually oblivious to the difference in table size.

If leagues only played on 9’ tables, they would die a quick death. Even with 4.75” pockets, they are more than the average league player is willing to learn on.


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I was just in Philly for work and went to Markley Billiards. In the afternoon five 9’ tables were being played on and one BB. In the evening when the 9 ball tournament was taking place was the only time the bb were going

In Spokane and Couer d Alene the one 9’ table doesn’t get used much
How did you like Markley’s?
 
Although it is just part of the explanation, and may have no pertinence to the Gloden Fleece poolroom, the growing trend of tightening the equipment in the pool halls has continued to make the nine-footer less fun for the causal player.

Room owners who think it wise to keep moving to tighter and tighter equipment just do not get it. In America, recreational pool will gradually move back to the bars unless room owners get wise to this minor, but growing problem.
 
I was just in Philly for work and went to Markley Billiards. In the afternoon five 9’ tables were being played on and one BB. In the evening when the 9 ball tournament was taking place was the only time the bb were going

In Spokane and Couer d Alene the one 9’ table doesn’t get used much
Are you still here? I just got to Philly, I mostly play out of Markley now (its one of the few left).
 
Although it is just part of the explanation, and may have no pertinence to the Gloden Fleece poolroom, the growing trend of tightening the equipment in the pool halls has continued to make the nine-footer less fun for the causal player.

Room owners who think it wise to keep moving to tighter and tighter equipment just do not get it. In America, recreational pool will gradually move back to the bars unless room owners get wise to this minor, but growing problem.

In the next few decades there is going to be a major demographic and cultural shift in this country. I am hoping that America becomes more like Europe and trades its clique culture for club culture. If so Americans will feel more comfortable spending time focusing on developing skills without the demand for immediately visible progress which we call “fun”. Fun should be the process of learning. A lot of Americans are learning adverse for many reasons.
 
Although it is just part of the explanation, and may have no pertinence to the Gloden Fleece poolroom, the growing trend of tightening the equipment in the pool halls has continued to make the nine-footer less fun for the causal player.

Room owners who think it wise to keep moving to tighter and tighter equipment just do not get it. In America, recreational pool will gradually move back to the bars unless room owners get wise to this minor, but growing problem.
Agree 100%. At Magoos they have 6 of 10 GC's at 4.25 and 4 at 4.5. ALL are too tight for casual play. What they need is two snug ones and open the rest to at least 4.5 if not bigger. I've watched people come in and literally NOT make a ball for 20min. Result?? They switch to the barbox. Happens EVERY day.
 
lets see in decades past pool rooms had full tables playing with 5 inch pockets on those old brunswick tables.
it was lots of fun until you were able to run 50 or more balls consistantly. then some thought it was too easy. but only a few in a pool room could run 50 balls.

but the bad players always were ready to match up as even when they lost they were not exasperated.
and the good players hardly ever spent a dime in the place unless they had a lock.

so now they make the tables so tight only a really good player can run more than a couple balls. just because the touring pros complain its too easy.

except in a few cases pool room owners and bar owners are not the best business people. and few will look for help with their troubles.
 
lets see in decades past pool rooms had full tables playing with 5 inch pockets on those old brunswick tables.
it was lots of fun until you were able to run 50 or more balls consistantly. then some thought it was too easy. but only a few in a pool room could run 50 balls.

but the bad players always were ready to match up as even when they lost they were not exasperated.
and the good players hardly ever spent a dime in the place unless they had a lock.

so now they make the tables so tight only a really good player can run more than a couple balls. just because the touring pros complain its too easy.

except in a few cases pool room owners and bar owners are not the best business people. and few will look for help with their troubles.
This is the key point. 9 foot tables nowadays set up by the tight pocket brigade are all but unplayable for casual players. And anyone is surprised they choose the bar box instead?
 
I just looked at their page. Doesn't look like a proper pool hall. Strobe lights, dancing, live music, etc. Might as well remove all the tables
 
Agree 100%. At Magoos they have 6 of 10 GC's at 4.25 and 4 at 4.5. ALL are too tight for casual play. What they need is two snug ones and open the rest to at least 4.5 if not bigger. I've watched people come in and literally NOT make a ball for 20min. Result?? They switch to the barbox. Happens EVERY day.
My opinion is that anyone lower than Fargo 500 should be playing on 5" pockets.
 
Europe also does not have any culture/history with the small table. All they play on is 9fts. I just don't think you'll ever see the US producing world-class big table players in the future. Pool, on the bb, is very popular in the the Midwest US but other than 1p next to nobody plays on 9fts. They don't have the time/desire to put in what it takes to play 9fts. Simple as that. A good example is the bb event going on now in Olathe: 260 players, NO Fargo. Its about 100 over the usual due to the fact they haven't done one since covid but this event always has big turnouts. If it was on 9ft they MIGHT get 64 but i doubt it.

Well..., I dont think your wrong, but I would say that all of the top players in the USA have access to whatever equipment thet want to play on and many of them dont work or have flexible schedules, so is it the table size that limits the number of top talent or could it be effort and discipline?
 
Well at Felt in Colorado the 7 and 9 foot tables get along just fine.
Felt is a big room and there is a wide entrance area that separates the 7 and 9 foot sides of the room(there 3 9 footers mixed in with the 7 foot tables)
I haven't counted the 7 footers a awhile but i think there are 20 (?) of them and 11 9 foot tables.
Oh and a 10 foot snooker table.
 
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