For some bars, sure. Especially if there isn't a pool hall nearby. There are a few bars around the Austin area that have several bar boxes and hold tournaments and such. Table quality varies but none have Diamonds as far as I am aware.
One follow up to all of this. Be careful about purchasing / renting / leasing Global bar tables. I've been told by two different reliable installers that getting new rails for them involve taking the rail assemblies off and shipping back to (one of) the rail manufacturers to fit them as they are different than Valley tables. Have never done this so am no sure 100% this is factual, but the two separate installers seemed quite confident about it.This thread is TDLR; as far as I can tell, so I will try to summarize:
And on a closing note, most bar owners don't really care about the condition of their bar tables. And if they do, they charge more for pool or drinks / food or both. It is about a $1000 on the west coast to do an 8 foot Valley table for quality rails and felt including proper labor and setup. That can be a big hit if an owner has multiple tables that get a good amount of play. Even a bigger hit to the owner if there are clueless players spilling drinks, trying jump or masse shots incorrectly or just sitting on the tables which all result in premature wear and damage.
- There is no Diamond lease / share profits program that I could find. They do have a financing program listed here:
- Many local operators / vendors (not manufacturers) seem to offer either revenue sharing or lease / rental programs for both Valley and possibly Diamond tables. For example, this site:
Valley Coin-Operated Pool Tables for Rent | Player Two
Transform your space with Player Two's customizable Valley coin-operated pool tables. Perfect for bars and pool halls. Start the fun and boost your revenue today!www.playertwo.com
- I have played on some very nice Valley tables in my 50+ years of playing pool if they are maintained and setup correctly with quality rails plus high grade felt and if the foundations of the tables are sound (rail bolts tighten correctly, slate and its bed are not damaged or warped, pockets are in excellent condition, etc.). Yes, they are not Diamonds, but not every bar wants or needs Diamond tables.
- On ball sets: Yes, the default Aramith Premier line with the modified stripe balls and the green Valley cougar cue ball (mud ball) can get quite tired over multiple years of use. My recommendation is to get a personal set of Dynasphere Bronze / Vanadium balls for players that care about the hit of a quality set of balls and usually have a quality cue stick or two (one for breaking) that they travel with to one or more bars. But there are some considerations to make when bringing your own balls with your other usual hardware:
- The bar table's ball return might not be open and your cue ball does not come down the ball return if a scratch is made. Solutions are:
- Use the green Valley cougar cue ball (ugh).
- Upgrade to the purple Valley cougar cue ball (a little better one that is labeled as tournament quality and will work with the ball return). Here is a link:
Tournament Purple Logo Aramith Magnetic Cue Ball
This cue ball is made for coin op tables that return the ball at the break end. It does not have the magnet in the middle of the ball however.seyberts.com
- Look for bars that offer free pool with ball returns open to use your own set or ask the owners if you can rent the table with the ball return opened so you can use your own set. They even might let you keep your ball set behind the bar so you do not have to travel with it (this is what I do and we use either a red circle cue ball or the included Dynaspheres cue ball).
I wouldn’t know the details of working on them, but there are several places in my area that have Globals or the Brunswick Globals. Some is the maintenance some is the terrible balls on some, but I have never liked them. I’m not a room owner or bar owner, but if I opened a bar with tables it would be Diamond or Valley. Valley has parts and cushions available and they are durable. Prefer playing on Diamonds but as I have posted I don’t sneer at a well maintained Valley.
The Global replacement pockets are basically impossible to find also...
I usually try to read through a whole thread before I post, but did this time, so forgive me if it's been mentioned.
I’ve seen bars with diamonds,and the majority of players I’ve seen play on them are “bangers” and low level apa players.
You're describing the pool community in general. Nicer tables will help elevate play eventually, but the vast majority of the population is not very good at pool.
I don't know, Washington has quite a bit of green...kind of hard to beat the pacific northwest for green in the US.
Yeah I would never play on a diamond bar box that couldn't be opened and rented by the hour. If I'm practicing 9ball, I'd be paying 40-60 an hour at $1 a game.
At Magoo's in Tulsa all their bb's (10D's, 6 Valley's) are all by the hour.
How long have they had the 11 Globals and how do they maintain them, given rails and pockets cannot be "bought off the the shelf" as I've found out multiple times? Do they just get new felt over the years and that is it?
I might have suggested replacing 4 or 5 of the Globals with Diamonds, the money would tell her which tables are best to have. We have several bars that have both Valley's and Diamond's, at all of these locations the Diamond's are always the preferred table even though they cost $1.50 per game vs $1.00 on a Valley.
Yes sir, been there many times, although I'm usually on the 9 footers. Have they ever upgraded to the blue labels or do they still have the original red labels?
