would you say something?

JB Cases said:

If you think so but I owned a pool room and have owned my own tables for 20 years and been sitting on them for longer than that. If it's my own pool room I don't let people sit on the tables just because that's not the place to sit not because I think it damages the table.

Therefore in someone else's pool room I am not going to chastise the other patrons who are sitting on the tables.

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I think it depends on the person. The floor creaks when I walk on it. I can't imagine what a pool table would do if i hopped up on it.

dr9ball said:

I think it depends on the person. The floor creaks when I walk on it. I can't imagine what a pool table would do if i hopped up on it.

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Fully agree. There are limits to every concept.

Comes down to communication...

Most of the time, the person sitting on the table is going to take offense to another customer telling them to get off the table. I think primarily because it will offend and embarrass him/her. Also, because I don't think that most folks have the communication skills to deliver the message properly, and furthermore, don't care to go out of their way to deliver the message in a proper way.
For these reasons, I'd mention it to the room owner, or employee...and if you have confidence to deliver it correctly, then go straight to the person and ask them to get off.

If it results in a big fiasco, you gotta take responsibility for how the message was received. Like any other sale, it's very effective to do a 3rd party story about someone who sat on a table and the table needed to be recovered, etc. ...and the customer had to pay for it. ...that you are just trying to help them so they don't have a problem like that...
Something like that should be received well without fist fights, lol

JB Cases said:

LIke I said, if they are damaging the equipment then I will say something directly to the people. If they are not damaging the equipment then I won't say anything.

Now, if my friend does not allow people to sit on his tables then I will tell his staff to take care of that only because I feel a sort of managerial connection since I also owned a room and wanted it looked after when I wasn't there.

We have a difference of opinion here. I don't think sitting on a table damages it. That's my own observation, I could be wrong but having owned 15 tables I have never found that any of them were damaged by myself or other people sitting on them. Maybe we got lucky.

Of course I have often heard that sitting on tables harms them and I suppose that out of the millions of tables and millions of ways to make tables somewhere a table has been damaged by someone sitting on it. I just have personally never experienced it. But as a general rule I don't encourage it, I simply don't think it's enough of an issue for me to accost strangers over it.

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Its perfectly fine to sit on a table to take a shot, but at my pool hall they will yell at you if you are simply using the table as furniture, I guess to minimize rail damage of people who may lean back too far, its a table not a couch, you shouldn't sit on it unless you have to for a shot.


In regards to telling people, if they are doing something minor, inform them that the management will not be happy if caught, if they are acting like an idiot, they deserve to be scolded by anyone.

hey dd...

DoubleD said:

Yeah, passive aggressive behavior is the answer to everything.

Seriously, try to understand that people don't realize that they may cause damage. They don't think about beers on the table or how that might affect the other patrons. They aren't usually malicious, they are ignorant. Show some social graces and kindly explain to them. Shoot, I've even made some friends doing this stuff.

dld

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i completely agree.

where i was a regular the ph was run very well. usually the most disturbing thing was the loud music. of course folks would have too much to drink sometimes, but pretty much nothing to complain about.

my experiences tho come from handgun, rifle and shotgun shooting. and you would be surprised that many people new to shooting sports don't know proper etiquette and proper safety in field application. sometimes seeing something improper i would introduce myself and offer 'suggestions', or, do's and dont's and explanation and as a result made many new friends. out of many years of involvement all were very appreciative except one party of 2 forty-something couples. they were very rude to me and also very dangerous to the club members and themselves. i informed management and it was handled. but my point is that all the rest were very appreciative that i took the time [away from my own shooting with my buddies] and went over to them and offered advice and friendship. and the best part, all were very eager to learn.

of course in a ph with booze, and/or banger egos discretion is warranted, but if approached with courtesy most people 'i think' would be fine with it - just like you said.

all the best,
smokey

breakandrunrob said:

so the last time I went to play the poolhall was semi busy maybe half full. the 20 something girl they had "working" wasn't paying very much attention. my question is if you see someone doing something i.e. sitting on a table, throwing around house cues or "scoop" jumping the cue ball. do you say something since you play on the tables yourself? every poolhall ive gone in ive always treated like my own. just wondering what othera think.

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This type of stuff happens all of the time at any place that makes their money off of getting people drunk. I would (at my regular places) politely say something to the offender without anyone else hearing. If you don't embarrass the person then they will probably listen. I once saw a group of college guys putting beer bottles on both the rails and the cloth on the table next to me at my favorite PH. I was about to let the guys know it when one of them said to the other, "I'm not very good at this, are you?". And the other guy replied, "I don't know what I'm doing". I offered to give them some helpful pointers on making a bridge and aiming. They had plenty of questions and I was able to explain how easy it is to damage equipment in different ways (including spilled beer) while I was helping them. It only took about 5 minutes out of my time and an occasional question here or there... but I didn't see another bottle placed anywhere near the table again and the guys started to enjoy playing for real.
It isn't always going to work out this well, but if it doesn't then I'll just leave because it's going to mess with my game anyway... but I'll let management know on the way out the door because they know I'm a regular and have an influence on other regulars.

PS... It's also the reason why I have my own table now. The days of the real pool halls are mostly gone. Now it's just something to do while you're drinking and it's the alcohol and food where the owners make their money, not the tables. Most owners don't care all that much about the condition of their tables, because they know they are going to get torn up and drunks don't care how straight the balls roll. They also know that real shooters don't drink all that much when they are shooting, so there isn't much money to be made off of people who respect the quality of the tables.

I agree with this...which is why when I do say something, I calmly walk over to the offender and whisper in his/her ear. That way nobody gets embarrassed or mad.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

8onthebreak said:

Most of the time, the person sitting on the table is going to take offense to another customer telling them to get off the table. I think primarily because it will offend and embarrass him/her.

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ok, so here's a question -

1) i don't shoot slop
2) one foot on the floor, period

so tonight, when i leaned over the table to stretch for a shot,
cause i'm left-handed, and it was a right-shot
and i threw one leg back/perpendicular, stretched-out onto the rail
WITH ONE FOOT AND ALL WEIGHT ON THE FLOOR

- is that bad form?

I would deff say something and say something too pep a lot I'm a reg at a lot of pool halls my big thing I say something about is smoking over the table I hate that and drinks around them that's just me though I don't go up too them like bone head either ill say my friend owns the place and we try too take care of the tables so could u please not do this or that or whatever they maybe doing