would you say something?

GoldCrown said:

Not your property why would you care. How about your best friend owns a room. Customers have drinks on the rail, are sitting on the rail ....would you tell your friend his tables are at risk

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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.

I had a similar question a while ago, and was surprised at how many people said no.
The thinking seems to be "if the owner doesn't care enough to preserve his tables,
then why should I?" Sometimes you get an owner who tells people to get down,
but he won't train his employees to do it.

I've done it in the past and had it go poorly. I suck at it.
I believe the right person saying the right thing can ask the offenders nicely,
in a way that won't cause them to get pissy.

Then again, some people are born losers and will look for a fight no matter what.
I chose to tell the person at the bar that some guys were putting a chair on the table.
They flipped out and started shoving me and trying to start a fight. The owner called
the cops and they dumped beer down the pockets and left.

I dunno if it's the right thing to do but I'll keep asking people as nicely as my
poor social skills will permit. If they get an attitude about it, I'll try to explain...
"These tables cost about $10,000 each. Would you sit on some stranger's ten thousand dollar car
in the parking lot?"

And if they persist, honestly I'd love to blast some self-entitled turd in the mouth
who thinks it's his god-given right to abuse the table however he wants.

But probably the best course of action is to inform the manager. This accomplishes 2 things...
it ensures someone with authority makes the problem stop, and it reminds the staff
that some customers DO care about it, and they should stay on top of it.
In my fantasies (not the ones involving dark-skinned cheerleaders) the owner
has a special meeting with all his servers and tells them to watch out for it and never let it slide.

But I'm sure the ugly reality is he'll just say "ok thanks for the heads up" and do nothing.

3andstop said:

you don't say anything to the person, you tell management to keep an eye on them. This will avoid a confrontation, and resolve the issue.

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yup!!!
Ll

JB Cases said:

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.

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The damage is subtle but it's there. The main concern is a heavyish person sitting
for some time will cause a corner to sink down into the carpet, causing the table
to develop a roll. If shims are already in place, it may flatten them.
You may not catch it unless you play a lot on that table.

Another one that goes unnoticed is, their ass pushes down the cushion and slightly
detaches it from the feather strip, and afterwards that section of rail plays funny.
You may miss banks because of it and assume you just hit the ball wrong.

I have went off on customers a few times- I just couldn't take it. Out of the gate i pretty much started yelling at a banger trailer trash guy who would place his bottle of beer ON the PLAYING SURFACE before each shot. This was in a PR w nice 9 footers. After doing that- things were quite uncomfortable for me so i ruined my own night but it would have been ruined anyway. I did say something to the counterman first but the owners were not there and he just ignored me.

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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If it's my home room I'll say something or at least say something to the house man. If I'm traveling I usually won't saying anything.

I was in Best Billiards in Las Vegas last month and there was a guy on one of the back bar tables trying to shot a jump shot, over and over and over, making a racket, the CB bouncing everywhere but towards the ball he was trying to pocket. This went on for at least 20 minutes. They guy had zero clue how to shoot a jump shot.

I looked at the woman behind the counter and she didn't seem to care. Then I briefly thought about going over to him and asking if he wanted some help shooting the shot and decided against that too and mind my own beeswax and left shortly thereafter. God only knows what the cloth looked like by the time he was done.

Lou Figueroa

As a patron, its not your responsibility to babysit but I see no problem in you saying something. The pool halls I would go to had signs and house rules posted beside the tables and the staff kept up on them.

Rough table etiquette

If that poor table is getting abused, Of course I'll say something (in a polite manner) to the offender.If they persist, or tell me to F/O,............. then its up to the management. One poolroom I play, you'll get bounced off of the table for swearing ! He likes to keep a "family" atmosphere. (good for him!) :thumbup:

At another place I play i'd certainly let the owner know.
There is only ONE EXCEPTION to this :grin::grin:
here it is............

View attachment 288771

Dunnn51 said:

If that poor table is getting abused, Of course I'll say something (in a polite manner) to the offender.If they persist, or tell me to F/O,............. then its up to the management. One poolroom I play, you'll get bounced off of the table for swearing ! He likes to keep a "family" atmosphere. (good for him!) :thumbup:

At another place I play i'd certainly let the owner know.
There is only ONE EXCEPTION to this :grin::grin:
here it is............

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Someone should tell her her panties are showing. Awkward......

CreeDo said:

The damage is subtle but it's there. The main concern is a heavyish person sitting
for some time will cause a corner to sink down into the carpet, causing the table
to develop a roll. If shims are already in place, it may flatten them.
You may not catch it unless you play a lot on that table.

Another one that goes unnoticed is, their ass pushes down the cushion and slightly
detaches it from the feather strip, and afterwards that section of rail plays funny.
You may miss banks because of it and assume you just hit the ball wrong.

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I guess so but like I said with our tables, and I am was and am fairly anal about my tables, I never had any damage of the kind you say happens. My tables didn't sit on carpet though, we put solid platforms under them. Then again I also didn't have a lot of people sitting on my tables.

Anyway, I don't want to argue about it. You guys think it's harmful I don't think it is. I am sure I am in the minority. No big deal been in the minority on a lot of subjects.

lfigueroa said:

If it's my home room I'll say something or at least say something to the house man. If I'm traveling I usually won't saying anything.

I was in Best Billiards in Las Vegas last month and there was a guy on one of the back bar tables trying to shot a jump shot, over and over and over, making a racket, the CB bouncing everywhere but towards the ball he was trying to pocket. This went on for at least 20 minutes. They guy had zero clue how to shoot a jump shot.

I looked at the woman behind the counter and she didn't seem to care. Then I briefly thought about going over to him and asking if he wanted some help shooting the shot and decided against that too and mind my own beeswax and left shortly thereafter. God only knows what the cloth looked like by the time he was done.

Lou Figueroa

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Now this is an instance where I would say something. Not because the guy is beating up the table, although I would explain that to him as well, but because I don't like to see people flailing at something I can help them with. it's kind of the same principle as helping people cross the street, if you see someone who needs your help and you can help, then help.

JB Cases said:

Now this is an instance where I would say something. Not because the guy is beating up the table, although I would explain that to him as well, but because I don't like to see people flailing at something I can help them with. it's kind of the same principle as helping people cross the street, if you see someone who needs your help and you can help, then help.

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I see your point, but it's just something I won't do at another room when I'm traveling.

Now at my home room, when I see someone who is committed to the game a little and struggling, I have gone over and asked if they'd like a tip. I've done this numerous times, but less and less as the years go. The reason is because what happens is that when you see someone with an elementary flaw, and you help them, they get all excited and thank you profusely. And then two weeks later you see them at the table and they're back to doing it the way they were before you helped.

Personally I think it's because it was free advise. Maybe if they had paid $200 for a lesson they might have taken the advice a bit more seriously and stuck with it. I dunno.

There are also two guys that I help out a lot with free advice and one, a new friend, has improved significantly over the last few months. The other, whom I've helped for over a decade, is becoming quite the 1pocket player.

Lou Figueroa

dorabelle said:

Someone should tell her her panties are showing. Awkward......

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If she plays like that all the time it might be a good spot for a sponsorship patch.

As an owner, I'd prefer that someone told me or my staff so that we could handle it. As a general rule, the person just doesn't realize it's wrong and a small, tactful comment is all that is needed. I've had players think they were helping me by yelling across the room "Hey! Get your ass off that table!" That's not really helping. I am, however, much less tactful the second time I have to tell the same person.

dorabelle said:

View attachment 288771
Someone should tell her her panties are showing. Awkward......

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Yep, I think so too.

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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depends on the room, if ilike the owner and/or the house man, i will point it out to them. i dont talk to customers-unless i'm looking for a game or they are friends.

...........

Right

3andstop said:

You don't say anything to the person, you tell management to keep an eye on them. This will avoid a confrontation, and resolve the issue.

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You are right about telling the management.The room I use to play in , I would be there so much I could not stop myself from telling people ( always young ) to not sit on the tables etc.but that is really not a smart thing to do, tell the house person if they do nothing tell the owner when you see them.

Scott Lee said:

People tend to get what they give. At least I don't hide behind a screen name and bash others.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

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I always say something. Both to the person in a quiet way and to the
management.

If it continues, I find another place to frequent.

DoubleD said:

I've always been taught that leaning and sitting on the wooden part of the rail shouldn't do any damage...people really aren't that heavy.

Sitting on the rubber rail can absolutely cause damage.

I've informed people many times in the places I play of the damage they may cause. I'm relatively good at it. I usually just tell them that it can damage the table and that I understand they aren't aware of it. I also explain that I have an interest in having the best playing equipment possible since I play there a lot.

I've never had anyone become belligerent if they weren't already.

I've also asked people to turn off their flashes in the pool room...they usually understand and do so. That said, I was playing one night and got a professional grade flash shot in my face from two feet away. I asked the dude to stop and he got huffy, sarcastically said, 'Ooooh, I'm SO sorry.' He then turned away, then turned back and said, 'It's a hard knock life.' If he had weighed over 110lbs and not been obviously gay, I would have been in my first fight of my adult life. I wasn't because I didn't want to be charged with a hate crime.
dld

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Just kick his ass. If the cops say anything about it tell them that you also like to "putt from the rough."

If they don't buy that, or haven't seen the movie you go to phase two. Put your hand softly on their shoulder and ask "your allowed to take those handcuffs home at night, right officer?"

Should work everytime.