Not gonna lie, I'm at work and didn't have time to read the whole thread, but I'll try to later.
With that said, I think the absolute keys are:
1. Own the building/property outright.
2. Own the tables outright.
3. Have a big enough pool of players that at least cover the nut on utilities/any other bills AND upkeep of the equipment. If you're doing this venture for a profit, it might be tough. But, if you want to simply break even and maintain the equipment, I honestly think it's doable in many areas.
If you have that part licked, I think you could slowly add "services", such as a small grill, etc. for food and drink.
I think a room with security cameras that transmit the footage offsite (or at least thru a Wi-Fi connection.....in case someone tries to trash a camera) with as trustworthy clientele as possible would be ideal. Players pay their membership and have 24/7 access to the room, unless they're given proper notice (i.e. you're having the tables recovered for a few days, etc.)
Inform them that every nook and cranny in the room is being monitored with the above mentioned technology. Keep their credit card on file. If anything is damaged, it will be seen on camera and they'll be approached FIRST to give their side of the story, so that things can be worked out peacefully person-to-person. Or their credit card can be charged for the damages. I think any incidents with good clientele would occur rarely to never.
If they want to bring in one guest, they're allowed to do, with the rule being that again, they're being monitored and the member IS responsible financially for their guest's actions.
Now, I wouldn't be a d ick about it, but just sit a prospective member down and go over the rules. Explain your side of the situation and most people wouldn't mind. Emphasize that this is a room for SERIOUS pool players. You don't want to sound elitist. You just want to know that they truly love the game and you're giving serious players a nice environment away from the "real world".
BTW, I'm a libertarian that shudders at the thoughts of being monitored, lorded over by drones, etc. But, those things are without my choice. I digress......
......these people would have a choice. We want to do something very similar to this in our area, as we have a fairly tight-knit group of 8-10 trustworthy guys and we may soon be without a place to play.
Again, own as much of the afore mentioned things as you can and keep the overhead to a bare minimum WITH nice equipment.
rolleyes
