Another Legendary Billiard Room Falls Victim To The New Ohio Smoking Laws - PR

M

MikeJanis

Banned
THE EVENTS WILL TAKE PLACE AS SCHEDULED

Michael's Billiards Viking Tour Events in Cincinnati, OH are Back On for May 17-18

GREAT NEWS !

Michael's Billiards Viking Tour Events in Cincinnati, OH on May 17-18 will take place.


Michael's Billiards and the Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour have made arrangements for the $2,000 Added May 17-18 Viking Cue Open and Amateur events to go forward.

The events will take place as scheduled. Saturday, May 17th the $1,500 added Open event which guarantees $1,000 to 1st place will start at 1pm. On Sunday, May 17th at 1pm the $500 added Amateur will begin. As an added bonus the Viking Tour has agreed to make this a FREE tour card event so there will be absolutely no tour card fees to anyone that wishes to participate.

This last minute deal was made possible by the sponsors of the Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour and specifically Viking Cues who graciously provided the majority of the funding for this event to go forward.

Michael's Billiard's also made a temporary deal with its leas-holder which will allow them to stay in their current location until a time when they can move to more cost effective facility in the same strip mall they are in.

"I know a many players were looking forward to this event and we are extremely happy that this event will take place." stated Mike Janis.


NO Tour Card Fee at this event ![/COLOR]


$2,000 Added
May 17-18, 2008 at 1pm
"OPEN" Event - $1,500 Added
$1,000 Guaranteed to 1ST Place
The event is race to 9W/9L on 9' tables
May 18th at 1pm (Sunday)
"AMATEUR" Event - $500 Added
The event is race to 7W/5L on 7'tables
Michael's Billiards
5951 S. Boymel Dr., Fairfield, OHIO 513-860-0044
$10 DISCOUNT for All Pool League Players with current league ID
FREE Entry Fee + FREE Tour Card for Non-Pro Women and JR Players


Open Event Info:
$1,000 Guaranteed to 1ST Place
$60 Entry Fee
(Inc. $15 for Table & Reg. fee)
Double Elimination
World Standardized Rules
Anyone Can Play
Added Prize Money Guaranteed
2 Day Event - $20/$30 Tour Card Fee
Player Auction Starts 1pm $10 Minimum Bid is Optional by Player
$10 DISCOUNT for All Pool League Players with current league ID
FREE Entry Fee + FREE Tour Card for Non-Pro Women and JR Players
FREE Tour Card for SR Players (age 65+)
FREE Tour Card for all Active or Retired Military


Amateur Event Info:
$50 Entry Fee
(Inc. $15 for Table & Reg. fee)
Double Elimination
World Standardized Rules
Amateurs Only
Added Prize Money Guaranteed
1 Day Event - $20/$30 Tour Card Fee
Player Auction Starts at 1pm $10 Minimum Bid is Optional by Player
$10 DISCOUNT for All Pool League Players with current league ID
FREE Entry Fee + FREE Tour Card for Non-Pro Women and JR Players
FREE Tour Card for SR Players (age 65+)
FREE Tour Card for all Active or Retired Military


Support The Awesome Sponsors Of The Viking Tour Events !

Just click on a link below to show your support for those that help support our sport.

Viking Cues
www.vikingcue.com/?source=vikingtour
Championship Cloth
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Pool & Billiard Magazine
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Billiards Digest Magazine
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Professor Q Ball Magazine
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AZBilliards
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Red Roof Inn Hotels -
USE CODE CP530832 for a 12% DISCOUNT
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Inside Pool Magazine
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Derby City Classic
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PCC Products - Q-Smooth, Q-Slick, Q-Glide and Q-Clean
Willard's Cue Tip Shapers
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8-Ball Bible
www.8-ballbible.com/?source=vikingtour
Break N Run Sportswear
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Cue-Tech Pool School
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PoolDawg
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www.truestrokeonline.com/?source=vikingtour
Trader Ridge - Cue Rack
www.traderridge.com/?source=vikingtour
Bebob Publishing
www.bebobpublishing.com/?source=vikingtour
OB-1 Cue Shafts
www.obcues.com/?source=vikingtour
Cue Pen
www.cuepen.com/?source=vikingtour
DIAMONDBACK Billiard Products
www.killerstroke.com/?source=vikingtour
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www.strokeitwear.com/?source=vikingtour
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Tip Pik
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The Perfect Rack
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Samm's Side Pocket
www.sammspocket.com/?source=vikingtour

May 8th, 2008
contact: Mike Janis
1-800-200-POOL

The May 17-18 Viking Tour Events in Fairfield, OH Have Been Canceled

Another Legendary Billiard Room Falls Victim To The New Ohio Smoking Laws.

The Viking Tour events at Michael's Billiards in Fairfield, OH scheduled for May 17-18, 2008 have been canceled. At this time we are not expecting to reschedule any events for this location.

Mike Janis, the President of the Viking Tour sated: "After several conversations with the owner of Michael's Billiards, Mike Medley, it became very apparent that Michael's Billiards will be closing its doors at its current location in the near future.

Michael Medley, the owner of Michael's Billiards stated "It's an unfortunate situation right now. We have been here since 1992 and have held many Viking Tour events since 1995 and always had phenomenal turnouts. In fact, some of the best Viking Tour events ever have been right here in Michael's Billiards." Medley went on to state: "The current outlook for a non-smoking, alcohol free pool room in Ohio is very dim right now. With rising lease costs and the normal price of doing business going up and up and our customer base cut in half from the new smoking laws we simply can not stay in the huge location we are in."

Mike Janis added: "Michael's Billiards and the Viking Tour have been partners in events since 1995 at Medley's location. During our conversation Medley and I agreed that we would cancel this event at Michael's current location since its demise is inevitable and when the time comes for Michael's to re-open at a new location the Viking Tour would host the Grand Opening event for that new location".
 
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Well, as long as he says he can't run his business without smokers, then he is right.

Despite the fact that rooms all over the country are making it happen.

Take heart, Mike. The same story repeats itself all over the nation.. Government passes anti-smoking legislation, and those rooms who are not creative/financially sound enough to adapt to changing conditions, go out of business.

After a year or two without pool, someone opens up a new place, sets up an area for smokers to smoke outside but not exposed to the elements, has multiple things to keep people there besides pool tables, and THRIVES in the same environment the other hall failed in.

Russ (A non-smoker who HATES smelling like an ashtray after going to play pool, but has no other choice if he wishes to compete at the game he loves.)
 
Russ Chewning said:
Well, as long as he says he can't run his business without smokers, then he is right.

Despite the fact that rooms all over the country are making it happen.

Take heart, Mike. The same story repeats itself all over the nation.. Government passes anti-smoking legislation, and those rooms who are not creative/financially sound enough to adapt to changing conditions, go out of business.

After a year or two without pool, someone opens up a new place, sets up an area for smokers to smoke outside but not exposed to the elements, has multiple things to keep people there besides pool tables, and THRIVES in the same environment the other hall failed in.

Russ (A non-smoker who HATES smelling like an ashtray after going to play pool, but has no other choice if he wishes to compete at the game he loves.)
Click to expand...

Honestly Russ, I thought bout buying the location. As far as creativity is concerned. Medley sold the Pool room about 6 years ago but due to default of payment he took it back. The last owner from what I understand had some bad habits. Sniff, Sniff... Anyway he did have a semi good Idea while he was there. He added a small bar and had beer and liquor sales. Unfortunately the bar was the size of my bathroom and did not have much effect then when the smoking ban kicked in it took that crowd away to. Afterall that Medley took the room back and due to his personal/religious beliefs he stopped serving alcohol which is something he never did prior to selling the location in the 1st place.


If a new owner would walk in and expand the bar and reduce the amount of pool tables (currently about 30) then this place would have a great chance at survival.

Anyway, my Wife said NO WAY to moving somewhere that had mounds of snow piled by the side of the road. Last time we were there she saw where the plows had piled the snow (about 12' high) and asked what's that? I laughed so hard I almost cried. You should have seen her face when she found out it was snow.
 
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:(

That is really too bad.

I know how badly some folks dislike tobacco smoke, artillery smoke, candle smoke, and other "smokes".

To say that a room is closing due to smoking laws, is the truth. I have personally seen it happen to many rooms,
and discussed this with the owners prior to their closing.

The "real pool rooms" seem to suffer the most. The fact that other "pool rooms / whatever clubs" seem to be able to succeed, in my mind, is that they make their profit from their ability to cater to, and serve a totally different clientele.

I'm not coming down on those "players"/patrons, as they are the reason that we have any "rooms" at all in my state.

Anyway, it's too bad that the room and tour was affected.

EDIT: The spell checker here doesn't like the spelling of the word "clientele".
I pasted from dictionary.reference.com to be sure. :)
 
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Russ Chewning said:
Well, as long as he says he can't run his business without smokers, then he is right.

Despite the fact that rooms all over the country are making it happen.

Take heart, Mike. The same story repeats itself all over the nation.. Government passes anti-smoking legislation, and those rooms who are not creative/financially sound enough to adapt to changing conditions, go out of business.

After a year or two without pool, someone opens up a new place, sets up an area for smokers to smoke outside but not exposed to the elements, has multiple things to keep people there besides pool tables, and THRIVES in the same environment the other hall failed in.

Russ (A non-smoker who HATES smelling like an ashtray after going to play pool, but has no other choice if he wishes to compete at the game he loves.)
Click to expand...

That's what pool needs is the kind of positivity you are spewing. In a time when within 30 minutes of Michael's, I can think of 5 other LONG running rooms that closed down JUST THIS YEAR. The place hosted Viking tour events. I mean...wasn't it just last month that Alex P. played Shannon Murphy at Michael's? For a place to attract that kind of action, and the best you can do is to blame his creativity?!

Obviously if more people told us what we did wrong after the fact, we'd be in a much better position, right? Maybe instead, you could show a little tact and respect towards a place that's given much to the pool community over the last couple of DECADES.

I might know...I was forced to close a room myself this year that has been open since 1984. 23 years. You can insult my creativity if you'd like but I tried many different things to keep the place open...the fact is like Mike and Michael said when the cost of EVERYTHING is rising except the price of the electronics that are keeping people from venturing outside to go play pool, and when the number of interested players that actually make a paycheck are dropping like flies, and the owner is having to pay out of his own pocket to keep the doors open, how long is that supposed to go on? And the best you can do is to disrespect the man.

NICE.
 
Russ Chewning said:
Well, as long as he says he can't run his business without smokers, then he is right.

Despite the fact that rooms all over the country are making it happen.

Take heart, Mike. The same story repeats itself all over the nation.. Government passes anti-smoking legislation, and those rooms who are not creative/financially sound enough to adapt to changing conditions, go out of business.

After a year or two without pool, someone opens up a new place, sets up an area for smokers to smoke outside but not exposed to the elements, has multiple things to keep people there besides pool tables, and THRIVES in the same environment the other hall failed in.

Russ (A non-smoker who HATES smelling like an ashtray after going to play pool, but has no other choice if he wishes to compete at the game he loves.)
Click to expand...

Russ,

Mike Medley is a business man's, business man.... Michael's decline, and now it seems apparent fall, has nothing to do with bad business decisions on his end. It's all about location... Ohio is smoke free and Kentucky is smoke'm if ya gott'em. So his and every other poolroom in the Cincinatti area have lost their customer base to poolrooms just minutes away in Kentucky. Three years ago I knew of 6 or 8 different rooms in the Cinci area and now I don't think any of them are left! This smoking ban has been a blight on the existence and prosperity of poolrooms and bars statewide. At least the rooms here in Columbus have a fighting chance because you can't smoke anywhere within a 2-1/2 hour drive. A few of the rooms have adapted and did as you said and set up areas for smokers. But of the owners I have talked to say that business has been 20-30% off annually since the ban went into effect. How would you like to go from clearing $80,000/year to say $56,000??? BTW Russ, it's not about just about adapting your business. Smokers that play pool like to smoke while they play pool. Pool table sales are way up since the ban and the reason many buyers state for buying a table for their home is that they can't smoke at the poolroom..... Freakin brutal!!!

Michael has always been really good to me and I hate like hell to even think about that room closing.........

Kirk
 
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Club Billiards said:
That's what pool needs is the kind of positivity you are spewing. In a time when within 30 minutes of Michael's, I can think of 5 other LONG running rooms that closed down JUST THIS YEAR. The place hosted Viking tour events. I mean...wasn't it just last month that Alex P. played Shannon Murphy at Michael's? For a place to attract that kind of action, and the best you can do is to blame his creativity?!

Obviously if more people told us what we did wrong after the fact, we'd be in a much better position, right? Maybe instead, you could show a little tact and respect towards a place that's given much to the pool community over the last couple of DECADES.

I might know...I was forced to close a room myself this year that has been open since 1984. 23 years. You can insult my creativity if you'd like but I tried many different things to keep the place open...the fact is like Mike and Michael said when the cost of EVERYTHING is rising except the price of the electronics that are keeping people from venturing outside to go play pool, and when the number of interested players that actually make a paycheck are dropping like flies, and the owner is having to pay out of his own pocket to keep the doors open, how long is that supposed to go on? And the best you can do is to disrespect the man.

NICE.
Click to expand...

Meh.

All I want is a place to play pool.

If it takes the owner putting in electronic dart machines, a karaoke area, a jukebox, BIG speakers, full liquor, foosball tables, air hockey, bartop MAXX games, GoldenTee Golf games networked nationwide (win great prizes!!), big screen TVs with a subscription to HD Sports packages, etc..etc...etc.. Then I am all for that.

I am not a purist who needs respectful silence whilst I gambool.

Too many places are trying to remain "pool halls" first and foremost, and that is why they are going out of business.

Don't give me that crap about the price of electronics. Young people still go out to meet other young people, get drunk, and get tail.

Too many halls think it is about billiards first and foremost. It's all well and nice to hold tournaments and big gambling matches, but if a room owner is not independently wealthy, he dayum well better be thinking about the bottom line first.

I want to attend these weekend tournaments just like anyone else, but I also want the roomowners to just do what they got to do to stay open. The days of the "pool hall" are OVER, and those who try to hold on to that image of what an establishment should be, will be out of business unless they have a VERY different business environment than the rest of America.

Blaming the failure of "pool halls" on the advent of video games and electronics is true in essence. Now, what are you gonna do about it? Are you gonna moan about it, or are you gonna change the business to something else, and just try to keep the tables there? If you keep tables in your establishments, with all the flashing lights, loud music, etc.. Guess what? Great players will still develop, as long as guys like Mike J. promotes regional tournaments.

To reiterate: I do not cry and moan when I see a "pool hall" go out of business, because I know that eventually, someone else will come and open a new one with the correct formula for success. Do we have less pool halls now than before? Yes. But we still have quite a few "sports bars" that have plenty of pool tables.

If that formula is working, it still egts people playing the game, IMHO.

Russ
 
Russ Chewning said:
Meh.

All I want is a place to play pool.

If it takes the owner putting in electronic dart machines, a karaoke area, a jukebox, BIG speakers, full liquor, foosball tables, air hockey, bartop MAXX games, GoldenTee Golf games networked nationwide (win great prizes!!), big screen TVs with a subscription to HD Sports packages, etc..etc...etc.. Then I am all for that.

I am not a purist who needs respectful silence whilst I gambool.

Too many places are trying to remain "pool halls" first and foremost, and that is why they are going out of business.

Don't give me that crap about the price of electronics. Young people still go out to meet other young people, get drunk, and get tail.

Too many halls think it is about billiards first and foremost. It's all well and nice to hold tournaments and big gambling matches, but if a room owner is not independently wealthy, he dayum well better be thinking about the bottom line first.

I want to attend these weekend tournaments just like anyone else, but I also want the roomowners to just do what they got to do to stay open. The days of the "pool hall" are OVER, and those who try to hold on to that image of what an establishment should be, will be out of business unless they have a VERY different business environment than the rest of America.

Blaming the failure of "pool halls" on the advent of video games and electronics is true in essence. Now, what are you gonna do about it? Are you gonna moan about it, or are you gonna change the business to something else, and just try to keep the tables there? If you keep tables in your establishments, with all the flashing lights, loud music, etc.. Guess what? Great players will still develop, as long as guys like Mike J. promotes regional tournaments.

To reiterate: I do not cry and moan when I see a "pool hall" go out of business, because I know that eventually, someone else will come and open a new one with the correct formula for success. Do we have less pool halls now than before? Yes. But we still have quite a few "sports bars" that have plenty of pool tables.

If that formula is working, it still egts people playing the game, IMHO.

Russ
Click to expand...

The room I ran had adapted and made MANY changes from what it was in the 80's. INCLUDING a loud digital touchscreen jukebox, Golden Tee, Silver Strike Bowling, 50" and 55" Plasma tvs on the walls, contests, promotions, leagues, give-aways and all sorts of other things.

The bottom line is this...it's a business that isn't just about tables and you have a narrow view of it...at least that's what you're showing me here.

If a room adapts and still fails and I ask you to show respect, does that mean I'm moaning and crying? So be it.

To not look outside the industry and see that things like the electronics industry is a form of entertainment and therefore a form of competition to the billiards industry is very closed-minded. We're also dealing in Ohio with layoffs and forclosures ALL over the place. We're also dealing with a decline in the billiard industry in general, dealing with losing a majority of our clientele because they would rather pollute their lungs, dealing with rising gas prices keeping people in front of that awesome new High-Def big screen.

If you want to talk business, it's not just pool. It's entertainment. And you have to consider all aspects of that industry as well.

But now you've got me so pissed of at your lack of respect that you're getting me off topic! LOL Point being if you have a better idea, you give it a shot. You wanna cough up the dough to open a place in Southern Ohio, and see what happens to your savings, come on over. Otherwise we don't need the negativity.

How about instead offering some better ideas or some ways to legally attract smoking players, or some ways to combat the rising cost of living. Or hey, maybe even a "Hey Michael, sorry to see ya go. Sorry it didn't work out."
 
REALLY sorry to hear about the event cancellation....but it seems to me that the room's financial trouble is more related to its alcohol policy than the smoking ban.

I also find it well....curious...that on religious grounds, smoking was fine but alchohol was not so fine....since alcohol, in moderation, is well known to be a healthy thing to ingest whereas there is nothing at all healthy about smoking which kills FAR more people in this country than booze...even including highway fatalities.

But religious dogma is sometimes quite curious. For example, some sects down here in the south, ban sex while standing up................

on grounds that it might lead to dancing!!! (-:

Those who don't get the humor need to spend some time down here!!

(-:

Jim
 
Bummer. I'm from Cincinnati originally. I played at Beechmont Billiards. Michael's opend up after I left Cincy for Japan. I've been up there each time I go back for vacation though and every time I was there Michael remembered me and talked my ear off......which I enjoyed. I won an 8-ball tournament there playing Bucky Bell in the final match. Great memories from that place. This really sucks. I just found out recently that Beechmont closed so I was thinking "Well, when I get home I'll have to go to Michaels" and now.....I'm lost. What a sucky day.
MULLY
 
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Staying Open

I think most of us don't like the smell or health issuses with smoke. While I hate to see rooms close down, it all comes down to making money.I think the real reason most close down is that as players we wouldn't pay what a room really should charge to play by the hour. How many of us would be willing to pay 15 to 20 bucks a hour to play. The owner has to make a profit and we want him to do it somewhere else and leave our 3 to 5 dollar a hour pool alone. Everything is going up for the owners rent, electric bills, insurance and permits.--Smitty
 
Wow, it is a similar story everywhere in the country. The smoking bans are affecting pool rooms, but so is the economy. It's kind of like a compound fracture.

Interestingly, I just quit smoking cigarettes, and I am looking forward to going to the no smoking pool rooms in my area. I only have 3 months of no smoking so far, but the smell of it is really bothering me.

I have a $300 air filter machine and fans in the window today. My boyfriend still smokes, but not as much as I did. He smokes less than a pack a day, but I am aware every single time he lights up. He is now starting to go outside on the deck to smoke, since the weather is nice. I don't like smelling it anymore.

I never thought I would be one of those ex-smoker extremists, but I am. I don't like the smell.

However, that said, I wouldn't mind the smoke in the pool rooms if it would help to keep them open! I guess I've got my priorities right, huh? :o

JAM
 
From Nuclear Power to Billiards

Here's a 53-year-old man who went from the nuclear industry to working as a managing partner of a pool room in Vidalia, Georgia. :)

I remember traveling to Vidalia when I was on the road playing pool with a road warrior. Georgia used to have quite a bit of pool action back then. Today, the only thing that comes to mind when I think of Vidalia is those sweet onions, which I buy all the time! :p

Here is part of the interesting article, and Mike Janis, this may be a prospect for one of your Viking Tour stops: Jackson, his fiancee, who lives in Macon, and another couple from the area were in Macon the first Friday in October having dinner at Luigi's Bistro on Cherry Street.

"I was intrigued by First Friday," he said. "Downtown was getting better. There was less crime and more things to do."

His friend and now business partner, Lafaye Thigpen, suggested they stop by the billiard place to have a beer and shoot pool.

During the evening, Jackson learned the business was for sale. The previous owner, Barry Willingham, had died and his brother was selling.

After Thigpen agreed to go in with Jackson to buy the place, the ball began rolling very quickly. It was a Friday when they agreed to buy it. Two days later they put down a deposit and by that Tuesday signed the purchase agreement. Jackson drove back to Alabama to get his clothes and was back in Macon in a few days to open the doors for business.

"Everything is growing in downtown Macon, and I want to be a part of that," he said. "One of the reasons to obtain this business is that downtown would be the place to be."

Jackson had a list of suppliers but no training to operate a bar/billiard parlor.

"I basically ran the business as I learned," Jackson said. Until he hired a bartender, "I was the person who opened the doors and locked it down at night," he said.

Jackson's friend and former boss, Ken Robuck, president of Williams Industrial, said he "probably laughed" upon hearing Jackson bought the billiard business. They have known each other since the mid-1980s.

"He was a project manager here and to go from the construction business to running a bar, that's a pretty drastic change," Robuck said. "But I thought it fit him well."

Robuck said Jackson has a "very outgoing personality" and is "very energetic."

"I think it fits his personality," Robuck said. "I think he's very social. You've got to have somebody who's outgoing. He knows how to get a party going."

Robuck, who has relatives in Bibb County, visited B.J.'s about three weeks ago.

"I thought it was well set up," he said. "It was probably a little classier than I thought it would be."

Jackson's learned a lot during the past seven months.

"I have learned it's a lot of dang work," he said. "I've learned that the billiard parlor/pool hall in downtown Macon is not what everybody thinks. If you provide a nice place to come and have a mature crowd, basically the crowd takes care of you."

The full article: http://www.macon.com/102/story/341966.html

Hmm, retirement looks kind of good! I just may have to try it. This guy looks like he's going to do okay!

What are the smoking rules in Georgia, does anybody know?

JAM
 

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I don't know all the facts of this situation, but it seems a little unfair to hang all the blame on being smoke-free (as the article title implies) when in the text of the article it discloses they are also alcohol-free. I have to think being alcohol-free is just as much of a factor as being smoke-free, and possibly more of a factor?

Iowa just passed a smoking ban that goes into effect July 1. I'm hoping it doesn't put too much of a hardship on our poolhalls (and bars). As a non-smoker, I plan to start playing more, and entering more tournies, after the ban is in effect. I'm sure I'm not alone. And, I can probably get my wife to come with me for once after the ban is in effect (she abhors heavy smoke) . I can certainly see the merits on both sides of the argument. However, from a personal standpoint I support the ban, and I plan to do my part to keep the ban from impacting business.
 
av84fun said:
REALLY sorry to hear about the event cancellation....but it seems to me that the room's financial trouble is more related to its alcohol policy than the smoking ban.

I also find it well....curious...that on religious grounds, smoking was fine but alchohol was not so fine....since alcohol, in moderation, is well known to be a healthy thing to ingest whereas there is nothing at all healthy about smoking which kills FAR more people in this country than booze...even including highway fatalities.

But religious dogma is sometimes quite curious. For example, some sects down here in the south, ban sex while standing up................

on grounds that it might lead to dancing!!! (-:

Those who don't get the humor need to spend some time down here!!

(-:

Jim
Click to expand...

Sorry, but this is a total mis-read on your part - I am very familiar
with the history of this room, and alcohol is not the problem.

FWIW the room made more money before the bar than it ever did
with one, and made more money than most rooms in the area
that had bars.

Dale
 
I have been to a kazillion pool rooms in my life. Truth be told, the ones I had the most fun in did not serve alcohol.

There was an atmosphere in these pool rooms that made me want to sit back and watch pool for hours and hours. Sometimes I would even get up and hit me some balls, if I found a lobster who played my speed. :D

The old Randolph Hills in Rockville, Maryland, for the D.C. local players, was the BEST pool room. There was NEVER any alcohol served. There was a counter where you could sit and order fresh brewed coffee, homemade tuna salad sandwiches, and quite a few good meals. Cheap, too.

The owner of Randolph Hills also had a side business of exercising thoroughbred racehorses in a horse swimming pool at his farm. You can imagine all the track rats that used to gather in this pool room and talk about the upcoming races for the day. They would be in there every morning studying the Racing Forum. It was kind of like the movie, "Guys and Dolls."

This pool room had a daytime crowd which consisted of Chester Morris, Tom-Tom, Geese, Vince the Ballroom Dancer, West Virginia Frank, Sweet Jennifer, the Gumph, Whitey, Drug Fair, Radar, et cetera. At night, it was a completely different atmosphere, one of action. Most of the players I knew, the real pool players, didn't drink, oddly enough.

Those were the good old days and long gone. There ain't no more rooms like this anymore in my area, but this was a real pool room, not a bar, not a pickup joint, not a sports lounge. This was a billiard parlor, and pool was the main entree on the menu. :)

JAM
 
Alcohol free? Wow, that's would not work in Austin!!

The place where I play, closest to home, is just over the city line in a small town. So, full smoking old-school style. Place is packed on free-tuesday, league-wends and fri/sat. Other days are pretty slow.

Some other places in Austin use the don't-tell rule and give you a small cup of water to ash into. I have not seen any problems yet. Not much ban enforcement in pool halls.

Oh and I completely agree that the most popular pool halls here are the ones with the strongest social scene for the young and old divorced ppl.
 
I really don't understand. Do pool players just stop playing if they cant smoke? Do they buy a table for home? It seems kind of silly to me that a room would close just because you cannot smoke anymore. Is it THAT bad to go outside and smoke?

If the room across the street had smoking, I could understand it affecting business. But if everywhere has a smoking bad, do people just not leave home?

I left Ohio right before the ban happened in the Akron area, so I don't know exactly how bad its been. But I live in New York City where everything is smoke free and I don't really see any problems because of it.
 
cleary said:
I really don't understand. Do pool players just stop playing if they cant smoke? Do they buy a table for home? It seems kind of silly to me that a room would close just because you cannot smoke anymore. Is it THAT bad to go outside and smoke?

If the room across the street had smoking, I could understand it affecting business. But if everywhere has a smoking bad, do people just not leave home?

I left Ohio right before the ban happened in the Akron area, so I don't know exactly how bad its been. But I live in New York City where everything is smoke free and I don't really see any problems because of it.
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Like posted earlier in the thread - in this case, they're very close to the Kentucky state line - one assumes people are just driving a bit farther over into Kentucky to a room they can still smoke in.

That is the big issue with smoking laws, IMHO - geography. If a city passes a smoking ban, smokers just drive a little farther. State-wide bans are more effective, but then you still have the areas on the edges of the states in question where the same thing happens - people just cross the state line instead of city lines. That assumes that the states next door don't have similar smoking ordinances as well.

If this particular room was more centrally located in the state, I doubt their business would be affected nearly as much. All things being equal, folks would just keep going to their favorite rooms.
 
I've witnessed this 'smoking ban' drop in player traffic in a few rooms and have also heard the story 'first hand' from some owners.

The bigger rooms (like Michael's) that have more than 8 or 12 tables are not affected as quickly as the smaller rooms that see a very QUICK drop.

The Quick drop is usually caused by the players finding an alternate room nearby (less than 15 miles)to spend their money and SMOKE without having to go outside.

The larger rooms (if they can afford the 'wait' time) will start the 'slow' process of increasing their 'retail' customer base to cover the expenses and hopefully make a month end profit.

There are recent economic factors that are also included in the decline in pool room (and all entertainment businesses). The early signs of a recession, jobless rate increasing, dollar's value decreasing, gas prices, food prices and the cost of living increasing... the first place that is cut from a budget is entertainment dollars.
 
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