Attention pool room owners - grow your business!

Fast Lenny

Fast Lenny

Faster Than You...
Silver Member
I am trying to do something in the Phoenix area growing statewide and even nationwide to generate more business for the pool rooms and grow the game. If you really want pool to get a breath of fresh air and some new blood you need to get the youth just like sports such as football, baseball, basketball and so on do with youth programs who grow up to support those sports for life. Pool room owners need to implement a youth program in each and every room nationwide with free pool on Saturdays and Sundays from say noon to 6 for everyone under the age of 18 to get them in there playing.

These kids will buy cues, cases, food, drink, snacks and grow up with your business. On weekdays if they come in during the evenings which they will be itching to do they can pay regular rates or maybe a special rate if that is what you are inclined to do. During the days on the weekends most rooms aren't super busy and empty tables aren't making money. Poolrooms die out with the customers who are aging and dying off. I believe this program could generate new players nationwide.

I am asking room owners to give up some tables on Saturday and Sunday and be added to a list that I hope to grow so kids know they can go to these places to play for free during noon to 6pm. Put up flyers in your room and announce it daily so people know so you can grow your business. Would you be a part of a billiard youth program which will help grow your business and the game of billiards?
 

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Allen Brown said:
This would work if most pool halls weren't actually bars. Kids can't get in bars.
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I am after poolrooms and not little bars and pubs with a few tables in them as this would not work. The places that are mainly poolrooms that have a bar in there I am not opposed to. Most places in Arizona allow kids in the poolrooms during the day which is why I think the hours of noon until 6pm are important just on the weekends when its slow.
 
Sounds like a good idea Lenny. You're one of the best on here and not always looking to line your pockets. Good luck with this. Johnnyt
 
The newest pool hall near Microsoft campus (Redmond, WA) is all ages all the time (no liquor license). They have been in business about a year now. They constantly have business from high school kids. But the hall definitely caters to the Asian scene as it's owned by a really friendly Chinese guy. They have three snooker tables, one Chinese 8' and 5 US style 9' tables.

There are weekly snooker tournaments and they also host league teams on one or two nights a week (our team did very well there as the only team that played regularly on 9' tables).

Note: As we are a coastal city, we have a very large foreign population, so catering to an Asian market is beneficial... As we know the old American guys aren't paying to use the tables like they used to.
 
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Our local pool room has a kids youth program...

Kids are rough on equipment no matter what u tell or try to teach them so there is more too it than just giving away pool....need instructors and mentors for the kids.






Rob.M
 
dontlitethat said:
Our local pool room has a kids youth program...

Kids are rough on equipment no matter what u tell or try to teach them so there is more too it than just giving away pool....need instructors and mentors for the kids.






Rob.M
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I agree and I believe there are some players who might enjoy teaching the kids the basics. You can also teach them good etiquette and manners too.
 
Never give pool away. If pool is free then it has no value. Free pool devalues the game and undermines the business of the game.

If an establishment sets up a "complimentary" continental breakfast or refreshment table and has an "on hand" instructor/pro to assist and answer questions, the guests sense the care and enthusiasm for the sport. The personal touch is always noticed and appreciated.

Free pool is NOT appreciated. Free pool is just something to take advantage of, and is taken for granted by people with no money. Even people with money are trained: "pool is free".
 
Paul Schofield said:
Never give pool away. If pool is free then it has no value. Free pool devalues the game and undermines the business of the game.

If an establishment sets up a "complimentary" continental breakfast or refreshment table and has an "on hand" instructor/pro to assist and answer questions, the guests sense the care and enthusiasm for the sport. The personal touch is always noticed and appreciated.

Free pool is NOT appreciated. Free pool is just something to take advantage of, and is taken for granted by people with no money. Even people with money are trained: "pool is free".
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I gotta agree with you Paul. I mean, some APA players moan when they have to put quarters in the table ?? WTF? The bar has to make some money too, NOT just the LO for crying out loud. Oh, yes, they buy drinks and such, but most of the tables are "rented" anyways through some deal with Diamond.

In my ACS league, $15 per week per player, $4 from each player goes RIGHT to the house. hey, we tie up every table in the pool room, for the entire night.

But I like Lenny's idea, with maybe a reduced rate to get them in. Maybe even free the first 2 weeks, with instruction, pizza and soda. Heck, they might like a place to hang out with their friends on Saturday afternoons.
 
Why would these same people not expect to always receive free refreshments and free lessons?

Your position seems extreme and illogical. Or maybe I just need to propose to the local little league board that we start charging the individual kids for each and every game they play. After all, if these kiddos don't see money changing hands they aren't going to appreciate the game.
 
I've received free pool on occasion and it's always appreciated. If a pool room has cultivated a culture where free pool is not appreciated I think this says just as much about the room as it does the clientele.
 
Parents

Getting them to let kids do this is the problem. All parents mindsets are NOT thinking good thoughts about the demographics of a pool table/pool room. IMO, the hustler and Color of Money solidified the naïve American mindset of what takes place around a pool table. The only successful US pro that comes to mind, is Oscar Dominguez, but Ernesto made sure he got a college degree in place early on.
 
Island Drive said:
Getting them to let kids do this is the problem. All parents mindsets are NOT thinking good thoughts about the demographics of a pool table/pool room. IMO, the hustler and Color of Money solidified the naïve American mindset of what takes place around a pool table. The only successful US pro that comes to mind, is Oscar Dominguez, but Ernesto made sure he got a college degree in place early on.
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I have to agree and that is why getting the kids in the rooms and parents seeing its an okay place for them to be because the majority of rooms are not bad places for kids during the day time.
 
Paul Schofield said:
Never give pool away. If pool is free then it has no value. Free pool devalues the game and undermines the business of the game.

If an establishment sets up a "complimentary" continental breakfast or refreshment table and has an "on hand" instructor/pro to assist and answer questions, the guests sense the care and enthusiasm for the sport. The personal touch is always noticed and appreciated.

Free pool is NOT appreciated. Free pool is just something to take advantage of, and is taken for granted by people with no money. Even people with money are trained: "pool is free".
Click to expand...

Table time is not how poolrooms make the majority of the money and do so mainly off of food and drink sales. These kids if they want to play after say 6pm or during the week will have to pay table time. They will be buying food and drinks and other products, they will grow up with that business and are the future of it so it is an investment that really doesn't cost much if anything depending on how you look at it. Room owners have more to gain then to lose from it in the long run by growing the new customer base.

During the day on the weekends unless an event is going on most poolrooms are a ghost town with plenty of empty tables so it would be best to make some money then no money off of them when you have people in there who will spend some pocket change. A room owner could set aside even just a single table or even a single day on the weekend and if a kid or two wants their own table they would have to pay for it as I am not saying for a room owner to have all tables open for free. I have seen a few rooms have days where there is free pool on certain days that aren't busy to draw people in and spend money on other things, obviously during prime time hours you aren't going to do this.
 
ChicagoRJ said:
I gotta agree with you Paul. I mean, some APA players moan when they have to put quarters in the table ?? WTF? The bar has to make some money too, NOT just the LO for crying out loud. Oh, yes, they buy drinks and such, but most of the tables are "rented" anyways through some deal with Diamond.

In my ACS league, $15 per week per player, $4 from each player goes RIGHT to the house. hey, we tie up every table in the pool room, for the entire night.

But I like Lenny's idea, with maybe a reduced rate to get them in. Maybe even free the first 2 weeks, with instruction, pizza and soda. Heck, they might like a place to hang out with their friends on Saturday afternoons.
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This is the idea to get them in there. Trust me they will get hooked to this game just like all of us and will be trying to get to that table as much as possible and during those non free hours they will be paying table time. These kids will buy product and food/drink so a room will make money. Most people who get comfortable in a room become lifers who are loyal to that home room. The idea is to make your business feel like a home away from home.
 
Fast Lenny said:
This is the idea to get them in there. Trust me they will get hooked to this game just like all of us and will be trying to get to that table as much as possible and during those non free hours they will be paying table time. These kids will buy product and food/drink so a room will make money. Most people who get comfortable in a room become lifers who are loyal to that home room. The idea is to make your business feel like a home away from home.
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YEP :thumbup: Got nothing to lose and EVERYTHING to gain. Heck, tobacco companies use to target kids for this very reason, as their customers died off (literally) they needed to get new ones in the fold.

I've given lessons at our teen center just to keep them interested in the game. Most of them don't know how to play, but they have this big pool table that nobody uses, so now they have one more thing to "do" when at the teen center.....
 
Fast Lenny said:
Table time is not how poolrooms make the majority of the money and do so mainly off of food and drink sales. These kids if they want to play after say 6pm or during the week will have to pay table time. They will be buying food and drinks and other products, they will grow up with that business and are the future of it so it is an investment that really doesn't cost much if anything depending on how you look at it. Room owners have more to gain then to lose from it in the long run by growing the new customer base.

During the day on the weekends unless an event is going on most poolrooms are a ghost town with plenty of empty tables so it would be best to make some money then no money off of them when you have people in there who will spend some pocket change. A room owner could set aside even just a single table or even a single day on the weekend and if a kid or two wants their own table they would have to pay for it as I am not saying for a room owner to have all tables open for free. I have seen a few rooms have days where there is free pool on certain days that aren't busy to draw people in and spend money on other things, obviously during prime time hours you aren't going to do this.
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Of course there are many reasons ones NOT able to give free pool BUT. In Pueblo CO at the side pocket with all Diamond bar tables and a couple valleys and one GCII, pool is free 24/7. One thing Tom the mgr and the mindset of this town has learned, you give and you receive. This place & town, is a perfect example of success by giving. Because of this, the place is Always busy, and those there in return buy a soda or a burger and tell their friends. They do have a full bar and food/fryer and the hospitality is similar to family. It's the only room I've ever been too that does this but it's amazing how successfully this preexisting Corner Pocket room is. Also, the town of Pueblo CO has NO parking meters downtown and many 4th and 5th generation American Mexican families and Italians. Pueblo built the rail system that helped expand the US westward in it's earliest years with rail service. Now the Santa Fe Route thru KS/CO/NM is getting redone and the town is booming, and of course the hemp industry in all its various forms it also thriving, the Arkansas river runs right thru it to the Mississippi River so water is NOT an issue.
 
ChicagoRJ said:
YEP :thumbup: Got nothing to lose and EVERYTHING to gain. Heck, tobacco companies use to target kids for this very reason, as their customers died off (literally) they needed to get new ones in the fold.

I've given lessons at our teen center just to keep them interested in the game. Most of them don't know how to play, but they have this big pool table that nobody uses, so now they have one more thing to "do" when at the teen center.....
Click to expand...

I also would like to try and set up a billiard mentor type program similar to big brother/big sister programs so kids can learn from people willing to teach. I feel over time this could really grow the game getting thousands of new players involved over say the next 10 years which in turn could generate lots of monies into the sport we love. When the kids learn and start making balls and getting better and better they just want to play even more. This game is addicting but you gotta get the kids off the video games and playing one another.
 
Island Drive said:
Of course there are many reasons ones NOT able to give free pool BUT. In Pueblo CO at the side pocket with all Diamond bar tables and a couple valleys and one GCII, pool is free 24/7. One thing Tom the mgr and the mindset of this town has learned, you give and you receive. This place & town, is a perfect example of success by giving. Because of this, the place is Always busy, and those there in return buy a soda or a burger and tell their friends. They do have a full bar and food/fryer and the hospitality is similar to family. It's the only room I've ever been too that does this but it's amazing how successfully this preexisting Corner Pocket room is. Also, the town of Pueblo CO has NO parking meters downtown and many 4th and 5th generation American Mexican families and Italians. Pueblo built the rail system that helped expand the US westward in it's earliest years with rail service. Now the Santa Fe Route thru KS/CO/NM is getting redone and the town is booming, and of course the hemp industry in all its various forms it also thriving, the Arkansas river runs right thru it to the Mississippi River so water is NOT an issue.
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That is the idea and I have seen it effective in some places in Arizona which on the slow days they give free pool to get people in the rooms and they buy drinks and food and snacks. You have to get them in the door first and I feel some old school owners are just not getting it and we see many rooms die off with the customers because these room owners don't get the youth in the doors to keep growing and building the business. Not saying this applies to all businesses as some might cater to sports and its more of a sports bar with pool tables.
 
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