Attention pool room owners - grow your business!

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.

Lenny I like your idear and I applaud your dedication. While this very well may be a good thing in some areas ( location and demographics ) I believe you may not have thought of a couple of critical aspects. One of which is the kids of today are not the same kids as when you and I were coming up. The very same people you are trying to draw in to play for free are the same people a lot of room owners are trying to figure out how to keep out legally.

With the kids today a lot of the time brings with them a TON OF BS. Fights, shootings, etc, etc. Out this way it is not uncommon at all to see signs on the front of a business stating no groups of 2, 4, 5 under the age of 18 without parental supervision will be allowed on the premises. I can't speak for Arizona, but the kids out our way are completely out of control a good portion of he time .

Everyone's hooked up with a gang and you can imagine what the result is when two rival factions in the same place at the same time can be. I imagine this happens many other places too. I totally respect your noble effort but you may not have taken this very real reality into account. I know there are people that are gonna say yes bad things happen but not the majority and if you spend all your time with what ifs............ Maybe that is true some places but what I speak of is almost a daily occurrence round these parts. Sad but ever so true.
 
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Lenny I like your idear and I applaud your dedication. While this very well may be a good thing in some areas ( location and demographics ) I believe you may not have thought of a couple of critical aspects. One of which is the kids of today are not the same kids as when you and I were coming up. The very same people you are trying to draw in to play for free are the same people a lot of room owners are trying to figure out how to keep out legally.

With the kids today a lot of the time brings with them a TON OF BS. Fights, shootings, etc, etc. Out this way it is not uncommon at all to see signs on the front of a business stating no groups of 2, 4, 5 under the age of 18 without parental supervision will be allowed on the premises. I can't speak for Arizona, but the kids out our way are completely out of control a good portion of he time .

Everyone's hooked up with a gang and you can imagine what the result is when two rival factions in the same place at the same time can be. I imagine this happens many other places too. I totally respect your noble effort but you may not have taken this very real reality into account. I know there are people that are gonna say yes bad things happen but not the majority and if you spend all your time with what ifs............ Maybe that is true some places but what I speak of is almost a daily occurrence round these parts. Sad but ever so true.

I agree you have the bad element obviously but getting kids who have parents perhaps already in the poolrooms or playing leagues would be great. Over a year ago Scott Frost and I worked with some of the APA juniors and these kids are good kids for sure and not gang affiliated. I believe that is a concern in certain areas and it will be something a room owner has to decided about and keep an eye on. I think if the kids are talked to and its known that any violence or trouble and they are out then they should do the right things.

Here is a video I shot of the fundraiser with the kids.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mZKEiPZo2c
 
Diamond Billiards & Classic Billiards operate programs with the Clovis Unified School District in California.
During the school year, upper grade students can take an elective course in pocket billiards and the high
schools arrange field trips to the pool halls during week and the pool hall is closed to the public until after 2 pm.
 
With the kids today a lot of the time brings with them a TON OF BS. Fights, shootings, etc, etc. Out this way it is not uncommon at all to see signs on the front of a business stating no groups of 2, 4, 5 under the age of 18 without parental supervision will be allowed on the premises. I can't speak for Arizona, but the kids out our way are completely out of control a good portion of he time .

Ah yes, the dreaded 'kids today' argument. First made in 400 BCE.

If you do have problems with kids, getting them into a nice safe pool hall would seem to be a cure for the problems you are citing.

Thank you kindly.
 
Cheap pool is far more valuable (to the kids) than free pool. If you want to give something away, make it lessons.

Thinking on this some more, some other suggestions.

1) Make up Pool Time Giftcards. This way you can determine how much time is out there. Control the price. Vary the price depending on the buyer (perhaps less for kids, more for their parents). Give away card without giving away pool time (i.e. someone other than the business is giving away the cards). Allows parents to buy pool time without also buying other things.

2) Have a wandering 'house pro' who can offer one piece of advise and then move on to another table. This keeps an observant person in the area at all times, while making it not a policeman.
 
Ah yes, the dreaded 'kids today' argument. First made in 400 BCE.

If you do have problems with kids, getting them into a nice safe pool hall would seem to be a cure for the problems you are citing.

Thank you kindly.

I see you are located in Maine. You probably do not have to deal with the same kind of things up there as we do here , at least not with the same frequency. I'm not saying all kids are bad at all, in fact I love kids but the stuff I speak of is all to real around these parts.

I'll give you a quick example. My home room was forced to shut down because of these very things. Jack & Jills, one of the best action rooms on the East coast for 40+ years. Well we started having the " kids " from Curtis Bay coming in on a regular basis. It was all good at first. They brought with them PLENTY of cash, plenty of gamble, and could care less dropping a few thousand everytI'm they came in.

These guys couldn't make two balls in a row but had no problem playing $100 bucks a game all night long. They played, staked, side bet - all was good. Then a rival faction from their area started coming in too. Horrendous fights started breaking out almost nightly. Pool balls being winged as hard as possible all around the room. Innocent people were getting hurt bad getting hit in the face. Shootings that were happening else ware where being traced back to fights that were happening in the pool room. Obviously this drew tons of heat from the cops. So much so they started having on duty officers stationed right in the parking lot.

Now don't get me wrong, anything and everything did go on at this pool room just as it had for decades. But everything was kept quiet and being tucked nicely away back in an industrial complex the cops usually didn't bother with us too much at all till this started happening . Anyway the police ended up classifying J&J as a public nuisance . Ultimately they went to the owner of the complex and told them they could be considered complicit. So when it came time to renew the lease, after 40 + years they would not and we lost a very famous, storied pool room. This is only one example but you could watch our evening news and here this almost nightly.

As I said I think Lenny's heart is in the right place, I just see inherent problems - at least as it pertains to our area.
 
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Anyway the police ended up classifying J&J as a public nuisance . Ultimately they went to the owner of the complex and told them they could be considered complicit.

Care to explain why it wasn't? Or why they shouldn't be considered complicit?

It was all good at first. They brought with them PLENTY of cash, plenty of gamble, and could care less dropping a few thousand everytI'm they came in.

You and the pool room owners *liked* that they were gambling thousand$ in their room. Is gambling legal in your area?

Of course this has nothing to do with kids. Even you admit that when you put quotes around the word.

The problem is that you invited (I suspect) criminals into the pool hall, not that you invited kids in.

Thank you kindly.
 
Care to explain why it wasn't? Or why they shouldn't be considered complicit?



You and the pool room owners *liked* that they were gambling thousand$ in their room. Is gambling legal in your area?

Of course this has nothing to do with kids. Even you admit that when you put quotes around the word.

The problem is that you invited (I suspect) criminals into the pool hall, not that you invited kids in.

Thank you kindly.


It is quite unclear to me what your point is but I will try to answer your questions the best I can. With any luck maybe you will understand what I'm saying better , and if that were to happen possibly you may actually have a different outlook on situation.

In regards to complicity ; I will give this example as it is a very simple concept yet I believe it parallels the circumstances almost perfectly. So let's pretend both of your parents die and you are willed their house. You already have a house with your family so obviously have no need for a second house. So you decide to go and rent it out for some extra money. The tenants you place in there meet the criteria you have set forth and passed whatever checks were asked of them. They pay their rent on time, every month and did so for a very long time. So something happens at that property that you have no knowledge of since you haven't even set foot in the place in ten plus years. So all of a sudden you get a knock on the door one day from the police and they are there to arrest you because Tennant Mr such and such did whatever. But wait, it wasn't even Mr. Such and such - it was a visitor guest that happened to go there. Any of that seem fair to you?

These types of things actually hit pretty close to home for me. I have rental properties and I do go thru a great deal or work to make sure I am completely shielded from liabilities. Now in my case it has absolutely 0 to do with police. But it is amazing what some of the Tennants of the lower income properties ( section 8 ) will try to make a quick , easy buck. This almost never happens in my " normal " to higher end rentals.

Next, were me and just about everyone else in the room happy and like there was new blood with fat pockets coming in and spreading the love? Your daMN right we were!!!!! Lol Who wouldn't right? As I said, they were well mannered and well behaved - right up until one of their rival factions from up in the city started coming around starting trouble and creating drama. I say kids because Imo that's exactly what they were - majority were in their teens.

As far as " inviting " - lololol. I know I certainly did not " invite " anyone and I seriously doubt anyone associated with the pool room nor anyone else for that matter. I mean come on now, it was a public business in which the public was free to come to if they so chose. Who knows, they may have come because it was the closest pool room from where they were from. Maybe it was just because it was just so cool of a spot. Honestly , who knows - who cares? Is gambling legal in my area? Yes; gambling, as in " a contest of skill conducted for money " is legal here as it is in most places.

Anyhow bottom line is this : I think Lenny's heart is in the right place and I applaud him for the effort. I just brought up something that he may not have taken into consideration . While this may not be a concern in some places I know around here it very well could be. Believe me we have earned our name : Bodymore, Murdaland - The City That Bleeds. The majority of murders are being committed by 14, 15, and 16 year olds. It's on the evening news every other night. I'm not making this into something big and the only reason I chose to respond to your post was to set the record straight and to correct all of the incorrect assumptions you have made. Lenny, good luck with everything brother!
 
Today, front page on MSN. com from the Washington Post, the most corrupt town in the US, in TX the first picture is a pool table/player smoking a cigarette. Most every scene in allot of movies where bad stuff happens is around a pool table. In the US the use of the pool table/bad it's shown over and over again (makes me sick) I wonder if they do this in Europe? This is a mindset here in the states that's extremely difficult to change, until change happens. I found this out when I introduced a program to the HS where my kids were raised, fell on deaf ears. Don't give up, but pool not having any long term goals, like the PGA it's 99% up hill all the time.
 
In regards to complicity ;

I am quite well aware of the legal concept of complicity. As you apparently are not, I suggest that you look it up. If you think that 'fairness' has anything to do with it, you are in for a shock. Then perhaps you will be able to give a defense for why the owners are not complicit. I really don't know the circumstances, so I can't say.

Next, were me and just about everyone else in the room happy and like there was new blood with fat pockets coming in and spreading the love? Your daMN right we were!!!!! Lol Who wouldn't right?

I wouldn't be. Perhaps because I would be able to predict the result you actually saw. How is it that a guy 'from Maine' as you say, is better able to predict how things will work than you are, who are so street wise?

Did you think these 'kids' were trust fund kids with rich parents who gave them thousands of dollars to lose in pool halls every night, or did you think they were criminals?

You didn't care, because you were greedy.

Frankly, I would rather have kids in my (hypothetical) pool hall than you.

Thank you kindly.
 
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