Bemoaning the rise of the bar box

Exactly

Exactly,
So my thing is we should find more ways to enjoy the 7ft table. Diamond has revolutionized the industry in making the best 7ft table known to man. Its a square footage issue and pool has become a way to attract food and beverage customers almost like darts.

So it be what it is and it will cycle back in the 9ft direction one day.

Already there are tons more pool leaguers than regular accomplished players so we keep building that and maybe that will expand into places designed and run by the league systems for their players? Who knows?

There are always going to be somewhere to drive to find a 9ft table kind of like driving to a Golf Course. You just call ahead and get them to hold you a table for your all day foray into 9footdom.

You know that works. When someone supports the 9ft table its available.

The problem with Pool is that the room owners aren't in the Pool League business, they let someone else run that for them, hence these are the types of players that we have. No other body of pool has a plan to recruit players so .....no new 9ft players is the result.

BmoreMoney said:
IMO , here's the dealio : A combination of a few things, and to me it does not look like it's going to change any time soon. I believe regardless of everything else at the end of the day it just comes down to business - dollar$ & cent$.

The cost of commercial real estate to rent ( forget about buying ) has skyrocketed over the years. The cost of commercial space by the square foot is enormous. It does not matter in the least what any of us likes, thinks, despises, etc - the room owner needs to get $xxxxx return out of each square footage that he has and yes it takes quite a bit because pool tables and the additional space required for them is huge and if that does not happen the business will not be viable in a very short time. So can a pool table ( 7,8,9,10 foot rental price point per hour add up to $xxxxx at the end of the month to cover the nut? The vast majority of the time the answer is no. So where does the money come from then? Yes, alcohol of course. Alcohol is profitable , usually very profitable.

Now, think about it. Who is more likely to spend money? Two " players " in a match on a 9 foot - and they can be gambling or not - doesn't really matter. Odds are they are taking the game seriously because even if they are not in action they are probably trying to get some good practice in and alcohol pretty much is not in that equation . Then you have the leaguers, commonly referred to as " bangers ". More often than not the people in the leagues are in it for the fun, a night out, hang out with friends and be social. What goes perfectly with all of hose scenarios? You guessed it - our good buddy alcohol. Some on here may debate the percentage of leaguers that are drinking and that's fine for this conversation. My point being that there Def are some. Imo, probably most of them but at least the majority. So on league night between the at least two teams you have what 10-14 players total. Even if only half of those players drink and if each ONLY has 2 drinks apiece ( and we know that ain't happening ) those 2 or 3 or even 4 tables that are being used have now made exponentially more money than table time could ever dream of bringing in.

So that brings the obvious question : why can't we have our cake and eat it too? What I mean is why not just have the 9 footers for the league AND the players AND the alcohol. Well the answer is two fold. First and probably the most obvious is space. The room owners need to optimize the space available to them. The second, and Imo at least as important is the average league player IS SCARED TO DEATH of the 9 footer. No inclination to play on one what so ever. And to be honest, you think some of these matches between the 3's, 4's, and 5's take forever now - see if anyone could fade it on a fullsize. Not doggin anybody but in reality........... Anyhow, same as most other things - it just comes down to the money .
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From an Accomplished Player

Colonel said:
I'm down for a bonfire where we burn them all.
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Well Chicken Man I can understand that but it won't change the reality. You know it is what it is and there isn't anyway to stop it. So make like Kwai Chang and flow with life!
 
336Robin said:
Well Chicken Man I can understand that but it won't change the reality. You know it is what it is and there isn't anyway to stop it. So make like Kwai Chang and flow with life!
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If this is our destiny, then can we at least play bank pool on the bar box? That would probably be fun.
 
Lots of ways

jalapus logan said:
If this is our destiny, then can we at least play bank pool on the bar box? That would probably be fun.
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I think there are lots of things that can be done, tight pockets, small balls, different games, bank pool, the question that I think needs to be answered is how can we get pool to support the pool that is left?
 
PocketPooler said:
I prefer the 9' for the challenge of tight pockets and more green.

I also enjoy staying away from the 16 year old ninja wannabe twirling his stick around, as well as the drug addict whore trying to score her next hit.

I wanna be left alone to PRACTICE. i dont want bothered, i dont want you in my way. I dont want you waljing in front of me when im mid stroke. I dont want to hear your stupid stories about how drunk you were or how big her boobs were. I want to PRACTICE. I dont want to hear about how you won $10 on this shot last week. I dont want to show you trick shots. I want to PRACTICE, BE FOCUSED, AND CONCENTRATE.


Enjoy the 7 footers; thats why they are there. Learn the game, build your stroke, learn about shape. Take what you learn and challenge yourself to get better and them play on the 9' when youre serious about wanting to improve. If youre not wanting to imrpove, then stay on the 7' side of the room, and leave your drama and chaos there too.
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Sounds like you should buy a table and just play at home.
 
As long as the 7' table remains a cion-op, pockets will stall large. What I'd like to see is no coin-op in poolrooms and I believe they would get more play from the better players. The $1.50 a game now is crazy for a player. Johnnyt
 
Coin Op tables

Johnnyt said:
As long as the 7' table remains a cion-op, pockets will stall large. What I'd like to see is no coin-op in poolrooms and I believe they would get more play from the better players. The $1.50 a game now is crazy for a player. Johnnyt
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I agree. One time I went into a service station and they had a coin op table that was set at 10 cents. That thing got some play and I bet he sold a lot of snacks from it too.
 
336Robin said:
I agree. One time I went into a service station and they had a coin op table that was set at 10 cents. That thing got some play and I bet he sold a lot of snacks from it too.
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Ten cents is what the Valley cost when first came to bars around 1950, on the Eastcoast. 15 cent beer, a dime to get on table, play for a buck, win two in a row and drink free all night. Johnnyt
 
I hear ya!

I just can't warm up to the 7' bar box tables, they look like a kids table. After taking a 20 state 16,300 mile road trip a few months ago I learned there are few pool halls and few decent 9' tables around as compared to when I was a kid.

The majority of the pool players in my hick Alaskan town seem to prefer shooting in the towns bars and playing on their poorly kept 7' tables to going to the local pool hall and playing on a 9" Brunswick table. But, that explains why few of them can run out on a 7' table, let alone a 9' table, as their game rarely improves.

It is my understanding the league play is what boosted the 7' tables popularity. If thousands of shooters prefer them I am ok with it, it just is not my preference.

The 7' Diamond with 4" corner pockets an 4.75" side pockets would make a 7' table more respectable to me.


Hey Guys,

Am I messed up on my pocket size thinking? My old 9' Rebco has side pockets that measure 3/4 of an inch wider then my corner pockets, so I used the same scale on my 7' table thinking. Are the corner and side pockets the same size on most other tables?
 
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I learned to play on 8 ft tables and when I became 'accomplished' I moved on to 9 ft tables. I wanted to challenge myself and the better players on the larger tables. This was before the days of league pool. I play league pool to this day and feel that without leagues pool may not exist outside of private homes. With that in mind I believe 7 ft tables are a necessity for bringing in new players. It seems to me that instant gratification or at least the sense of accomplishing something quickly has become ingrained into society these days. So perhaps 7 ft tables are the answer to that. My personal opinion is there is a place for 9 ft tables still. Perhaps that window is closing a little and businesses need to mix different size tables for them to survive along with other ways to produce income such as liquor and food. I hope pool stays viable and that the owners can find the magic formula to accomplish that. However I do not feel that having only 7 ft tables is the answer. JMO!!!!
 
Colonel said:
I'm down for a bonfire where we burn them all.
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Colonol, honestly I learned how to play on a 9, don't think I ever played on a BB till like 3 years after I started playing ( and that was when I started hitting bars. ) I'd also say easily 90 % or better of my action has been on a 9. Theyre not all bad though for a couple reasons. One, I have made a lot of chicken over the years in bars on BB's. Second there is always that guy that will only match up with you on a BB because they feel they have no chance on a fullsize. On a lighter note, it's always nice to jump on a BB once in awhile and feel like Efren for a short bit lol.

JT, I agree buck fiddy goes REAL FAST for a player. I've been kinda lucky in this aspect. Most of the bars I go in in my area know me and will open up for me. Another thing I do if when ordering my first drink hitting the bar maid of with a Jackson for herself. Usually she will gladly open table for ya, and it's an absolute certainty that you will NEVER wait for a drink EVER lol.

AK - that trips sounds AWESOME bro!!!! Did you do any type of write up on it or is there a thread anywhere with some stories ? Id love to read some about it.
 
Ak Guy said:
I just can't warm up to the 7' bar box tables, they look like a kids table. After taking a 20 state 16,300 mile road trip a few months ago I learned there are few pool halls and few decent 9' tables around as compared to when I was a kid.

The majority of the pool players in my hick Alaskan town seem to prefer shooting in the towns bars and playing on their poorly kept 7' tables to going to the local pool hall and playing on a 9" Brunswick table. But, that explains why few of them can run out on a 7' table, let alone a 9' table, as their game rarely improves.

It is my understanding the league play is what boosted the 7' tables popularity. If thousands of shooters prefer them I am ok with it, it just is not my preference.

The 7' Diamond with 4" corner pockets an 4.75" side pockets would make a 7' table more respectable to me.
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U want bigger side pockets than corner pockets ??
 
Quesports said:
I learned to play on 8 ft tables and when I became 'accomplished' I moved on to 9 ft tables. I wanted to challenge myself and the better players on the larger tables. This was before the days of league pool. I play league pool to this day and feel that without leagues pool may not exist outside of private homes. With that in mind I believe 7 ft tables are a necessity for bringing in new players. It seems to me that instant gratification or at least the sense of accomplishing something quickly has become ingrained into society these days. So perhaps 7 ft tables are the answer to that. My personal opinion is there is a place for 9 ft tables still. Perhaps that window is closing a little and businesses need to mix different size tables for them to survive along with other ways to produce income such as liquor and food. I hope pool stays viable and that the owners can find the magic formula to accomplish that. However I do not feel that having only 7 ft tables is the answer. JMO!!!!
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Private homes is apparently where 9 foot tables are going. In fact, I am going to have my basement certified as a Nine Foot Pool Table Wildlife Preserve. It would also probably behoove us to start a Nine Foot Pool Table Humane Society complete with both foster home and adoption programs.
 
jalapus logan said:
Private homes is apparently where 9 foot tables are going. In fact, I am going to have my basement certified as a Nine Foot Pool Table Wildlife Preserve. It would also probably behoove us to start a Nine Foot Pool Table Humane Society complete with both foster home and adoption programs.
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Funny. A little heavy on the hyperbole perhaps but I bemoan it too. I think you see a preponderance of nine footers around the larger cities and their suburbs. As I mentioned in a previous post, living in the Philly burbs I can find 9 footers in 4 rooms near me and additional 9 footers in other rooms in the area. From reading these threads I have assumed the southwest, great plains and midwest are 7 foot territory. The northeast has plenty of 9 footers. If I had only 7 footers to play on I wouldn't play as much.
 
macguy said:
Without knowing your age I would say without the bar table you would not be playing pool at all.
They saved the game. Without the bar table pool would be like trying to find a place to play Duck Pins.
Look how hard it is now to find a nice place with 9 foot tables to play. Imagine what it would be like if the bar table had not saved the sport all together. You would have to look in books to see what a pool table used to look like, you would not be able to find any, none.

I remember when even the Brunswick bowling alleys were closing their billiard rooms, often beautiful 20 and 30 table rooms and converting them to banquet and meeting rooms. Pool was over, period. The sport was officially dead. The bar table saved it, brought it back from the dead.
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WTF are duck pins
 
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