Breakroom Billiards red flag?

muskyed said:
Valley table in a bar I go to by my summer home, 25 cents. It's fantastic, price that is, table not so much, but it's what it is, and actually fun to play on. Sort of like an old beater pickup that's been paid off long ago.
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I almost would be wiling to play any condition table for 25 cents. key word almost lol

There is one table on free play where I live and I wont play that. The table in question had cuts in the cloth and the balls were very worn. I mistook the 9 ball for the cue ball a few times thats how worn the balls were.
 
ChrisSjoblom said:
Almost all of the bars here (Beloit/Janesville, WI) went from $1.00 to $1.50 about 3 years ago. I quit playing at the bars at that point, preferring to give my money to the local pool hall when I had time to shoot rather than the coin amusement operator. By asking around I have found enough bars in the area that offer free pool on different days of the week, that if I want to play at a bar I can usually do it for free now. Never would have looked for free tables if the price had stayed at a buck or gone to $1.25, but a 50% jump kind of p***ed me off. I do shoot on one bar league, but the bars themselves pay the table for the league games.
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How do you get free pool?
 
Its a flag that says: we are going against the pool norm and running the place with an actual plan to stay in business.

Being surrounded by ice water sipping guys counting their grocery gag of quarters is just one part of the bar pool atmosphere that I don't miss.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 
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Chili Palmer said:
Those prices aren't too crazy. I've paid $2+ for a bar box in other cities so it's not surprising. And the $5.50 isn't too bad as long as they cap it at some point. I wouldn't go there with four guys and pay $20 an hour.
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Try NYC sometime- about 16 months ago I was in NYC with my two sons playing during the daytime- both establishments- in Manhattan proper, charged $13 an hour PER PERSON at the table! That's right- 3 people was $39 and hour! That's just Manhattan though- Queens NY is a lot less.
 
Just be sure that your case doesn’t damage you cue, that’s the important thing.
 
jaime_lion said:
You know I am talking about the price per game right? How much do you pay to play a game on a diamond bar box?
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I only play on hourly tables. No bar boxes for me usually. Yes, I knew what you meant btw, just having a little fun with ya!
 
bar tables are common for 1.50
but the place may lease them and not own them so the price may be set by the owning company which takes half.
and in bars a game takes a long time with barroom players. and they damage the equipment . good players will go broke at 1.50 a rack.
 
So far no one has mentioned this is where Shane Van Boening first learned to play pool. On my recent visit to see Mt. Rushmore, I stopped in to play. Just to say I had played at Breakroom Billiards in Rapid City. I rented a table, but the pricing the owner quoted me seemed in line with the bar boxes at home. With the price of beer included it seemed a reasonable price to pay to kill a couple of hours.
 
jaime_lion said:
How do you get free pool?
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Several of the bars around here have a designated day of the week in which they either open the coin mechanism up (if they own their own table) or the bartender gives you quarters to play whenever you ask them (if the table is owned by the coin amusement company). They do it as a regular promotion to increase their bar and food business on those days. One place does it for daytime hours only, but seven days a week, and Diamond tables to boot!

While not free, the local pool hall, The Carom Room, also has a weekday special of all you can shoot from 11 to 3 for $6.00. They have Diamond 7s and 9s as well as a few Gold Crown 9s. Most of the places have food that ranges from good to great so it's easy for me to make sure they do make something off me while I'm shooting. I usually have a couple of beers as well, and I'm always sure to tip the bartender pretty well.
 
mikemosconi said:
Try NYC sometime- about 16 months ago I was in NYC with my two sons playing during the daytime- both establishments- in Manhattan proper, charged $13 an hour PER PERSON at the table! That's right- 3 people was $39 and hour! That's just Manhattan though- Queens NY is a lot less.
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LOL, yep, haven't played in NY but I have played in Chicago. I think 15 years ago we paid $9 an hour per person? Could be wrong but it was by far the most I've ever paid for a few games of pool, well, that was the most I've paid for table time ;)
 
A bar that I'll play in at lunchtime has three 8' Valley tables that are in very good condition, but the cue balls look like little moons. $1. and free on Wednesday.

When I was a kid it was .25 cents and so was a beer. But that was fifty years ago. So a buck fifty doesn't seem so bad.

I have both a GC 4 and a 6.5 Valley in the basement. When the lockdown hit I bought the barbox for my buddies to play on. Funny thing is the 8' tables in the bar have buckets and no shelves and plays easier than my little table with Penguin cushions, deeper shelves and 4.5 pockets. In addition to crowding sometimes little is not easier than bigger.
 
jimmyco said:
I would start a boycott. Maybe even organize a protest.
Oh Hell, an all out riot would not be out of order.
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I'll get the pitchforks and torches ready! $1.50, who do they think they are??
I've stopped in there once or twice to see the home of our beloved SVB. It's a decent little place.
 
maha said:
bar tables are common for 1.50
but the place may lease them and not own them so the price may be set by the owning company which takes half.
and in bars a game takes a long time with barroom players. and they damage the equipment . good players will go broke at 1.50 a rack.
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According to the Diamond website, Diamond bar box tables can be leased from Diamond for $5 per day, $1800 per year. On the surface it sounds like a great deal, but obviously that doesn’t include all the other huge costs of doing business.
 
I hate paying by the game. A 9 or 8 on the snap and there is a toilet flush of your cash. Set the dang things up for hourly and be done with it.
 
mattb said:
I hate paying by the game. A 9 or 8 on the snap and there is a toilet flush of your cash. Set the dang things up for hourly and be done with it.
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I agree but if I was playing with someone else or by myself for fun I would just shoot the rest of the balls in. So it kind of works out. As long as its not a tournament or league or such.
 
Chili Palmer said:
Those prices aren't too crazy. I've paid $2+ for a bar box in other cities so it's not surprising. And the $5.50 isn't too bad as long as they cap it at some point. I wouldn't go there with four guys and pay $20 an hour.
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Many years ago when I was just a pup one of our hangouts was sold. It had some rental pool tables but standing around drinking beer and talking was often the main activity. The new owner listed as many as five of us on one table and collected full rent including from people that never hit a ball! OOOO-Kay! After that I was careful to rent three tables at the same price or slightly more than one table cost the group. Friday and Saturday nights with things hopping the owner had to explain to everyone else that those tables were rented even if the most we did was lean on them now and then! After a few weeks of this the owner and I had another talk about capping rental on tables and life was good again.

The house man at Buffalo Billiards tried to cowboy my table price a couple trips ago. I don't get to New Orleans very often and I ended up standing around talking to old acquaintances and friends a lot more than I shot. I had told him to put me on the daytime special then three or four hours later he tried to charge me two dollars! I told him no way, I was on the special and he had to let it go at six or so plus tip like it or not! I stood up for my rights and he had to go along with me. I showed him a thing or two!

Hu
 
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