poolhallsteve
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so i just opened my poolhall 24 hours on weekends(bk's in sharonville oh)and at 11am during the week.what do you guys think, should i run some kinda special early in the day?do they where you play?and does it work?
deals on pool time?
- Thread starter poolhallsteve
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my local poolhall is hurting, and probably on the verge of shutting down, for a variety of reasons. I guess it depends on your customer base......if you have hardcore poolshooters who practice alot, etc........then probably the discount times during your off hours will get you more business and a more loyal customer base. The only thing my pool hall tried was on certain nights he would charge $5 at the door, and you could shoot pool for free from like 5 til midnight. It brought in alot of people......he cried about it not making him any money, but the reason for that is he doesnt sell food or drinks or alcohol......if he did I feel like things would be much better for him, but hes stubborn.
poolhallsteve said:
I own a 3500 square foot room with 9 tables, a repair section, and a fully stocked pro-shop in Lakewood, WA.
I open at 12:30 pm and close at 2:00 am Sun-Thur, and 12:30 pm - 4:00 am Fri-Sat.
I have a monthly membership for my customers that is $65 per month. It covers play from 12:30 pm until 6:00 pm 7 days a week.
After that full rates apply, this membership program works very well for me.
I am also going to include some photo's of my room.
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Craig
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one of my regular haunts sells a "daypass" for 750 that covers you from opening around noon to 5pm... then regular rates apply...
when i go there i usually see a bunch of the older regulars there and sometimes a few of us 'younger guys'
a place i used to frequent that closed had regular rates but then had 'membership' rates... pay 40 bucks or so a year to be a memeber and you got pooltime at about 1/2 price... seemed to work pretty good for him.
My place i hang almost all the time and practise- he just knows his regulars and ALWAYS takes care of them on table time- about 1/2 normal..... i know between the 25-30 of us we pay his rent monthly.... easily... there's 5-8 of us that's there 3-5 days a week... 4-5 hours a nite....
when i go there i usually see a bunch of the older regulars there and sometimes a few of us 'younger guys'
a place i used to frequent that closed had regular rates but then had 'membership' rates... pay 40 bucks or so a year to be a memeber and you got pooltime at about 1/2 price... seemed to work pretty good for him.
My place i hang almost all the time and practise- he just knows his regulars and ALWAYS takes care of them on table time- about 1/2 normal..... i know between the 25-30 of us we pay his rent monthly.... easily... there's 5-8 of us that's there 3-5 days a week... 4-5 hours a nite....
deal on pool time early
Run a special lump sum price till 4:00 pm. Give an option per hour that is 30% of the lump sum. Make the lump sum less than other pool halls in the area, and they should flock to your place.
Run a special lump sum price till 4:00 pm. Give an option per hour that is 30% of the lump sum. Make the lump sum less than other pool halls in the area, and they should flock to your place.
I play on new Diamond / Gabriels 9' tables from 11 am until 7 pm for $8. Most tournaments in the room are either free entry or the paid entry entitles players to free or greatly reduced table time afterwards, and often before. Plus the coffee is free refill. 
It's a sixty mile round trip, but well worth it.
It's a sixty mile round trip, but well worth it.
I haven't been to every room in the St Louis area, but I know one that offers free pool until 5 pm if you buy lunch, another offers half price on table time during the day, others have no specials, same price on table time all the time.
The rooms that have the special deals get most of my business.
I guess it depends on your situation.
The rooms that have the special deals get most of my business.
I guess it depends on your situation.
poolhallsteve said:
There are a few places around that have deals. Two places I go to it is a $6.00 flat rate from 12:00 - 6:00. The place is rarely busy during the day, but you have people coming who might not normally come into play. I think the best thing you can do though, is that if you are going to do that kind of deal, for god sakes make sure it is well advertised. Often times, there are a lot of people who come in and do not even realize that there is a flat rate.
There is another pool hall in town where they charge $5.95 all day every day. I don't know how they survive, but I'm not complaining.
schedule your discounts
We offer half price pool $1.80/hour in the daytime till 4pm during the week. To be honest it really just cut our income in half. Not many additional people came in and people did not start playing longer. But some of the regulars that just loitered before will play for 90 cents worth. yay. I would schedule your discounts for your slow times during the week. Offering discounts during your busy time like Friday and Saturday nights will hurt you. Most of your customers then are people on dates or out with friends, they EXPECT to spend money. Thats what normal people DO on the weekends. Try and make your money then I would suggest.
We offer half price pool $1.80/hour in the daytime till 4pm during the week. To be honest it really just cut our income in half. Not many additional people came in and people did not start playing longer. But some of the regulars that just loitered before will play for 90 cents worth. yay. I would schedule your discounts for your slow times during the week. Offering discounts during your busy time like Friday and Saturday nights will hurt you. Most of your customers then are people on dates or out with friends, they EXPECT to spend money. Thats what normal people DO on the weekends. Try and make your money then I would suggest.
Many pool halls have free pool with lunch from 11am to something like 3-4pm.
I know The Pool Room does this. At MrCues 2 it is $3 an hour for singles and $6 an hour for 2+. That runs during the lunchtime hour. When I had a day off from government Highschool I always went to Mr Cues 2 for the lunch special and would play for hours and hours.
A pool hall that use to be near where "The Pool Room" is would charge I believe regular rates during lunch and if you where by yourself. $10 an hour alone really sucks. However they (Atlanta Billiards) has closed down.
So I think the lunch specials and half off single rates works really well. It draws me to Cues2 or The Pool Room all the time.
I know The Pool Room does this. At MrCues 2 it is $3 an hour for singles and $6 an hour for 2+. That runs during the lunchtime hour. When I had a day off from government Highschool I always went to Mr Cues 2 for the lunch special and would play for hours and hours.
A pool hall that use to be near where "The Pool Room" is would charge I believe regular rates during lunch and if you where by yourself. $10 an hour alone really sucks. However they (Atlanta Billiards) has closed down.
So I think the lunch specials and half off single rates works really well. It draws me to Cues2 or The Pool Room all the time.
My local hall has a flat rate of 3 or 4 bucks per person from open (11am) to 6pm on the weekdays, but it doesn't apply to the 3 triple shimmed gold crowns where most of the action takes place.
