Do complaining people own the pool world...
Play the table not the person your against....
:angry:
Play the table not the person your against....
:angry:
Do drunks rule pool?
- Thread starter Donny Lutz
- Start date
The simple fact is, it takes a lot of square feet to operate a pool room and those square feet cost money, in a good location, a lot of money. That may be the single biggest hurdle of opening a pool room. You can run a million dollar marketing business from a home office but a pool room is a different thing.
This discussion kind of reminds me of the torrent of complaints faced by pool tournament directors. Most everyone complains about how the events are run and how much the TD / Promoter makes. No operator is ever going to satisfy everyone. They who spend the money and keep a "business" alive rule!!! Guess only very few of us are willing to risk investing our money to open a pool room and / or run tournaments.
Lyn
Lyn
There are a lot of "serious pool players" out there who are complete worthless nits.
Come in every day, want the action table to practice on, then complain about the hourly rate or act shocked the place dares to charge them table time at all. Order nothing but water, then complain when told they can't bring in outside beverages. Never order food, then complain when they get told they can't bring in a bag of fast food or whatever from somewhere else. Never tip the staff then ask "Why can't you let me slide...I'm a regular."
This is well known. Ask anyone who works/worked at a pool hall and they will give you an earful.
I'm not sure why there are so many of those people. A business is not a charity or free public hangout space. Your local pool hall is a business, not a Boys Club/Senior Rec Center. Businesses exist to make money. If a certain demographic of customer is spending no/very little money, and making it clear they are determined to spend little or nothing in your business...is it so surprising that their wants/desires get ignored in favor of the wants/desires of other customers who are happy to spend money there?
This isn't rocket science. I just don't know why there are so many people in the pool world who seem to think this somehow doesn't apply.
Come in every day, want the action table to practice on, then complain about the hourly rate or act shocked the place dares to charge them table time at all. Order nothing but water, then complain when told they can't bring in outside beverages. Never order food, then complain when they get told they can't bring in a bag of fast food or whatever from somewhere else. Never tip the staff then ask "Why can't you let me slide...I'm a regular."
This is well known. Ask anyone who works/worked at a pool hall and they will give you an earful.
I'm not sure why there are so many of those people. A business is not a charity or free public hangout space. Your local pool hall is a business, not a Boys Club/Senior Rec Center. Businesses exist to make money. If a certain demographic of customer is spending no/very little money, and making it clear they are determined to spend little or nothing in your business...is it so surprising that their wants/desires get ignored in favor of the wants/desires of other customers who are happy to spend money there?
This isn't rocket science. I just don't know why there are so many people in the pool world who seem to think this somehow doesn't apply.
There are a lot of "serious pool players" out there who are complete worthless nits.
Come in every day, want the action table to practice on, then complain about the hourly rate or act shocked the place dares to charge them table time at all. Order nothing but water, then complain when told they can't bring in outside beverages. Never order food, then complain when they get told they can't bring in a bag of fast food or whatever from somewhere else. Never tip the staff then ask "Why can't you let me slide...I'm a regular."
This is well known. Ask anyone who works/worked at a pool hall and they will give you an earful.
I'm not sure why there are so many of those people. A business is not a charity or free public hangout space. Your local pool hall is a business, not a Boys Club/Senior Rec Center. Businesses exist to make money. If a certain demographic of customer is spending no/very little money, and making it clear they are determined to spend little or nothing in your business...is it so surprising that their wants/desires get ignored in favor of the wants/desires of other customers who are happy to spend money there?
This isn't rocket science. I just don't know why there are so many people in the pool world who seem to think this somehow doesn't apply.
Just wait.
Pool halls will be forced to give away water (you don't hate thirsty children, do you?)....but nothing bigger than 16 ounces!
Jeff Livingston
Back to the original point....Donny, I agree with you. I see it all the time as well. Juke boxes being set up, blaring music being forced on you whether you like it or not. Whoever spends the most money is welcome, regardless of the type of people they are.
What's the answer? There is none, because if someone had enough money to be able to dictate how they want their room to operate, they would probably be investing in some other business.
I've always felt like a fish out of water in a pool room. I'm not a drunk. I'm not a nit. I'm not a thief. I don't cry like a baby when I match up. I don't stiff people for money. I don't borrow money.
My only problem is that I love to play pool and I love to compete at pool. I don't belong in a pool room. Not most pool rooms, anyway.
Oh, OK. My mistake then. I don't know much about 7' tables. I thought they were 3 1/2' wide (= 172.5 sq. ft. w 4' clearance).
LOL. I love your posts about the Subic Bay area. I know it's a tourist area now. Be glad you didn't move to Subic City in the late 60's. Dead bodies on the side of the road as you drove into town.
What's Grande Island look like now? Back then if you approached it you'd be greeted by a 'Negrito' with a shotgun.
The hall I frequent is a pool hall with a bar. The bar is in a seperate room from the tables. Are there loud mouth drunks there sometimes? Sure, anytime there is alocohol sold, some folks are gonna get drunk. For the most part though they run a good business. Get into a fight, expect to get barred forever. No coming back. Period. As a matter of fact, the last fight that occurred, they called the cops and charges were filed. They run a good business, and they don't put up with any bullshit from rowdy people. My kind of place.
The thing I like most about it is they have a room with the 9 footers that is seperate from the rest of the tables. They usually have the music turned off in the 9 foot room which is great as you can easily hear the music, and it's not too loud. If it's not turned off, you can request it be turned off.
There is no way any hall is going to make it if they don't sell liquor. Table time will never pay the bills. Gone are the days of just hearing the balls clicking together all day and all night.
I do understand what you are saying though. The room is only as good as the folks running it. If they aren't running it the way I like, I would frequent another hall if it were me (providing there is another in the area). A pool hall that is run well is sometimes hard to find.
The thing I like most about it is they have a room with the 9 footers that is seperate from the rest of the tables. They usually have the music turned off in the 9 foot room which is great as you can easily hear the music, and it's not too loud. If it's not turned off, you can request it be turned off.
There is no way any hall is going to make it if they don't sell liquor. Table time will never pay the bills. Gone are the days of just hearing the balls clicking together all day and all night.
I do understand what you are saying though. The room is only as good as the folks running it. If they aren't running it the way I like, I would frequent another hall if it were me (providing there is another in the area). A pool hall that is run well is sometimes hard to find.
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Personally speaking, people drinking (sometimes I have a couple of beers, sometimes I don't) and loud music don't bother me but noisy people getting in the way a lot on the table next to me do.
But I usually go in at mid-morning on weekends. It's quiet and I have my pick of the tables. Completely different scene Wed - Sun nights. There's a good selection of rooms here but it's the same at almost all of them.
There is one snooker room with no smoking/no alcohol but they're planning to start serving alcohol.
But I usually go in at mid-morning on weekends. It's quiet and I have my pick of the tables. Completely different scene Wed - Sun nights. There's a good selection of rooms here but it's the same at almost all of them.
There is one snooker room with no smoking/no alcohol but they're planning to start serving alcohol.
The correct formula would be
floor space = exterior dimensions of table (wxl) + 1/2 area between tables, since the area around the table is shared with the adjacent table on that side. But its easiest to just take the entire square footage for the room's playing area and divide by the number of table to find out how much each table needs to make to pay for its space. BTW, the 7x3.5 is nominal, not typical playing surface or exterior dimensions.
Admittedly somewhat difficult when they're trying to swing a cue at you? Or, not?
In two of the nicest rooms in my area, the owners rarely show their face. One has a "manager" and the other relies on the bartenders to make day to day management decisions. Neither works very well.
My dream establishment is a large room with both 9' and 7' tables, waitresses that work the room and deliver food and drinks to the tables, both beer and mixed drinks, excellent food, clean environment, non smoking, and good music on a premium sound system. In other words, a place you could take your parents, a date, your spouse, or your boss. Basically, an upscale restaurant with pool tables.
Must not be a good business plan though. Unfortunately... :frown:
I think you are correct and right on point
My perspective was always that I knew I had to work to survive so I would work as hard as I possibly could and make as much money as I could and save as much as I could. Treating people well and helping all those I could actually helped the process and I wouldn't do it any other way.
Retired four years ago when I turned 55 and while I could have continued to work, I figured I had enough to make it through my estimated life so while I enjoyed a lot of what I did I didn't like it all so I stopped.
Much like cue choice, tip choice or dinner choice... Whatever is right for you is what you should do. But, like the doctor's creed, do no harm.
The bottom line is, if you want to make a living with a pool room it has to mbe on the food and beverage side. Table time will seldom pay the rent much less pay the help and give you a profit. Anyone who goes intpo the pool room business with the idea of catering to the 'pool players' is destined to go broke. Pool players don't spend enough to make it work.