I believe you Paul. So why did you bother to start this thread in the first place if you already knew the reaction you would receive?
Pretty transparent you are.
Dress Code for Gold Crown Billiards, Erie, PA
- Thread starter Paul Schofield
- Start date
I believe you Paul. So why did you bother to start this thread in the first place if you already knew the reaction you would receive?
Pretty transparent you are.
I think I have explained at length why I started this thread. You find my motives transparent. It's so easy for you to see. Go ahead and explain in full detail. You got the floor.
I for one do think his dress code is a little harsh. I wear sweat pants alot because of the comfort. But to shoot in a place where you dont see pants hanging half way down to their knees, T-shirts down to their knees etc. etc. I will abide by his dress code.
Keep it up Paul
Keep it up Paul
Your first post? There is saying for this:
"Blindly toss a rock over a fence, it is the hit dog that yelps."
In all seriousness, dress codes applied to employees and consumers have been repeatedly upheld by the courts. Your discrimination accusation is empty.
Very recently, a friend spent an evening at Gold Crown, while taking a break from visiting family in Erie. The feedback he provided me with was that the place deserved a five star review. It was clean, comfortable, well kept and the staff was friendly. Good marks for any business, let alone a poolroom.
It is obvious to me, that Paul has dedicated his entire being to the success of his business and conformed his thinking and standards to that of which the community expected of him. Few poolroom owners would have made the extra efforts to do so. To have made such a commitment at the early age of 24, shows a special incite to the responsibilities to all the people whose lives he has touched for all of these years. I can only wonder whether he had any idea as to what he was getting into when he first opened his doors for business.
From personal experience, the poolroom owner takes on the guise of many facets. He will be a businessman, a boss, an instructor, a lender of means and a collector. Then, he must be a marriage consular, a dating game host and a child psychologist. Plus, he must be a negotiator, a politician, a bouncer and a janitor. All of this while trying to be sure that each person that comes into his business, whether a customer or an employee, will leave smiling and itching to comeback soon. Selfishly or unselfishly, he has made his place of business a safe haven where a loyal clientele consistently knows what to expect when they come to his establishment.
With the creation of rules or a code in which the customer must abide by to even get in the door, he has helped insure to all of his customers a certainty that their well being is of value to the proprietorship.
Throughout the course of a year, thousands of different faces probably cross paths with each other at Gold Crown. Personalities will conflict at times at any poolroom under normal circumstances, as they will at any other place. But having a set of rules to enter, establishes to those that need to it, to watch their P’s & Q’s.
Erie is a fairly large city of more than 100,000. The same troubles are there that are faced in any other city. I am sure he has plenty of experience with them.
It is, also, known that Paul does encourage the young to get involved playing Pocket Billiard Sports by the hours he manages for them to be able to make use of his facility.
Perhaps Paul has been on the right track for all of these years. Maybe some of the poolroom owners and players could take the cotton out of their ears and stick it in their mouths when it comes to knowing what is best for our Sport.
So next time you're at the poolroom and a couple fellows walk in with blue bandanas around their heads and some others walk in with pants hanging mid-assed and the voices start getting loud with “MF this” and MF that”, maybe we should think, “Is this what I really want for my Sport?”
If anything, I tip my hat to Paul for his success and credit him the courage to set standards for which he believes is best for the Sport and to live by those standards.
We must all keep in mind that without our local poolroom, there is no Sport.
It is obvious to me, that Paul has dedicated his entire being to the success of his business and conformed his thinking and standards to that of which the community expected of him. Few poolroom owners would have made the extra efforts to do so. To have made such a commitment at the early age of 24, shows a special incite to the responsibilities to all the people whose lives he has touched for all of these years. I can only wonder whether he had any idea as to what he was getting into when he first opened his doors for business.
From personal experience, the poolroom owner takes on the guise of many facets. He will be a businessman, a boss, an instructor, a lender of means and a collector. Then, he must be a marriage consular, a dating game host and a child psychologist. Plus, he must be a negotiator, a politician, a bouncer and a janitor. All of this while trying to be sure that each person that comes into his business, whether a customer or an employee, will leave smiling and itching to comeback soon. Selfishly or unselfishly, he has made his place of business a safe haven where a loyal clientele consistently knows what to expect when they come to his establishment.
With the creation of rules or a code in which the customer must abide by to even get in the door, he has helped insure to all of his customers a certainty that their well being is of value to the proprietorship.
Throughout the course of a year, thousands of different faces probably cross paths with each other at Gold Crown. Personalities will conflict at times at any poolroom under normal circumstances, as they will at any other place. But having a set of rules to enter, establishes to those that need to it, to watch their P’s & Q’s.
Erie is a fairly large city of more than 100,000. The same troubles are there that are faced in any other city. I am sure he has plenty of experience with them.
It is, also, known that Paul does encourage the young to get involved playing Pocket Billiard Sports by the hours he manages for them to be able to make use of his facility.
Perhaps Paul has been on the right track for all of these years. Maybe some of the poolroom owners and players could take the cotton out of their ears and stick it in their mouths when it comes to knowing what is best for our Sport.
So next time you're at the poolroom and a couple fellows walk in with blue bandanas around their heads and some others walk in with pants hanging mid-assed and the voices start getting loud with “MF this” and MF that”, maybe we should think, “Is this what I really want for my Sport?”
If anything, I tip my hat to Paul for his success and credit him the courage to set standards for which he believes is best for the Sport and to live by those standards.
We must all keep in mind that without our local poolroom, there is no Sport.
Some posts deserve repeating, word for word. Your post is one of those.
In the future, I will be paying more attention to posts from TopCat1953.
I agree, Joey -- that was indeed a great post by TopCat1953. Enjoyable reading, and so very true.
I haven't been following this thread very closely, because I was quite bewildered at the sheer volume of post traffic it's getting, and with the sparse amount of time I'm able to spend on these boards, I simply haven't been able to keep up.
I mean, come on, a pool room has a dress code. Like that is such a big deal? Are folks on these boards really that up in arms that hoodies and sweat pants aren't allowed in Paul's room? I would think that folks reading these boards have a computer -- PC, Mac, smartphone, what-have-you. These items are not cheap. This speaks to the person having at least a bit of money. Sweat pants aren't the only type of pants that are comfortable. (And besides, "sweat pants" -- as their name implies -- are normally used for exercise, not going out on town.) Is it really such a big deal to invest a little bit of money into a decent pair of comfortable pants, like say, a pair of cotton khakis at the low end, to a fitted pair of Italian stretch-wool slacks at the high end -- *both* of them very comfortable? Are we that limited in our fashion sense -- a sense of "looking decent" while out in public -- that an exercise garment is the only thing we can think of to go out in public in?
Honestly, I think we, pool players collectively, have lost our minds. We wonder why pool is in the shape it's in. And yet we complain about those that are trying to do something about it -- complaining about e.g. dress codes and banning the use of music devices (iPods, headphones) in tournaments?
Some people really do need a reality check.
-Sean
It's Sign, not a Letter.
Why not just post a sign that says "Black Tie Only"?
Just kidding. I actually agree with 99% of the sign.
I will point out it's aimed mostly at Men, but how much trouble does any Pool Hall get from Female customers?
I like it!
Just kidding. I actually agree with 99% of the sign.
I will point out it's aimed mostly at Men, but how much trouble does any Pool Hall get from Female customers?
I like it!
Life & choices........
If I want to wear what I want I stay home, as I have no neighbors to worry about and can go all day with out being seen if I choose to.
If I want to present a certain image and statement about the kind of person I am when I go out in public, then I give some thought to what I am wearing, how I speak and my behavior.
I also want to show respect for the game of pool, so that is all part of it for me. I want to shoot well and present a good image for the younger players and my peers. If some one is financially strapped they can still present a good image with a pair of clean jeans and a clean shirt.
My little hick Alaskan town has one pool hall with 7 good 9" Brunswick tables. No smoking, booze or foul music on the juke box. Druggies are not welcome and fortunately the wannabe gang toughs are not drawn to this area. The friendly local police stop by just enough to say hi and they are welcome and treated with respect.
I salute any "room owner" who tries to maintain a decent environment for their patrons to play pool in. If any one wants to see pool have a better image and appeal to the masses more, which would lead to more pool rooms, then I encourage you to support pool in this manner.
I personally have no issue with alcohol in pool rooms, but I really don't care to be around drunks.
If I want to wear what I want I stay home, as I have no neighbors to worry about and can go all day with out being seen if I choose to.
If I want to present a certain image and statement about the kind of person I am when I go out in public, then I give some thought to what I am wearing, how I speak and my behavior.
I also want to show respect for the game of pool, so that is all part of it for me. I want to shoot well and present a good image for the younger players and my peers. If some one is financially strapped they can still present a good image with a pair of clean jeans and a clean shirt.
My little hick Alaskan town has one pool hall with 7 good 9" Brunswick tables. No smoking, booze or foul music on the juke box. Druggies are not welcome and fortunately the wannabe gang toughs are not drawn to this area. The friendly local police stop by just enough to say hi and they are welcome and treated with respect.
I salute any "room owner" who tries to maintain a decent environment for their patrons to play pool in. If any one wants to see pool have a better image and appeal to the masses more, which would lead to more pool rooms, then I encourage you to support pool in this manner.
I personally have no issue with alcohol in pool rooms, but I really don't care to be around drunks.
Most dress codes for pool are a joke. You can be in dress code and still look like a slob. Wrinkly pants, shirt, old worn out shoes and you're in dress code. Meanwhile someone wearing a nice brand new shirt with matching tennis shoes and nice jeans or nice golf shorts isn't allowed. It's stupid! I understand pro's shouldn't be looking like buns but long sleeve shirts and dress shoes is a joke.
What took you so long?
I know. I just joined. I'm a Noob.
This thread was started seven years ago in 2010.
Last post was in 2015.
Justin, I apologize if I missed something in the thread, but I didn't see anywhere in here that Gold Crown requires long sleeve shirts or dress shoes. Did you look at the pictures the OP posted of the clientele in his place? Plenty of very casually dressed people. Also, his code doesn't make any distinction between pros and general customers.
All the OP is doing is maintaining standards that he's comfortable with and that he feels are beneficial to his business and the sport. That's his right as a business owner. If you feel that is stupid and you avoid his business because of that, that's your right. Some people will stay away because of the dress code, and some will come because of the atmosphere it promotes. That's a trade he is willing to make, and it obviously has worked very well for him.
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This is 100000000% correct. Pool had a serious identity crisis and it won't be changing anytime soon. The people "in charge" are way too out of touch with reality but honestly, most pool players in general are.
I think he's just commenting on the game of pool and the mindsets in general.
A dress code this strict is totally ridiculous, the place deserves to go bankrupt.
A truly ridiculous statement! Do you know how long Paul has been in business??
In most of Europe the dress code is quite strict for billiards, especially Eurotour tournaments and of course snooker and carom are even stricter. Snooker and Carom requires you to wear either a smoking or at least matching pants/west, long sleeved white shirt and a bowtie...My friend once was denied playing because he left his black dress shoes at home, after driving for hours to a tournament. It sucked, but at least it's the same for all, and an official tournament is different than casual playing. Personally I think the smoking dress code is a bit much, but I have no trouble with the Eurotour one, so long at it is for official tournaments. For a weekly 10 dollar pool hall tournament it would just be silly and over the top.
I'd be well within the rules of this guys establishment. That being said, seing a sign like that in all caps might make me turn around and leave. It's like being yelled at, creates a very bad atmosphere I think. Of course, which clothes are bad or good is a matter of interpretation, and so is signage like this. It's got very judgemental undertones and religious ones at that, so from that I'd infer that I would not fit in.
I'd be well within the rules of this guys establishment. That being said, seing a sign like that in all caps might make me turn around and leave. It's like being yelled at, creates a very bad atmosphere I think. Of course, which clothes are bad or good is a matter of interpretation, and so is signage like this. It's got very judgemental undertones and religious ones at that, so from that I'd infer that I would not fit in.
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99,
I've been a patron at Gold Crown Billiards many, many times. My gut feeling is, if you choose not to patronize GCB, there are other places when you can act and dress as you feel. Patronize them. Of course the food may not be as good. The pool tables may not be as well cared for but YOU have made the choice. Paul and his staff enforce the dress code equally across the board. I've never seen or heard the staff belittle a customer for their appearance. They simply ask to modify your dress (or behavior) to meet the code. If YOU choose not to meet the code, YOU made the choice.
Lyn