Drink to play.

nathandumoulin

nathandumoulin

WPBL / RUNOUT MEDIA
Silver Member
I just recently moved to the Ottawa area (in Canada), and have been trying my best to check out all the local pool rooms. Today I made it a mission to check out a new one called Saphyres.

I find the place without any problem, and walk in. The girl at the bar grabs me a rack of balls. So far so good. I grab the balls and head for a nearby table.

Over my shoulder I hear her say "Excuse me sir. What do you want to drink?"

I tell her that I'm not thirsty, and continue towards my table.

"Sir, you cant play unless you drink."

*confusion ensues*

Long story short, this place doesnt charge table time. It's not even an option. No coin-op tables either. You have one choice, you drink, or you cant play. I was baffled by this concept, but grabbed a beer and hit some balls anyway.

Has anyone else ever heard of such a thing?

Anyway, I didnt last long. The tables were garbage, the cloth was unresponsive, and the place was dirty. Definitely not on my list of places to frequent.
 
nathandumoulin said:
"Sir, you cant play unless you drink."

*confusion ensues*

Long story short, this place doesnt charge table time. It's not even an option. No coin-op tables either. You have one choice, you drink, or you cant play. I was baffled by this concept, but grabbed a beer and hit some balls anyway.
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I've been to at least one place that you could play for free between 6PM and 11PM or something like that, provided you ordered at least one drink from the bar.

Fred
 
So if you don't drink? I mean like alcohol at all...Can I baby a pepsi and play for hours?
 
nathandumoulin said:
I just recently moved to the Ottawa area (in Canada), and have been trying my best to check out all the local pool rooms. Today I made it a mission to check out a new one called Saphyres.

I find the place without any problem, and walk in. The girl at the bar grabs me a rack of balls. So far so good. I grab the balls and head for a nearby table.

Over my shoulder I hear her say "Excuse me sir. What do you want to drink?"

I tell her that I'm not thirsty, and continue towards my table.

"Sir, you cant play unless you drink."

*confusion ensues*

Long story short, this place doesnt charge table time. It's not even an option. No coin-op tables either. You have one choice, you drink, or you cant play. I was baffled by this concept, but grabbed a beer and hit some balls anyway.

Has anyone else ever heard of such a thing?

Anyway, I didnt last long. The tables were garbage, the cloth was unresponsive, and the place was dirty. Definitely not on my list of places to frequent.
Click to expand...
Theres a strip joint in Calgary that has 25 tables like that on the other side,they dont charge but everybody drinks something over the time they play and drinks are not cheap but they dont pressure people to buy anything,they still get the guys that bring there own drinks and go to the car for a beer,I thing overall its a lot cheaper than table time
 
Canada Eh

I used to go commercial fishing and spent lots of time in Campobello, Halifax and Yarmouth and there drinking is like breathing. If you are breathing your supposed to be drinking! They had a special way of drinking beer, you put salted peanuts in the beer to kill the carbonation and just poured them down. Schooner beer was one that comes to mind. To the question of having to drink to play pool, can't say I have run into that one yet...
Dan
 
Drink to play. Hell I drink to live :)
Only other place ive ever heard of soemthing like this is topless bars. To prevent guys from coming in during the day and staying all night and watching without drinking.
 
johnnydub said:
Played in a few places like that, your like me, you just like to shoot and not drink

heres a link to the best places to play in ott
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=124218
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Thanks for the link. I've been to about half of these places. I can also think about 5 more that arent listed here, including a few really nice ones in Hull/Gatineau. If anyone is from Ottawa, please PM me as I'd love to have someone to shoot a few sets with sometime.
 
nathandumoulin said:
I just recently moved to the Ottawa area (in Canada), and have been trying my best to check out all the local pool rooms. Today I made it a mission to check out a new one called Saphyres.

I find the place without any problem, and walk in. The girl at the bar grabs me a rack of balls. So far so good. I grab the balls and head for a nearby table.

Over my shoulder I hear her say "Excuse me sir. What do you want to drink?"

I tell her that I'm not thirsty, and continue towards my table.

"Sir, you cant play unless you drink."

*confusion ensues*

Long story short, this place doesnt charge table time. It's not even an option. No coin-op tables either. You have one choice, you drink, or you cant play. I was baffled by this concept, but grabbed a beer and hit some balls anyway.

Has anyone else ever heard of such a thing?

Anyway, I didnt last long. The tables were garbage, the cloth was unresponsive, and the place was dirty. Definitely not on my list of places to frequent.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming this is in Gatineau? A buddy of mine has told me that this is pretty common in Quebec, no wonder we have a lot of good french players...

Have you tried the snooker tables at the Orange Monkey? They're my favorite tables in town.
 
lol. that is awesome that you have to drink to play but it sucks that the tables and everything else was no good
 
nathandumoulin said:
Thanks for the link. I've been to about half of these places. I can also think about 5 more that arent listed here, including a few really nice ones in Hull/Gatineau. If anyone is from Ottawa, please PM me as I'd love to have someone to shoot a few sets with sometime.
Click to expand...

I'm in Ottawa as well as a few other guys here. Lots of spots to play depends on what you are looking for and your level.

9 ball - stop by TailGators on a Sunday and play in the local 9 ball tournament. Starts at 1:00ish... not sharp.

If you are looking for the best players in Ottawa, check out Greenbank Broken Cue on Tuesdays (Superleague). This is where most of the top guys on the Ottawa side play. It's 8 ball on a barbox.

If you are looking for the toughest 9 ball tournament, play the ABO.. there is actually a tournament this weekend. http://www.billardquebec.com/abo/New_page_abo/assoc_outaouais.htm . The tournament is Saturday at Dooly's.. you need to register by 11:30 sharp or you start on the B side. Try the A tournament, and then move to the B tournament another time depending on your level.

Send me a PM and I'm sure I can introduce you to a lot of the guys around that like to play including myself.
 
Where I play the most, you get free pool time from 5-8 if you buy two drinks (happy hour price: 1/2 off).

I'm there a lot between 5 and 8....

You really can't beat it though. 3 hours for the price of 1 beer.
 
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