How much money should a Player spend in his home room each week?

336Robin

Multiverse Operative
Silver Member
I'm just wondering how much you all think that a Pool Player should spend in his home room each week to adequately support the room. You can break this down any way you want by week, day etc. but also include the area you live in.
 
My home room is near the Joliet Illinois area, we have about 20 regular shooters that play on the various leagues thruout the week and almost every one supports the weekly Friday tourney. The group almost always wears the same shirt when we travel. But individually I just hit the friday tourneys since I don't play league. And always eat, buy some drinks etc!
 
As much as he/she wants to or can afford to spend...I would say people go in cycles...sometimes they hit the table hard and spend a lot on pool then fade off into other areas of interest in their life and spend less on pool...Sure every room has its regulars but the majority of business (at least in the rooms I have frequented) is revolving clientele base...

I don't have a "home room" anymore. There just aren't enough people here in kingman (AZ) to support a pool hall. There have been a couple that popped up in the past but have fizzled out and gone under...the last attempt at a pool hall here was back in 2005 and lasted almost a year before going under. Now we have just a couple little bars with run down bar boxes in them. I haven't exactly kept track of what I spend monthly on my pool habit but I wouldn't feel obligated to spend any set amount in any one place ever...that's just not how business works...
 
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i spend between 20 and 25 dollars a week at my local poolhall. im usually only there once a week. That total includes about 4 hours of table time and usually a soda...

Im at another poolhall another night of the weekly for a weekly tournament. Im sure the poolhall gets a cut of the entry fees but i have no idea what it is. i normally but a non alcoholic drink at at the poolhall as well while im there.

The other nights of the week im shooting at home.
 
From another thread it was suggested somewhere between $30 a week and $210 a week

And, apparently, if someone cannot afford to spend the $840 a month it is entirely all their own fault

Real pool players play 7 days a week.

To ask them to spend $30 each day = $210 a week - or $840 per month.

To maintain this type of spending they would have to get jobs and full-time jobs don't leave the player much time to play pool. Plus they become everything they hate.

On the other hand - the league banger is usually playing one night a week so blowing off $30 per week is no big deal.

THIS is how the player is seeing it and I fully understand that it's a serious burden to the room-owner but perhaps.... just maybe there's a common ground, you can work together and everyone can be happy.
I would suggest to anyone ( over the age of 18 ) that can't burn at least $840 a month in discretionary funds to look for a better job OR to consider changing fields.
 
When Im playing

I'm in North Carolina.
Spring to Late Summer I cant get to the Pool room as much as Id like to but when my business slows down I usually like to get into a good routine and really get to playing some.

I don't mind spending whatever it takes to make me satisfied but I prefer to get some discount time so I can play longer and then food and drink as I'm hungry/thirsty. I would spend probably $30 to $36 a week when I'm playing like this dropping about $12 or so each time. I play pretty good but really don't like the staying out all night and some tournaments. I'd much rather lock horns with someone and grind it out for 4 hrs or more. I don't have a problem spending $150 to $200 a month when I have time to play as a regular basis. Off seasons I run in to practice as I can to keep my touch. I love One Pocket but enjoy all games as long as they are competitive.
 
$34.23.

If you spend any less than that you are cheap and do not support pool, if you spend a penny more you are spending too much money on pool and should invest more into your retirement fund.

$34.23 is the correct answer Robin.
 
I wasn't aware that I had to adequately support my local pool room (SB&G), but in my case I spend about six to seven bucks a week on table time, and about that much again in tips to the girls. We get free pool if we buy lunch, and usually a couple of the guys will eat so that makes life pretty easy,
Down here in the Ozarks we're all tighter than Dick's hat band when it comes to spending money. A penny saved is a penny not spent.
Personally, I come by that trait honestly. My Dad never had a nickel 'cause Mom never had a job. :grin:
 
I live carelessly!

$34.23.

If you spend any less than that you are cheap and do not support pool, if you spend a penny more you are spending too much money on pool and should invest more into your retirement fund.

$34.23 is the correct answer Robin.

Duly noted! In my dotage I have decided to live for the day and a bit carelessly, so I will strive to make this amount my minimum per week, throw all care ......to the wind! Whoo Hoo!
 
Ultimately I don't feel that it's up to any single player to support the room...it takes a LOT of people from non pool players who wonder in out of curiosity and spend an hour or so for a few social games to league players and all out enthusiasts to support a room! Really it's up to the pool room owner to do the resurch and open/buy a room in an area with the population numbers to support it...to the man that's running the place it's not just a place to go play pool, it's a business decision...the "If I build it they will come" type thinking only works if you build it where "they" are and if "they" have a demand for it...
 
Tough to put an amount on it when costs vary so much across the country or what people can afford.

At my regular hall, I try to be generous with tips, order plenty of drinks and bring new players in. Pool halls are a tough business. I don't want my regular hall to close, so I try do my part.
 
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Honestly, When I first read this I was thinking about how much should be put aside for personal home pool room improvements. LOL.

After careful consideration I think the amount a person spends in a local pool hall depends upon the person. I personally try to spend about $20-30 per week in there but honestly I don't feel an obligation to do so. I have my own personal table to practice on as I could not afford to practice if I had to pay for every hour to do it. To me that is how my table pays for itself through saved table rental time.

I believe that most people that go to pool halls do it for one of a few reasons:

Because they do not have a pool table at home.
Because they do play only as a hobby or for fun.
Because they want to play against others and possibly wager on it.

I was lost when the pool hall near me closed for a couple months before a new owner opened it back up. I know I do not want to see it fail and I know they need the business to make a profit as well. I also believe that with the right marketing plan they will be fantastic because the new owners are so nice and friendly.
 
I generally spend $25 or so each time I'm there. Unfortunately it's 75 miles 1 way so I only make it there on weekends due to work. So I spend $50 a week. Yeah, it's worth the drive.
 
I spend about 40 to 60 dollars a week on barboxes at the bowling alley. That's about 80 to 120 racks. If a pool hall opened up, I would definitely feel obligated to support it...moreso if they had barboxes.
 
My hall has league 3 nights a week, the ones playing on Tues and Thurs are quite large, as a matter of fact you can't get an 8 footer when league starts on either night. It's packed (I think thee are around 18-20 8 footers). I think my hall is very well supported by many folks and I would guess financially they do quite well. I'm just south of Houston, Texas. Personally I spend between 15-30 bucks when I can go, which is not that often since I work a lot. I do tip well if I get good service, which is most of the time.
 
As much as he/she wants to or can afford to spend...I would say people go in cycles...sometimes they hit the table hard and spend a lot on pool then fade off into other areas of interest in their life and spend less on pool...Sure every room has its regulars but the majority of business (at least in the rooms I have frequented) is revolving clientele base...

I don't have a "home room" anymore. There just aren't enough people here in kingman (AZ) to support a pool hall. There have been a couple that popped up in the past but have fizzled out and gone under...the last attempt at a pool hall here was back in 2005 and lasted almost a year before going under. Now we have just a couple little bars with run down bar boxes in them. I haven't exactly kept track of what I spend monthly on my pool habit but I wouldn't feel obligated to spend any set amount in any one place ever...that's just not how business works...

This is a 100% true in my case, years ago i would spend 10 hours a day playing for about 5 years. Now i play in cycles go hard a few months then stop on a dime and get into other hobbies then back and forth. Today my cycles are shorter ( Wife and Kids say so ).

But that's life, anyways spend as much as you can afford without messing up your bills, i seen that happen tons of times and never play broke, seen fist fly over that as well.
 
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