I'm opening my dream pool room

[chilli66]

Well, I hate to be the negative guy but I noticed a few things that I found disappointing.

1. No smoking (I'm a smoker but I can tolerate such places, there's always outside.)

2. No jukebox (I just like knowing I might hear something I like during the night. Plus ambient sounds never really put me off.)

3. No snooker tables (Not nearly enough of these in the USA. Really miss playing that.)

4. It's way too far away from me!

Now the serious part, Mike. You say this is YOUR dream pool hall. I think it sounds like it could be THE dream pool hall for a lot of people. After reading some of the responses I have a feeling this could become a pool Mecca, with folks making a journey there from all over. Now, I just have to figure out how I'm gonna get there!

Looks & sounds great. Nice job!

 

[!Smorgass Bored]

I'm Behind Mike Page 100%

Yeah "GastroPub" doesn't have an appealing ring to it. I would definitely get some first-repsonse type feedback before committing to the sign.

HA !
Right now, regurgitated Pizza & Wings sounds appealing to ME.

Doug
(you might add "Re-pee'd Beer" to the menu too)

 

[JimS]

This doesn't have the food/coffee area fleshed out, but I think it gives the general idea

Congratulations Mike. This sounds like the perfect pool hall. Sure wish it was next door. :groucho:

 

[poolplayer2093]

How many times have you said or heard others say "if I was opening a pool room, I would do THIS or THIS or I wouldn't do THIS....

Well I've been implementing THIS's and THIS's and NOT THIS's a lot in the last couple years. I'm soon to open a big new pool room in Fargo in about four months. The building is under construction as we speak.

Two years ago I met with city commissioners, chief of police, city attorney and others to talk about creating a new category of liquor license that would accommodate me. I got the laws changes about a year and a half ago, so that part's on track.

Then I started presenting business plan ideas to bankers --business plan, power point presentations, the whole works. Wow was that ever an effort! After working with two banks quite a bit each I finally got things going with a third bank, using the SBA 504 program.

In a nutshell -

Fargo Billiards & Gastropub (or just Fargo Billiards)

28,536 square feet

56 tables (7 9-ft Diamond Professional, 9 9-ft Gabriel Signature Pro, 33 7-foot diamond pro-ams, 7 7-ft Gabriels)

3,000 sf raised area in the middle that included a U-shaped bar with an island in the middle, high-top seating, and lounge (leather chair)-type seating. Offthe raised area near the bar is a tight 9-foot diamond professional.

Tables are more or less segregated into neighborhoods.

Off the raised area toward the front is a line of 6 9-ft Diamonds.

In front of that and separated by a half-wall (front of building ) are 11 7-ft. Diamonds.

Behind the raised area on one side is a group of 6 9-ft Gabriels. On the other side but still adjacent to the raised area is a set of 6 7-ft. Gabriels, three of which have leather, living-room style seating arrangements. These areas are enclosed by half-height walls.

Behind these, along the back of the building is the league area and includes 20 7-ft Diamonds that are arranged in two rows with a gap in the middle (two groups of 10)

There are 3 private rooms:

One (500 sf) has a 9-ft Gabriel and living-room furniture.
the second (950 sf) has 2 9-ft Gabriels and living-room furniture
the third (950 sf) has 2 7-ft Diamonds and living-room furniture

A conference room (The Fargo Billiard Academy) has a 12-seat conference table, a 7-ft diamond set up for video analysis, and a screen for presentations.

Full-service restaurant called The Gastropub that includes a seating area as well as service to the lounge and to pool tables. (Gastropub is a british term meaning a pub that takes its food more seriously than normal pub-fare). There is an espresso bar adjacent to the dining area with coffee-shop type lounge area.

Wireless throughout.

Music is low-volume blues and acoustic and a little jazz.

Occasional acoustic performers in the raised area.

Things you WON'T find:

-- juke box
-- loud music
-- darts
-- video games
-- smoke
-- dance floor
-- karaoke

I'll try to get up a diagram.

What's the overhead on a place like that?

 

[JoeW]

The need for multimedia

Congratulations Mike. This looks like a great adventure. I have only one possible contribution and I do not know how to address it. Perhaps some of the younger people can add helpful suggestions.

It is difficult to be entertained by pool players because of the space limitations. My wife and I went to the US Open this year and I was disappointed with the spectator seating. To make a long story short it turned out that a large (10 -20 foot) projection TV screen was probably the best spectator visual aid. Though we all paid for admittance, the best seat in the house for the majority of the spectators was a view of the TV screen. I don?t know if you have been to the US Open but nearly all of the best seats are reserved for financial supporters leaving the mere spectators seats in the grand stands.

Given the inherent space limitations when playing pool, there is a need to focus in on interesting matches throughout the room that allows everyone in the room to be a spectator. Perhaps several screens that can easily be seen by many spectators are needed. Something like a sports bar setup for the tables on CCTV would be useful. There could be many advantages to an inexpensive system.

It encourages players to play their best and get ?on screen.?

It gives bored league players and restaurant and bar patrons the ability to watch a good match between strong opponents anywhere in the building.

It would allow for recording matches for various purposes.

It would be a good way to stage challenge matches between known players and have many spectators (with or without the price of admission).

It would allow more spectators and thus more interest in weekly / monthly tournaments.

It would be a good teaching device.

A closed intranet that gave the player the ability to turn off the overhead camera would allow for privacy as an option.

A two way system would allow you to have students with laptops at the tables while presentations are made in another area. There is much to be said for multimedia tools, wireless access and allowing for people to bring in some of their own devices that could be hooked into your system.

Finally, today most of the youth are internet savy with their own cell phones and laptops. This could be a major contribution to generating interest if there is some sort of connection to the Internet for social networking purposes. I think you might draw young people from a much wider area. We are about the same age so think what American Bandstand (and related shows) contributed to our generation many years ago. I think it had a much bigger impact than most people realize.

Some people see the internet and modern technology as undermining pool. The ability to use modern technology may be an innovation that leads to wider appeal.

 

[rochwolverine]

Finally, today most of the youth are internet savy with their own cell phones and laptops. This could be a major contribution to generating interest if there is some sort of connection to the Internet for social networking purposes. I think you might draw young people from a much wider area. We are about the same age so think what American Bandstand (and related shows) contributed to our generation many years ago. I think it had a much bigger impact than most people realize.

Some people see the internet and modern technology as undermining pool. The ability to use modern technology may be an innovation that leads to wider appeal.

I wanted to quote this because it's an excellent point that deserves more discussion.

Social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook are extremely low-cost and low-effort to get involved with. Both could be excellent vectors for getting nearly free exposure to the under 35 crowd in the Fargo area.

 

[mikepage]

[...]
I want pictures too....pictures as it comes together over time would be sweet.,[...]

Here's a picture from the summer, and another from yesterday.

 

[smoooothstroke]

The information age

Congratulations Mike. This looks like a great adventure. I have only one possible contribution and I do not know how to address it. Perhaps some of the younger people can add helpful suggestions.

It is difficult to be entertained by pool players because of the space limitations. My wife and I went to the US Open this year and I was disappointed with the spectator seating. To make a long story short it turned out that a large (10 -20 foot) projection TV screen was probably the best spectator visual aid. Though we all paid for admittance, the best seat in the house for the majority of the spectators was a view of the TV screen. I don?t know if you have been to the US Open but nearly all of the best seats are reserved for financial supporters leaving the mere spectators seats in the grand stands.

Given the inherent space limitations when playing pool, there is a need to focus in on interesting matches throughout the room that allows everyone in the room to be a spectator. Perhaps several screens that can easily be seen by many spectators are needed. Something like a sports bar setup for the tables on CCTV would be useful. There could be many advantages to an inexpensive system.

It encourages players to play their best and get ?on screen.?

It gives bored league players and restaurant and bar patrons the ability to watch a good match between strong opponents anywhere in the building.

It would allow for recording matches for various purposes.

It would be a good way to stage challenge matches between known players and have many spectators (with or without the price of admission).

It would allow more spectators and thus more interest in weekly / monthly tournaments.

It would be a good teaching device.

A closed intranet that gave the player the ability to turn off the overhead camera would allow for privacy as an option.

A two way system would allow you to have students with laptops at the tables while presentations are made in another area. There is much to be said for multimedia tools, wireless access and allowing for people to bring in some of their own devices that could be hooked into your system.

Finally, today most of the youth are internet savy with their own cell phones and laptops. This could be a major contribution to generating interest if there is some sort of connection to the Internet for social networking purposes. I think you might draw young people from a much wider area. We are about the same age so think what American Bandstand (and related shows) contributed to our generation many years ago. I think it had a much bigger impact than most people realize.

Some people see the internet and modern technology as undermining pool. The ability to use modern technology may be an innovation that leads to wider appeal.

What he said.

 

[gunzby]

Well, I hate to be the negative guy but I noticed a few things that I found disappointing.

1. No smoking (I'm a smoker but I can tolerate such places, there's always outside.)

2. No jukebox (I just like knowing I might hear something I like during the night. Plus ambient sounds never really put me off.)

3. No snooker tables (Not nearly enough of these in the USA. Really miss playing that.)

4. It's way too far away from me!

Now the serious part, Mike. You say this is YOUR dream pool hall. I think it sounds like it could be THE dream pool hall for a lot of people. After reading some of the responses I have a feeling this could become a pool Mecca, with folks making a journey there from all over. Now, I just have to figure out how I'm gonna get there!

Looks & sounds great. Nice job!

I'm not a smoker so I love non-smoking halls. I actually don't mind smoking in the hall so long as they have good exhaust fans running.

I can definitely deal with no jukebox. Music has gotten crappier and crappier and would be happy to hear softer music.

I would like to see a snooker table. I've never played the game and would love to try.

It is also too far from me
Why can't this dream mesh with mine where it is moved to NC

 

[Cory in DC]

Yes Golden Tee is a monster money maker, so are those Touch screen trivia games that sit on top the bar. Is the Fargo area big enough to support a 56 table room?

That was my first question. Turns out, the Fargo metro area has 200k people. Who knew that many people lived in the whole state?

Cory

 

[JoeyA]

How many times have you said or heard others say "if I was opening a pool room, I would do THIS or THIS or I wouldn't do THIS....

Well I've been implementing THIS's and THIS's and NOT THIS's a lot in the last couple years. I'm soon to open a big new pool room in Fargo in about four months. The building is under construction as we speak.

Two years ago I met with city commissioners, chief of police, city attorney and others to talk about creating a new category of liquor license that would accommodate me. I got the laws changes about a year and a half ago, so that part's on track.

Then I started presenting business plan ideas to bankers --business plan, power point presentations, the whole works. Wow was that ever an effort! After working with two banks quite a bit each I finally got things going with a third bank, using the SBA 504 program.

In a nutshell -

Fargo Billiards & Gastropub (or just Fargo Billiards)

28,536 square feet

56 tables (7 9-ft Diamond Professional, 9 9-ft Gabriel Signature Pro, 33 7-foot diamond pro-ams, 7 7-ft Gabriels)

3,000 sf raised area in the middle that included a U-shaped bar with an island in the middle, high-top seating, and lounge (leather chair)-type seating. Offthe raised area near the bar is a tight 9-foot diamond professional.

Tables are more or less segregated into neighborhoods.

Off the raised area toward the front is a line of 6 9-ft Diamonds.

In front of that and separated by a half-wall (front of building ) are 11 7-ft. Diamonds.

Behind the raised area on one side is a group of 6 9-ft Gabriels. On the other side but still adjacent to the raised area is a set of 6 7-ft. Gabriels, three of which have leather, living-room style seating arrangements. These areas are enclosed by half-height walls.

Behind these, along the back of the building is the league area and includes 20 7-ft Diamonds that are arranged in two rows with a gap in the middle (two groups of 10)

There are 3 private rooms:

One (500 sf) has a 9-ft Gabriel and living-room furniture.
the second (950 sf) has 2 9-ft Gabriels and living-room furniture
the third (950 sf) has 2 7-ft Diamonds and living-room furniture

A conference room (The Fargo Billiard Academy) has a 12-seat conference table, a 7-ft diamond set up for video analysis, and a screen for presentations.

Full-service restaurant called The Gastropub that includes a seating area as well as service to the lounge and to pool tables. (Gastropub is a british term meaning a pub that takes its food more seriously than normal pub-fare). There is an espresso bar adjacent to the dining area with coffee-shop type lounge area.

Wireless throughout.

Music is low-volume blues and acoustic and a little jazz.

Occasional acoustic performers in the raised area.

Things you WON'T find:

-- juke box
-- loud music
-- darts
-- video games
-- smoke
-- dance floor
-- karaoke

I'll try to get up a diagram.

Fargo Billiards sounds fantastic, Mike. Congratulations on such an impressive and carefully thought out pool room. I hope one day to see such a thing.

Please keep us informed as to when the grand opening is and when you will be having tournaments there.

Best of luck.
JoeyA

 

[softshot]

Great for you I hope all goes well.. the only Glaring omission I can see Is a cuesmith or at least a pro shop where a guy can get a new tip .. or whatever...

best of luck to you...

let me know when your first box 8 tourney is I might be able to make the road trip...

 

[JimS]

Even a new building!!!!! Good lord.. how cool is that!!! :groucho:

PLEASE do provide pics as it progresses.

 

[Patrick Johnson]

Congratulations Mike. This looks like a great adventure. I have only one possible contribution and I do not know how to address it. Perhaps some of the younger people can add helpful suggestions.

It is difficult to be entertained by pool players because of the space limitations. My wife and I went to the US Open this year and I was disappointed with the spectator seating. To make a long story short it turned out that a large (10 -20 foot) projection TV screen was probably the best spectator visual aid. Though we all paid for admittance, the best seat in the house for the majority of the spectators was a view of the TV screen. I don?t know if you have been to the US Open but nearly all of the best seats are reserved for financial supporters leaving the mere spectators seats in the grand stands.

Given the inherent space limitations when playing pool, there is a need to focus in on interesting matches throughout the room that allows everyone in the room to be a spectator. Perhaps several screens that can easily be seen by many spectators are needed. Something like a sports bar setup for the tables on CCTV would be useful. There could be many advantages to an inexpensive system.

It encourages players to play their best and get ?on screen.?

It gives bored league players and restaurant and bar patrons the ability to watch a good match between strong opponents anywhere in the building.

It would allow for recording matches for various purposes.

It would be a good way to stage challenge matches between known players and have many spectators (with or without the price of admission).

It would allow more spectators and thus more interest in weekly / monthly tournaments.

It would be a good teaching device.

A closed intranet that gave the player the ability to turn off the overhead camera would allow for privacy as an option.

A two way system would allow you to have students with laptops at the tables while presentations are made in another area. There is much to be said for multimedia tools, wireless access and allowing for people to bring in some of their own devices that could be hooked into your system.

Finally, today most of the youth are internet savy with their own cell phones and laptops. This could be a major contribution to generating interest if there is some sort of connection to the Internet for social networking purposes. I think you might draw young people from a much wider area. We are about the same age so think what American Bandstand (and related shows) contributed to our generation many years ago. I think it had a much bigger impact than most people realize.

Some people see the internet and modern technology as undermining pool. The ability to use modern technology may be an innovation that leads to wider appeal.

I think Joe is getting at the same thing I meant when I said "cameras, lots of cameras". It would be foresightful to cable the whole place so that TVs, monitors, cameras and internet/cable TV access could be added anywhere. You're probably already doing some of this with your security system.

pj
chgo

 

[conetip]

Congratulations Mike. This looks like a great adventure. I have only one possible contribution and I do not know how to address it. Perhaps some of the younger people can add helpful suggestions.

It is difficult to be entertained by pool players because of the space limitations. My wife and I went to the US Open this year and I was disappointed with the spectator seating. To make a long story short it turned out that a large (10 -20 foot) projection TV screen was probably the best spectator visual aid. Though we all paid for admittance, the best seat in the house for the majority of the spectators was a view of the TV screen. I don?t know if you have been to the US Open but nearly all of the best seats are reserved for financial supporters leaving the mere spectators seats in the grand stands.

Given the inherent space limitations when playing pool, there is a need to focus in on interesting matches throughout the room that allows everyone in the room to be a spectator. Perhaps several screens that can easily be seen by many spectators are needed. Something like a sports bar setup for the tables on CCTV would be useful. There could be many advantages to an inexpensive system.

It encourages players to play their best and get ?on screen.?

It gives bored league players and restaurant and bar patrons the ability to watch a good match between strong opponents anywhere in the building.

It would allow for recording matches for various purposes.

It would be a good way to stage challenge matches between known players and have many spectators (with or without the price of admission).

It would allow more spectators and thus more interest in weekly / monthly tournaments.

It would be a good teaching device.

A closed intranet that gave the player the ability to turn off the overhead camera would allow for privacy as an option.

A two way system would allow you to have students with laptops at the tables while presentations are made in another area. There is much to be said for multimedia tools, wireless access and allowing for people to bring in some of their own devices that could be hooked into your system.

Finally, today most of the youth are internet savy with their own cell phones and laptops. This could be a major contribution to generating interest if there is some sort of connection to the Internet for social networking purposes. I think you might draw young people from a much wider area. We are about the same age so think what American Bandstand (and related shows) contributed to our generation many years ago. I think it had a much bigger impact than most people realize.

Some people see the internet and modern technology as undermining pool. The ability to use modern technology may be an innovation that leads to wider appeal.

A friend tried that in the local Bar in Zelienople. They had to either take the camera down or have it covered and unpluged.It is covered and unpluged.When they had it working it was great. You could sit anywhere in the bar and watch the main table. Great learning tool as well.
Some privacy issue is why it is not connected at the moment.
Neil Lickfold

 

[Da Bank]

i think "Gastropub" is a good fitting name for what you are trying to do. I think by far the majority of people won't be turned off by the name and associate it with disgusting thoughts for some reason. Gastropub tells you exactly what it is... a pub that serves unusually good, well thought-out food. I've always believed that FOOD is the key to making a successful pool hall... if you get people coming in that don't play pool to just eat the food because of its quality, you now have another huge segment of business pay the bills. I believe this is the single greatest mistake of pool halls in the Dallas area... the food is absolutely disgusting.

 

[Burns]

I find its the same way here. the places with the best food seem to do really well. and do you really want all your customers walking to the mcdonalds across the road during theyre playing? great food and atmosphere as well as top notch conditions for playing are what its all about

 

[Burns]

Also, I think youre going to have more than a few AZers making the trip to this place. Everyone there have those cool accents?

 

[speakers]

Sounds great! I didn't see a website address, do you have one yet? I would imagine you will, keep it updated with CURRENT information on the happenings and events. You know in these neck of the woods there usually isn't a lot of stuff going on, so most of us are willing (and expecting) to travel 2-3 or even 6 hours for tournaments and events, even small ones.

I'm sure you'll have a big Grand Opening, but maybe you should consider two grand openings. One for the locals and one for out-of-towners and the AZ community.

Do you plan on having any specials or promotions on a regular basis?

Best of luck to you!

 

[hackerda]

WOW! Looks & sounds amazing, Mike. I think I'm moving back to Fargo! Definately keep us all in the loop and let us know how the building is progressing.
I used to live in Fargo for a short while in the late '90s. What part of town is this located in?
If I DO move back, I'm coming to you for a job

Take care,

Dean