I realize I’m venting here, but what is it about weekly tournament players? Is it asking too much to throw away your cups and trash before you leave? Is it asking too much to put the house cues you use for break cues back in the cue rack before you leave?
Once in a while would it be asking too much to let the TD / proprietor know you appreciate a consistent smoothly run weekly tournament and staying open 2-3 hours after closing time until the completion of the tournament?
At least in our poolroom, there’s something about tournament players that make them feel entitled as opposed to our recreational play customers who often make a point to express their appreciation for being able to play in a nice clean environment with quality equipment.
Just curious if this is the case with weekly tournament players in other poolrooms as well? If you appreciate and don’t take for granted the poolroom you frequent and/or your local weekly tournament you enjoy playing in, how about once in a while letting your proprietor and TD know it. It would be nice to hear.
Ha Ha, I can relate Chris. To this day I can't walk around a room anywhere (in my home, at a hotel or anywhere else for the matter) without bending down to pick up trash off the floor and throw it away. It became a habit after twenty years plus working in and owning pool rooms. I learned to put trash cans EVERYWHERE! That helped but certainly didn't stop some slobs from throwing candy wrappers, cig butts and chalk on the floor. I NEVER sold gum in my poolrooms! If you did it would end up under the rails.
To answer your question, it is asking too much. I discovered that if you kept your room clean most people would get the message, but not everyone. People tend to act according to the environment they are in. If they see dirty restrooms then they will throw trash all over in there. Very, very important to keep your restrooms clean and stocked up. But you know that already.
Finally, I also had tournaments from time to time in my rooms. As TD it was my responsibility to make the schedule and get things done at a reasonable hour. The only pro players who ever tipped me were Parica (his wife threw me a 100 when he won one for 10K), Mizerak who threw me a bone in every one of my tournaments he played in (he had class), and Earl bless his heart. Earl knew I ran a fair tournament, always on good tables and scheduled correctly, and he appreciated that. One year at the Sands after he won, he tipped me 500. I had made a couple of rulings on disputed shots that favored him, even when the crowd was rooting against him and for his opponent. I simply made the correct call. One other time when he won big money in Japan (40K), and he didn't want to carry all that money through customs he gave me 5,000 to hold for him. I didn't see him until the BCA trade show months later and handed him a bank check for about $5,300. He had forgotten he had given me the money and was surprised about that, and he was amazed I added in the interest it had collected in my back account. He threw me 300 that time.
I'll add one other time I got good tips. When I used to run the tournaments, often when there were big money games (5-10K) the players would ask me to hold the money. They knew I wasn't going anywhere. The winner always gave me a tip. I can remember a couple of times when the matches were over and I was tired and still holding the stake money, I'd tell the guys I was going up to my room to get some rest and gave them my room number. The winner would come and knock on my door, sometimes in the wee hours of the morning. I would get up out of bed and hand him (and his backer) the payoff. Usually got a nice tip there too.
P.S. Mark Tadd gave me a good tip when he won $26,000 (all in cash) in the L.A. Open in 1993. A few hundred.
