Is politics, & other bs killing pool where you live, or pool in a growth mode.

[FarRockawayKid]

It seem to me that where I live few interested parties in pool are doing much positive to keep pool alive.

We have bar/room owners who refuse to cooperate and work with one another. Plus they seem to spend too much time working against one another.

Our handicapping system is interfering with players growth, plus in many cases few player desire to play better for fear of moving up in the handicapping system

Room/Bar owners seem to manipulating who plays who in tournaments. So to keep the best drinking customers in the tournament longer

Few Room/Bar owners when you do the math are adding much to any tournament prizes fund, and in many cases the entire prized fund when the math is done really has no added moneys when you count the money we put in bar boxes to play in the tournament.

Remember one room years ago would hold weekly tournament with over 40 players every week. The draw to that tournament was the room owner use to go out into the community and solicit prizes (items like restaurant gift certificates, free car washes, free dry cleaning gift certificates, etc.) Then during the tournament those still present had an opportunity to win something as the prizes were raffled off.

Now it seems like all the Room/Bar owners want is to keep you there as long as possible to purchase over priced liquor, beer, or ice tea, and in many cases bad bar food.

 

[Njhustler1]

that sounds pretty lame. glad i haven't experienced that in my area.

 

[Gregg]

The older and wiser I get, the more I realize and understand that politics plays a part in almost everything, including sports.

 

[ScottW]

One must assume by "politics" you mean "personal politics", as there's no mention of politics (i.e. governmental-type) in your post whatsoever.

Never underestimate human beings' ability to look after their own interest first, or to the exclusion of anything else. That's what's going on, it sounds like - bar owners just looking out for their own interests (i.e. getting business).

And frankly, that's how it ought to be, in most ways - the main reason for owning/operating a business is to bring in cash. You can't expect a bar owner to basically open up his/her wallet, flip it open, and shake money out onto the floor.

If you want your local tournaments to improve, then I would suggest working with the bar owners on ways to run those tournaments that benefits both the bar owners and the players. Don't expect the bar owners to cave.

I'm getting ready to do just that myself - I was in a little restaurant/bar the other day for the first time, and noticed they had three bar tables. I asked the fellow behind the counter (who turned out to be the manager) if they had any weekly barbox tournaments going. He said no, but he'd like to, but had no one to run them. "Ah," said I... I told him I'd put together some info for him and see what we could come up with.

So part of what I'm going to do is try and work the format, etc. so that both his venue benefits (more business) and that the players benefit (try and work out payouts to be more than just the total fees).

(Edit: And NO it's not gonna be "bar rules". *shudder* I just now printed up a copy of the BCA standardized 8-ball rules. )

 

[Danny Kuykendal]

Actually all bar and pool room owners have to look at their bottom line. It's the job of the promoter to make it viable for them to have tournaments there.

We have had (at Danny K's) five tournaments a week for going on 12 years now, and the only reason I do it is because it's financially feasible, and we've found a way to attract players so that on slow days we have quite a few people there.

I certainly don't encourage more drinking though. Drunk customers discourage others from coming in, and they risk a dui. I also share flyers with other rooms like Hard TImes and Shooters in Riverside.

Bar owners can become myopic and not see the forest for the trees.

However, the reality of the situation is that with rents being what they are and pool room owners having to keep up with help and cost of goods, they can only afford tournament play if it pays off, one way or the next.

Danny K

 

[ez2h8]

In my area (northeast Ohio), I think it's lack of players for the pool halls and lack of liquor options. The pool halls are taking a beating around here and the bars with leagues are doing very well. No political hassles that I know of or personal/business hassles, just not that big a market for pool like there once was. Compared to Atlanta for example, there were waitlists every weekend and several nights a week in the pool halls. Many of whom did have liquor licenses though. Bigger demographic and better economy means bigger opportunities.

I think leagues in this area give the majority of their members what they want. A place to go after work to socialize, drink, eat and enjoy an evening out of the house. Or a similiar spin on that scenario. The bars make a lil money, the players get a chance to be competitive playing a common pool game (8-ball mostly) and everyone feels good at the end of the night.

Pool halls though, not the sports bar themed ones, have it tough. If they do not have a liquor license, that's a negative for being a social gathering opportunity. Pool halls are usually quiet, maybe a juke box playing music but no TV's or just one off in a corner. Not the type of place social folks want to unwind over a coke or coffee. Players are usually more serious about the games they play and diverse in what they will play. Also more ambitious about gambling with can steer away anyone uncomfortable in this enviroment. I think even the sports themed ones like Fox and Hound around here, if they did not have the drinks, huge kitchen and alternate means of entertainment, they would be out of business. I bet they would keep most of their customers if they reduced their number of tables in half!

I by no means am comparing leagues to pool halls or the players in each. Just pointing out some observed instances and history for my area regarding the business.