I own 2 pool halls now and wondered what other owners do to attract more league players to play out of your spot. One of my spots has 40 tables and the other has 10, I am about to start an aggressive campaign to recruit league players and just thought i would get other owners input as well. (our area is APA and is a well run league).
League Players
- Thread starter TheHole
- Start date
where i play out of the owner gives us 5 hrs of free practice a week.
TheHole said:
I'm not an owner but do play APA.
The place we play out of has nice 9 foot tables that are maintained which, in my opinion, is the most important.
Other than that, each team gets a practice table for the night and a match table, both free of charge.
A house round is also given. To be honest, I am not complaining, but sometimes wonder if the house round is very smart. At least the way business seems to be going with poolhalls. Most APA players would buy them anyway but it was a good way to attract new teams.
Regards,
Koop
Find out who the league operator is and let him know you're interested in hosting several teams. New teams form all the time, and that means more income for the league operator, so he should be eager to help out. I was playing out of a bar that drew so many complaints about the crappy tables that the league stopped playing there. It was a scramble for those couple three teams which played out of that bar to find a new local.
In your 40 table room you could host an inhouse league with payouts at the end of each session, or the operator might set up a complete APA division in your room.
Banger
In your 40 table room you could host an inhouse league with payouts at the end of each session, or the operator might set up a complete APA division in your room.
Banger
FYI in Massachusetts.
In Massachusetts to Give A Free Round Of Liquor Drinks or Beer is against the law. (Bar Can Loose Liquor License if cought doing it) You Can't even give the league players Discounts on Liquor unless you give it to all your Customers and that special has to last all week you just can't pick a day of the week to do it.
In Mass the your Liquor Distributer can't give liquor or beer in exchange for sponsorship of Tournaments like RI or NH Can.
(Mass Liquor laws Bite)
Koop said:
In Massachusetts to Give A Free Round Of Liquor Drinks or Beer is against the law. (Bar Can Loose Liquor License if cought doing it) You Can't even give the league players Discounts on Liquor unless you give it to all your Customers and that special has to last all week you just can't pick a day of the week to do it.
In Mass the your Liquor Distributer can't give liquor or beer in exchange for sponsorship of Tournaments like RI or NH Can.
(Mass Liquor laws Bite)
TheHole,
With your excellent attitude, you've already handled the hard part - playing at a number of places and in quite a few leagues, there is nothing better than playing in a place where the owner treats you like gold.....sounds like you really see the value in your customers, and with that type of attitude, people will want to play in your room.
As a customer, I want to play in a place with good equipment, food, beverages, and great service. Leagues nights are 3+ hours, so a great service staff that makes the rounds is essential. It's always nice to have someone checking on you to see if you need food/beverages. An even bigger plus is an owner that makes it a point to know your name and shake your hand each time you come to play.
I believe that free table time is what the league will ask of you, and for that you get new customers and sell other items. From a business/legal perspective, I wouldn't recommend the free alcohol. Call your local APA rep, show your interest, and you should have leagues in no time, especially if you have a great place with nice tables.
Good luck...
With your excellent attitude, you've already handled the hard part - playing at a number of places and in quite a few leagues, there is nothing better than playing in a place where the owner treats you like gold.....sounds like you really see the value in your customers, and with that type of attitude, people will want to play in your room.
As a customer, I want to play in a place with good equipment, food, beverages, and great service. Leagues nights are 3+ hours, so a great service staff that makes the rounds is essential. It's always nice to have someone checking on you to see if you need food/beverages. An even bigger plus is an owner that makes it a point to know your name and shake your hand each time you come to play.
I believe that free table time is what the league will ask of you, and for that you get new customers and sell other items. From a business/legal perspective, I wouldn't recommend the free alcohol. Call your local APA rep, show your interest, and you should have leagues in no time, especially if you have a great place with nice tables.
Good luck...
I play on two leagues. One is a travelling VNEA league and the other is an in house BCA league. On the Valley league, all of the locations provide one comp. round of drinks for the teams playing. When we are playing at our home bar the owner also throws in a roll of quarters for the tables for his team. For the BCA league the pool hall owner allows free table time for league players during certain (slow) times during the week.
Having played on leagues several nights a week for the last 15 or so years the bar owners that seemed to impress me the most were the ones that kept the equipment up and respected the players as customers. Free drinks and pool is nice but your better customer's normally can and will pay for those. However, if you let the tables go bad and start scheduling other events in the establishment during league so that the teams don't have a place to sit or the place is too crowded to play. Your teams will be gone in a hurry.
Having played on leagues several nights a week for the last 15 or so years the bar owners that seemed to impress me the most were the ones that kept the equipment up and respected the players as customers. Free drinks and pool is nice but your better customer's normally can and will pay for those. However, if you let the tables go bad and start scheduling other events in the establishment during league so that the teams don't have a place to sit or the place is too crowded to play. Your teams will be gone in a hurry.
spw62 said:In Massachusetts to Give A Free Round Of Liquor Drinks or Beer is against the law. (Bar Can Loose Liquor License if cought doing it) You Can't even give the league players Discounts on Liquor unless you give it to all your Customers and that special has to last all week you just can't pick a day of the week to do it.
In Mass the your Liquor Distributer can't give liquor or beer in exchange for sponsorship of Tournaments like RI or NH Can.
Didn't know that but wouldn't surprise me...Mass can be a tough state with it's rules and regulations from the Mayflower days
TheHole said:
I am also a room owner, and Leagues are certainly great for business. I have a small room 3500 sq ft, and I only have nine tables, two 8ft and seven 9ft. Currently I have 5 APA teams and 6 BCA teams that play for my room, and I must say these teams play here for many reasons, but what many of the other posters have said is not completely what I have found to be true.
In my opinion you do not have to give away a great deal of anything. People will want to play from your room for the following reasons:
1) Friendly Warm Atmosphere, Friendly Staff, Clean Restrooms, and a Safe environment. If possible, the ability for parents to bring their children during league play.
2) Well Maintained Equipment, Clean balls, Level tables, Clean Cloth (Simonis 860 preferable), well maintained house cues, not everyone has their own cue that plays league.
3) Alcohol is a must for Pool Leagues, in my establishment I only serve beer, but this is sufficient because most people who play league take their play seriously so they do not want to get too buzzed while they are playing. However, 1 & 2 above will help keep them in your establishment after league is over.
4) Food is also a must to attract league players, if you do not have a Kitchen available allow your leagues players to bring food in. Many of these people do not have time to eat between the time they get off work and arrive at league.
5) If possible give your teams a separate table to practice on during league play at no cost to your players. Many times due to work schedules not everyone will be able to get to league night during their practice time. This will give all of your players a chance to warm-up, and the none house team will most likely rent a table to try and stay in-stoke with your team.
6) Offer on the spot minor repairs, I make a great deal of money from tip replacement, shaft cleaning, weight adjustments, and bumper replacements during league nights from my teams and teams from other establishments who are playing my teams. In addition, many people will also come back to have more invasive work done once they see the quality of the repair work you people do.
7) Merchandise, cues, cases, and accessories. These items will also bring in a decent amount of money, if your prices are competitive, and you are known to stand behind what you sell. I sell a great deal stuff on leagues nights, or from the fact that I sponsor leagues. This is will bring in allot of business during and after league play.
8) Shirts that advertise your business are great and a must. I give my teams one free shirt per player. These shirts are nice quality non-pocket teeshirts, however when my teams make it to the Nationals I give them a Polo-type shirt due to the dress code. The cost of the free shirts, is more than worth the advertising and pride your teams will have when they play matches away. Last, while as I have said I give each team member one shirt free, and most players will buy additional shirts without this requirement ever being made.
9) When one of my Teams wins a major local tournament or a trip to the Nationals, I normally also help them out with tournament fee's. This is in my opinion way to give something back for their support of my business.
For me everything above has caused people to move their teams to my establishment. I have never had a problem having teams for me, because I personally spend the necessary time to get to know and at least say hello to everyone who supports my room. Being personable has to start with the business owner and it must also be a mandatory requirement for employee's.
I hope this helps, all I can say is that this has worked very well for me over the last three years since I opened my room, and I believe this can work for anyone.
Just some thoughts!!!!!
The pool halls seem to have a harder time generating league activity than the bars do. The average APA player dosen't do well on a 9-ft Gold Crown triple shimmed table.
In the TAP league yo have to score every miss and completion. Try scoring the number of misses when you get a couple of 2's on a 9-ft. table. I've seen 90-misses in three games
In the TAP league yo have to score every miss and completion. Try scoring the number of misses when you get a couple of 2's on a 9-ft. table. I've seen 90-misses in three games
mars said:
1. The Hole Thang 1705 Shurling Dr Macon Ga 478 744 0038 www.theholethang.com (11 nine foot tables 2 snooker tables 27 barboxes full bar full kitchen tonight is speghetti night!)
2. Rivalry's Sports Bar 3986 Northside Dr Macon Ga 478 474 0606 www.rivalrys.net coming soon (10 barbox's full bar full kitchen live music stage 20 tv's)
next event is @ the Hole on Aug 18th and 19th Greater Southern Billiard Tour $1500 added 9-ball
every 3rd saturday of the month (unless we have Greater Southern or Viking or Pechauer Tours) $1000 added $25 entry 9-ball tourney
cuesblues said:
The pool halls seem to have a harder time generating league activity than the bars do.
This is not a true statement, most pool halls have 7 or 8 ft tables just for their leagues. They also have less trouble than bars finding teams that want to play for them. First of all, the equipment in Bars is crappy to start with. Then you have to deal with an area that in many cases is not large enough for the League players and the Drinking patrons.
Bars are fine for what they are, and they do generate league growth for League operators due to the number of Bars that most areas have. The reason the average league player doesn't do well on a larger table little to do with table, and everything to do with the team captain ability to mentor and train his players. You see, if it takes that long to play a match on any table the Team Captain either needs to step up and teach their players or step down and let someone else do the job.
The Pool halls in Washington State, generate the largest percentage of winning teams. Also many room owners including myself have to turn teams away because there is not enough room. This makes teams compete to be the next selected to play for a certain room.
No disrespect intended, have a nice day!!!!!!!
Craig it is different in different places. You live in Wa. where it rains alot.
Heck I live in SoCal Town population is 240,000 and we don't even have a pool hall.
It is all bar box leagues but just a small APA and small independent. No BCA, VNEA, TAP, 
Heck I live in SoCal Town population is 240,000 and we don't even have a pool hall.
It is all bar box leagues but just a small APA and small independent. No BCA, VNEA, TAP,