New pool room Help and ideas

ftgokie

ftgokie

D player extraordinaire
Silver Member
I am HIGHLY considering opening up my own pool/game room here in Muskogee. We have a local pool/game room with 12 valley bar tables, and 7 Gold crowns. But the people that run the place are high on the time tables ?6.00/hr? and if you go over 5 min, you will get charged the full 6.00 so if you play for 1hr 5 min, you will be charged 12.00. I think that is unacceptable. I have a building on a very busy 4 lane and it is very close to a local college and I think would be a prime spot to have this. The people charge way too much money for their food, for example, a single deluxe cheeseburger, with fries and a soft drink is 7.50. A bag of chips ?Big Grab? is 1.00?1 size soft drink ?large? is 1.50 and refills are 1.00. The bar tables are reasonable .50 for 8 ball, and they have 1 table set up just for 9 ball, .50cents also.. They do have pool leagues there and I would certainly want to have leagues at my place because I think that is a great way to get new players interested in pool, and makes for a steady weekly income. They do have tournaments, but the 9 ball tourney is all jacked up. How they do it is a points system.. If you break and run 8 balls, you are awarded points?if you miss the 9 ball and the other person steps up and pockets the 9 ball, the person who has the most points ?the person that broke and run 8 balls? wins?.I know..its very stupid?.they said it is to make it more fair for people that don?t know how to play 9 ball to play against someone who does?its silly?and they are wondering why they only have 4-5 people in the 9 ball tourney..

I have measured and there will be enough room for 8 Gold Crowns, and 12 Diamond bar tables. If it goes over good, we have enough room for 3 more 9? tables and 4 more bar tables, but that will be only if it goes over well. Gold Crowns and Diamonds will all be played on time.

There will be room for a small stage to be built, and local bands can come play and that will bring in good crowds I believe. Also I will put up LCD flat panel TV throughout the place.

I will have food and drinks, basically, burgers, corndogs, my homemade chili, nachos, popcorn.. and 1 day a week I will have a homemade dish cooking in the crock-pot?.so I know the food will be a hit.

I will want to hold some pretty good tournaments to bring in some good players so the community can see what good players really are. I am thinking having a 9 ball tourney first and I will add 5000.00 to the pot to try and get in some really good players. There is Holiday Inn, Ramada within a couple miles so that would not be an issue. I have talked to a VERY reputable cue builder from Texas and he has agreed to come up to do cue repairs and sell his cues during the tourney, then, I will be doing the repairs on cues after that tourney.

I am VERY undecided on alcoholic drinks?If I serve them, then the kids will be cut out and I honestly don?t want to do that since its hard enough for kids to find a place to go around here where they can enjoy themselves?.I will also have some video games for the kids, looking at 10-15 video games

I will also try and get some custom cues to be able to sell along with the regular production cues. SO?does this sounds like a good idea, and with no alcohol served, do you think it would be a good place for a tourney for some of the better players? I will also have tournaments for beginners and up to 8 speed players to participate in?but I think it would be good to have a few Big tournaments that pays pretty well enough to draw in some bigger names. Anyone have any suggestions on what the pool community would want that I have not mentioned? I am looking to have this up and running by May 2009?.Thanks everyone for your input. Any input will be greatly appreciated?.
 
I would ask the question in the Room Owners Section. Personally I do not think $6.00/Hr. is HIGH, but they should cut the Partial Hour Rates in 1/4th's, or 10th's.

Think a wise investment before blowing a WAD of Cash, is some dollar well spend on a Business consultant like Nick Varner, or? Takes more than the love of Pool to make a living off of a Pool Room.
 
I don't think $6 is that high either. It is more like $10 around here. The 5 minute rule would have to go though. I am not sure I think the food prices are that high either, especially if you want to stay open. Although the pop prices are high.

There 9 ball rules are fairly common also. They insure that the better player wins instead of someone lucking their way into a win in a short race. Mid level players tend to like this also, as they often get out of line by the 9 and blow the whole game that they dominated. Of course players are handicapped by having better players need more points to win.
 
Sorry, wrong section

I did just realize that I did post this in the wrong section. Sorry guys and gals.:sorry:
 
mantis99 said:
I don't think $6 is that high either. It is more like $10 around here. The 5 minute rule would have to go though. I am not sure I think the food prices are that high either, especially if you want to stay open. Although the pop prices are high.

There 9 ball rules are fairly common also. They insure that the better player wins instead of someone lucking their way into a win in a short race. Mid level players tend to like this also, as they often get out of line by the 9 and blow the whole game that they dominated. Of course players are handicapped by having better players need more points to win.
Click to expand...

I totally agree on the time rules...I woudl charge by 1/4, 1/2, 34 hrs after the first hour..
 
I personally do not think a single price you listed was high. Most of them seemed WAY too cheap:eek: . They must have super low rent or a big retail shop to support the room. I havent seen 50 cent tables in over a decade. Most decent rooms have $1 tables at a minimum. But after you open your place we would like to hear an update. I charge $3.60/hour per person for pool and that price is 12 years old. $6.00 for the entire table is a 1980's level of pricing. $10-15 for the table is the norm in St. Louis. Good luck with opening your room.
 
cueandcushion said:
I personally do not think a single price you listed was high. Most of them seemed WAY too cheap:eek: . They must have super low rent or a big retail shop to support the room. I havent seen 50 cent tables in over a decade. Most decent rooms have $1 tables at a minimum. But after you open your place we would like to hear an update. I charge $3.60/hour per person for pool and that price is 12 years old. $6.00 for the entire table is a 1980's level of pricing. $10-15 for the table is the norm in St. Louis. Good luck with opening your room.
Click to expand...

Bar tables here in Muskogee are .50 cents....when you go to Tulsa and surrounding areas...the bar tables are 1.00 and time for tables is 4.00-6.00 and will charge you only what you play...

Nothing is set in stone about opening a room....but me and the wife are pretty sure about it...and I have a cpl friends that will back me 100% of the way financially...just gotta work out a few things before we go full tilt
 
video games

I don't know if the no alcohol will work in your area.

Keep the arcade games away from the pool tables,in a separate room if possible.Kids are good,give them simple rules and they will follow them.

Sounds like a nice place,depends on what else is nearby as far as cue entertainment.
 
I think the prices at the current place seem reasonable too, even for the food. I DON'T agree with the whole charging for a full hour situation, that sucks! It would really piss me off.

Of course if you have lower overhead (aka YOU are the one working most shifts and you aren't expecting HUGE profits) then you might be able to have lower food prices. I would consider what a burger & fries cost at some other local restaurants, including the chain type restaurants. Make sure the food is good, have soup and a daily special and you might even get non-players there for lunch from surrounding businesses. Find a specialty or a niche, like awesome soups or gourmet coffees and desert. Something that isn't too expensive to experiment with, but something that will make people want to come back or draw them in.

Definitely have some supplies, including, but not limited to custom cues. I would suggest also having a handfull of inexpensive production cues, even flashy ones. Especially if you have kids hanging around. These days kids will drop $100-200 in a heartbeat for something that makes them feel like a big shot (have you seen how some of them deck out their cars now!). And t-shirts. I would give away a lot of t-shirts or sell them super cheap. Like for every hour you pay full-price for a table you're eligible to buy a shirt for only $5 (or about what your cost is to print them up). And your counter help should suggest the add-on sale everytime somebody comes up to pay "Your total today is $13.25, would you like to add a t-shirt for only $5 more?" Or every hour of full-price pay you get entry into a weekly drawing for a shirt or $10 gift certificate. T-shirts and sweatshirts are great advertisement for this type of business, especially just starting out and spreading the word.

Sorry about the long post, just rambling on. Best of luck!

edited to add: I'm not speaking from pool-hall experience or anything, just my opinion so take it for what it's worth.
 
Been threw Muskogee, Oklahoma once about 12 years ago, what keep the town cash registers hopping.

College Town?

Military Bases?

Lots of high paying manufacturing jobs?

What is the state of the town ecomoney today, lots of forclosures?
 
ftgokie said:
I am HIGHLY considering opening up my own pool/game room here in Muskogee. We have a local pool/game room with 12 valley bar tables, and 7 Gold crowns. But the people that run the place are high on the time tables ?6.00/hr? and if you go over 5 min, you will get charged the full 6.00 so if you play for 1hr 5 min, you will be charged 12.00. I think that is unacceptable. I have a building on a very busy 4 lane and it is very close to a local college and I think would be a prime spot to have this. The people charge way too much money for their food, for example, a single deluxe cheeseburger, with fries and a soft drink is 7.50. A bag of chips ?Big Grab? is 1.00?1 size soft drink ?large? is 1.50 and refills are 1.00. The bar tables are reasonable .50 for 8 ball, and they have 1 table set up just for 9 ball, .50cents also.. They do have pool leagues there and I would certainly want to have leagues at my place because I think that is a great way to get new players interested in pool, and makes for a steady weekly income. They do have tournaments, but the 9 ball tourney is all jacked up. How they do it is a points system.. If you break and run 8 balls, you are awarded points?if you miss the 9 ball and the other person steps up and pockets the 9 ball, the person who has the most points ?the person that broke and run 8 balls? wins?.I know..its very stupid?.they said it is to make it more fair for people that don?t know how to play 9 ball to play against someone who does?its silly?and they are wondering why they only have 4-5 people in the 9 ball tourney..

I have measured and there will be enough room for 8 Gold Crowns, and 12 Diamond bar tables. If it goes over good, we have enough room for 3 more 9? tables and 4 more bar tables, but that will be only if it goes over well. Gold Crowns and Diamonds will all be played on time.

There will be room for a small stage to be built, and local bands can come play and that will bring in good crowds I believe. Also I will put up LCD flat panel TV throughout the place.

I will have food and drinks, basically, burgers, corndogs, my homemade chili, nachos, popcorn.. and 1 day a week I will have a homemade dish cooking in the crock-pot?.so I know the food will be a hit.

I will want to hold some pretty good tournaments to bring in some good players so the community can see what good players really are. I am thinking having a 9 ball tourney first and I will add 5000.00 to the pot to try and get in some really good players. There is Holiday Inn, Ramada within a couple miles so that would not be an issue. I have talked to a VERY reputable cue builder from Texas and he has agreed to come up to do cue repairs and sell his cues during the tourney, then, I will be doing the repairs on cues after that tourney.

I am VERY undecided on alcoholic drinks?If I serve them, then the kids will be cut out and I honestly don?t want to do that since its hard enough for kids to find a place to go around here where they can enjoy themselves?.I will also have some video games for the kids, looking at 10-15 video games

I will also try and get some custom cues to be able to sell along with the regular production cues. SO?does this sounds like a good idea, and with no alcohol served, do you think it would be a good place for a tourney for some of the better players? I will also have tournaments for beginners and up to 8 speed players to participate in?but I think it would be good to have a few Big tournaments that pays pretty well enough to draw in some bigger names. Anyone have any suggestions on what the pool community would want that I have not mentioned? I am looking to have this up and running by May 2009?.Thanks everyone for your input. Any input will be greatly appreciated?.
Click to expand...
If you're going to go with Diamond 7ft tables, why not the Diamond 9ft's as well?...I mean, why mix the manufactures of tables?

Glen
 
realkingcobra said:
If you're going to go with Diamond 7ft tables, why not the Diamond 9ft's as well?...I mean, why mix the manufactures of tables?

Glen
Click to expand...

Especially if you are looking to attract college guys. Rowdy people, you are gonna want those Diamond wood tables to withstand the abuse...
 
$6 an hour, holy crap, we pay $10 here. And the cloth looks like moths got at it. I'm moving to where you are.
 
The Brass Ring - Madison

I've never been to this establishment, but I like the concept. It seems to strike a nice balance with the billiards, bar and restaurant.

This was obviously not done on a shoestring. Some serious investment and commitment here.

Is anyone familiar with this room?

http://www.thebrassringmadison.com/

BRWebpageH.gif
 
We're willng to donate some college billiard balls/cues for tournament prizes. We need to get more college kids playing this game.

Let me know what you need- if a different college from Wisconsin, we can make some custom logos with relatively low minimums.

Another fun idea to attract female players is to rent out the fun-style billiard ball sets (ie. Vigma Pearl, Opal sets). Contact me if you want more info on these.
 
ftgokie said:
I am HIGHLY considering opening up my own pool/game room here in Muskogee. We have a local pool/game room with 12 valley bar tables, and 7 Gold crowns. But the people that run the place are high on the time tables ?6.00/hr? and if you go over 5 min, you will get charged the full 6.00 so if you play for 1hr 5 min, you will be charged 12.00. I think that is unacceptable. I have a building on a very busy 4 lane and it is very close to a local college and I think would be a prime spot to have this. The people charge way too much money for their food, for example, a single deluxe cheeseburger, with fries and a soft drink is 7.50. A bag of chips ?Big Grab? is 1.00?1 size soft drink ?large? is 1.50 and refills are 1.00. The bar tables are reasonable .50 for 8 ball, and they have 1 table set up just for 9 ball, .50cents also.. They do have pool leagues there and I would certainly want to have leagues at my place because I think that is a great way to get new players interested in pool, and makes for a steady weekly income. They do have tournaments, but the 9 ball tourney is all jacked up. How they do it is a points system.. If you break and run 8 balls, you are awarded points?if you miss the 9 ball and the other person steps up and pockets the 9 ball, the person who has the most points ?the person that broke and run 8 balls? wins?.I know..its very stupid?.they said it is to make it more fair for people that don?t know how to play 9 ball to play against someone who does?its silly?and they are wondering why they only have 4-5 people in the 9 ball tourney..

I have measured and there will be enough room for 8 Gold Crowns, and 12 Diamond bar tables. If it goes over good, we have enough room for 3 more 9? tables and 4 more bar tables, but that will be only if it goes over well. Gold Crowns and Diamonds will all be played on time.

There will be room for a small stage to be built, and local bands can come play and that will bring in good crowds I believe. Also I will put up LCD flat panel TV throughout the place.

I will have food and drinks, basically, burgers, corndogs, my homemade chili, nachos, popcorn.. and 1 day a week I will have a homemade dish cooking in the crock-pot?.so I know the food will be a hit.

I will want to hold some pretty good tournaments to bring in some good players so the community can see what good players really are. I am thinking having a 9 ball tourney first and I will add 5000.00 to the pot to try and get in some really good players. There is Holiday Inn, Ramada within a couple miles so that would not be an issue. I have talked to a VERY reputable cue builder from Texas and he has agreed to come up to do cue repairs and sell his cues during the tourney, then, I will be doing the repairs on cues after that tourney.

I am VERY undecided on alcoholic drinks?If I serve them, then the kids will be cut out and I honestly don?t want to do that since its hard enough for kids to find a place to go around here where they can enjoy themselves?.I will also have some video games for the kids, looking at 10-15 video games

I will also try and get some custom cues to be able to sell along with the regular production cues. SO?does this sounds like a good idea, and with no alcohol served, do you think it would be a good place for a tourney for some of the better players? I will also have tournaments for beginners and up to 8 speed players to participate in?but I think it would be good to have a few Big tournaments that pays pretty well enough to draw in some bigger names. Anyone have any suggestions on what the pool community would want that I have not mentioned? I am looking to have this up and running by May 2009?.Thanks everyone for your input. Any input will be greatly appreciated?.
Click to expand...
If you're serious about Diamond tables, I may be able to help you, just need to know what you're going to do, I'd also have to come by and take a look at the location first, before a commitment could be made.

Glen
 
Awesome! I am so tired of hearing rooms close!

There is a "pool room thread area" and some beautiful stuff listed too. ASK OWNERS, they really will give you the up/down about the business and what works.

In GA I paid $5 hr during the week and $10 Fri, Sat, Sun. They had 3 lousey Banger tables and I was always fighting off drunks and male "know it alls". That's why I quit. Moved to AZ and there is nothing out here in the Wild Western side of PHX (just mountains and desert) Phoenix has tables but it's so far to drive.

I hope everything works out for you.
I agree... no band (or limited)
I agree... tournaments

You could let teens in up to 5-6-7pm (whatever your state allows-then kick em out) You could have no Booze Sundays and let them play all day & night.:grin:

You could do what Johnny & Kim did and make a Scorpion Room.

Diversify..... Diversify..... Diversify..... Can't say it enough times....
Sell T-shirts, gear, cues, sport stuff, food, souvenirs, collectibles. Promo, poker, backgammon, etc. Get involved with the community. Promote Ladies night, B'days, even coffee house atmosphere. (Know your public & cater)

I'd play pool at Starbucks if they had a table.:) I am always looking for pool collectibles and nostalgia.
Good Luck.... Let us know if you need anything.
Donna
 
$7.50 for a burger & fries= Burger King will cost you that and their food costs are tiny compared to the bar you mentioned

Also, you are talking about $100,000 just for the pool tables.....I own a pool hall with 43 tables (35 bar box and 8 Nine footers) and the only way we are profitable is because I own all the equipment and don't have to pay a lease, or a payment to a bank, or split the drop with anyone

You go into business to make money, you charge what the market will bare
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top