I have a strange and unique idea. How about combining a billiard center with an owner who cares about pool?
Yes, I'm half joking. But in recent years, it seems to be harder and harder to find a pool hall owned by someone who loves the game.
I've often felt the same way, and it's frustrating when both owner and employees clearly don't give a crap about the equipment, they see refelting as a necessary evil to do once every four years and allow people to sit on the rails and generally treat the table like patio furniture.
But really, you can get there without love of pool, by just having a smart and hard working manager who listens to his customers.
My case in point would be the Breakers in Herndon, VA. I've never seen the owner hit a ball, I don't even know if he plays. He says he's run several businesses but this is his first pool hall. In three years he turned a disaster zone into a fantastic place to play, with good tables, fresh cloth and rails, good food, booze, etc.
He's smart enough to understand that if he maintains the equipment, he keeps both bangers and serious players. And he cares enough to have a smoking area with several tables, and a nonsmoking area too, so nobody feels forced to go outside (or elsewhere). He has a lounge for people who expect karaoke, dancing, and so on, but the players aren't exposed to too much loud music, it's walled off. Everyone wins. According to him business is good (which I'm going to take as truth... I had to wait a few hours for a table yesterday).
Love of the game helps, but common sense business management can't be overstated.
