People spend money... but not on pool.
- Thread starter bigshooter
- Start date
Last night.
Burger and Fries at Pool Hall: $9
Table Time: $20/2 = $10 (split with my buddy)
2 Pictures Beer: $16/2 = $8 (split with my buddy)
Tip $4
Total: $31
I don't know where you live but around here it doesn't get much cheaper than $31 for a Friday night on the town.
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A lot of good points made in these posts. I think that the fun level at the absolute beginning stages of the two are quite different. You can pick up a video game controller with no knowledge of the game and be able to accomplish some things, have a good time and learn the skills to advance in the game quickly. As opposed to pool where the first time you pick up a cue, you don't know how to stroke, where to aim, hell, you can't even make a damn ball the first couple times you play. So it's easy to get frustrated.
Also, I've never walked into a gaming center and not having taken two steps in the door been approached by someone to get in a game for cash trying to rob me. I have been able to go to very few pool rooms or tournaments where if I have a cue with me, Some greaseball is asking me to gamble before I even have seen a table.
I have an aquaintence that is that very person. If he sees someone playing, he is quick to go over and either let them know how bad they are or try to get them to play him for money. Most people don't want that hassle and can enjoy a evening playing madden, or halo with there buddies and having a blast.. Just my 2 cents
Also, I've never walked into a gaming center and not having taken two steps in the door been approached by someone to get in a game for cash trying to rob me. I have been able to go to very few pool rooms or tournaments where if I have a cue with me, Some greaseball is asking me to gamble before I even have seen a table.
I have an aquaintence that is that very person. If he sees someone playing, he is quick to go over and either let them know how bad they are or try to get them to play him for money. Most people don't want that hassle and can enjoy a evening playing madden, or halo with there buddies and having a blast.. Just my 2 cents
What if you got hustled for $50 more?
A lot of good points made in these posts. I think that the fun level at the absolute beginning stages of the two are quite different. You can pick up a video game controller with no knowledge of the game and be able to accomplish some things, have a good time and learn the skills to advance in the game quickly. As opposed to pool where the first time you pick up a cue, you don't know how to stroke, where to aim, hell, you can't even make a damn ball the first couple times you play. So it's easy to get frustrated.
Also, I've never walked into a gaming center and not having taken two steps in the door been approached by someone to get in a game for cash trying to rob me. I have been able to go to very few pool rooms or tournaments where if I have a cue with me, Some greaseball is asking me to gamble before I even have seen a table.
I have an aquaintence that is that very person. If he sees someone playing, he is quick to go over and either let them know how bad they are or try to get them to play him for money. Most people don't want that hassle and can enjoy a evening playing madden, or halo with there buddies and having a blast.. Just my 2 cents
Tap tap to this post and the others about treating newbies as marks.
Duh! What good is it to kill the goose before it has laid even one egg?
How about getting a job or starting a business, making your betting money that way, and then risking it against players who actually stand a chance at beating you? Think of the value to YOUR game with this paradigm!
Plus, treat the newbies as potentially valuable and help them become better players so they, too, can play against those who stand a chance at beating them.
Last, make it more of a specatator sport by getting others to watch the action---action where the winner isn't known beforehand by all but the newbie/sucker.
A little honesty goes a long way in attracting valuable people.
Jeff Livingston
Well every time I got play in a $7.00 Entree fee Tournament, by the time I get home I am out a MINIMUM of $20.00-$30.00 with Drinks, Food, Tip, Gas, and Wear and Tear on my car.
Some people are lucky enough to live in a big city like NYC with a great public transportation system where the cost of a monthly transportation pass in minimal.
But running a car must be calculated into the equation on how much you are spending on pool, unless the cost of your car and all associated expense is ZERO.
Some people are lucky enough to live in a big city like NYC with a great public transportation system where the cost of a monthly transportation pass in minimal.
But running a car must be calculated into the equation on how much you are spending on pool, unless the cost of your car and all associated expense is ZERO.
I'm 31 now and started when I was 14. I hated pool at first because I was bad and I didn't see any improvement quickly. My step dad kept pushing me. Pool was how my mom thought me and my new step dad would bond. I played until I went to college then took the next 9 or 10 years off. I'm pretty pissed at my self for not playing during the majority of my 20's. I was drunk most of those years, which probably didn't help.
It is funny to talk to my peers about pool. They are amazed that a cue, my Little Al sneaky pete, was $200. Blown away that I would spend $1200 on a cue, my Runde, and yet they blow there money on clothes and stupid shit. I will still have my cues when all is said and done.
My generation wants instant gratification, thanks to video games. Think about it. You can spend upwards of $60 on a video game, play for days, and it doesn't cost anything afterwards. Pool, if you really get into it, costs something every time you go out. Most of the pool halls here are full blown bars. I can go to the "bad" part of town and shoot all night for 4.50 an hour. Or I can go downtown, shoot with friends, pay $10 an hour,which I don't pay anymore, get distracted by waitresses and chicks, blow $30 on beer and whiskey, and ultimately end up drinking with a pool stick in hand. It all depends on what each person wants. Pool is a strange game.
I heard a great quote once, not sure where, but it stated "show me a good pool player and I will show you a wasted life." If you really want to get good, it takes time, patience, focus, etc.... You don't go to a bar to learn guitar, you don't go to a bar to learn basketball. It is really hard to learn to do things right in a bar, unless you don't drink much.
Whenever I take my cue to the office, people ask me if I play for money. There is still a stigma with pool players. I really don't care, I say let the stigma stay. Most people are dumb. If they don't want to take the time to learn about something they are ignorant about, then I would prefer not to see them at the pool hall.
People generally like to spend money on tangible items or memorable events. People who don't really play pool, don't like to spend money shooting unless they have expendable income. In these times, not many of us have it.
Funny part is I am broke, bought my cues in better times, but I don't mind eating Ramen and Rice to hold on to the cues. I want my son to have them when he is old enough. I had them before I had him and I want him to have them before he has kids. Hopefully they won't warp, he is only 8 months old.
It is funny to talk to my peers about pool. They are amazed that a cue, my Little Al sneaky pete, was $200. Blown away that I would spend $1200 on a cue, my Runde, and yet they blow there money on clothes and stupid shit. I will still have my cues when all is said and done.
My generation wants instant gratification, thanks to video games. Think about it. You can spend upwards of $60 on a video game, play for days, and it doesn't cost anything afterwards. Pool, if you really get into it, costs something every time you go out. Most of the pool halls here are full blown bars. I can go to the "bad" part of town and shoot all night for 4.50 an hour. Or I can go downtown, shoot with friends, pay $10 an hour,which I don't pay anymore, get distracted by waitresses and chicks, blow $30 on beer and whiskey, and ultimately end up drinking with a pool stick in hand. It all depends on what each person wants. Pool is a strange game.
I heard a great quote once, not sure where, but it stated "show me a good pool player and I will show you a wasted life." If you really want to get good, it takes time, patience, focus, etc.... You don't go to a bar to learn guitar, you don't go to a bar to learn basketball. It is really hard to learn to do things right in a bar, unless you don't drink much.
Whenever I take my cue to the office, people ask me if I play for money. There is still a stigma with pool players. I really don't care, I say let the stigma stay. Most people are dumb. If they don't want to take the time to learn about something they are ignorant about, then I would prefer not to see them at the pool hall.
People generally like to spend money on tangible items or memorable events. People who don't really play pool, don't like to spend money shooting unless they have expendable income. In these times, not many of us have it.
Funny part is I am broke, bought my cues in better times, but I don't mind eating Ramen and Rice to hold on to the cues. I want my son to have them when he is old enough. I had them before I had him and I want him to have them before he has kids. Hopefully they won't warp, he is only 8 months old.
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