Phoenix Pool Room to close down!
- Thread starter stuckart
- Start date
bfdlad said:
Oh sure..there are other bars and Metro is still there. But frankly if it were not for Jazz being at Metro...I doubt I would ever go there....Those tables are not something that I want to play on any more than I have to...so to speak...(funny thing is...with a slight rearangement to the tables and adjustment to the rails and speed those tables could be fairly nice.
It is not the same chemestry as Alexanders... The only other room in town that is like that is Kolby's ...and Main Street even further east.
West of I-17 will be officially dead (other than rooms that are Bars that happen to have some pool tables in them)
I hate to speculate, but I wonder if the empty space right next to Alexanders has anything to do with the landlord not upping the lease.
(Actually I heard a rumor that people just could not take any more of some "bruce" guy....and that was the cause of all this...Not sure who "Bruce" is though as I don't know anyone by that name that actually plays pool..........
)
I guess Jimbo's on 51st and Cactus is in the process of expanding and will have 10 tables in all. And SixShooters will open with new owners in the coming weeks, once they get through all the red tape.
Hopefully Ron will be able to get involved in something, as I could see him bringing an army of players with him. They'll just have to try and bring in the drinkers as well.
Some place with a good kitchen and different choices of food would be helpful.
Hopefully Ron will be able to get involved in something, as I could see him bringing an army of players with him. They'll just have to try and bring in the drinkers as well.
Some place with a good kitchen and different choices of food would be helpful.
stuckart said:
So what do you know about the "NEW OWNERS" how will they make the place a Pool Room? Or will the focus again be on DARTS?
Metro Sports Bar has some of the best Valley tables in the Phoenix Metropolitan area. They always refelt them and ensure that they're level much more than about any other place in town. That's one of the reasons that they always get about 100 players for the $500 added scotch doubles and their weekly Friday tournaments is regularly the biggest in town.BRKNRUN said:
Dead??? Hardly that is quite an exaggeration...BRKNRUN said:
Not trying to get into any flame war or argument here.
I just think that pool players especially shouldn't be so overly critical of the good venues that we do have out there. Appreciate the good ones, else we suffer to lose them as well...
Especially considering all that goes into running a pool room and even more so with the difficulties with the current economy and high gas prices...
Alexander's and Metro Sports are both good places to play at. There are other places on that side of town who also have/will have good barboxes to play on. Alexander's is drying up... Would hate to see those other places disappear as well. We should show extra gratitude for the survivors that we still have.
Well maybe Ron will take his tables to the West Valley, find a new location, like West of 75th Avenue as there are really no Pool Bar in that part of the Valley, and Peoria, and Surprise are both growing like a Wild Fire with a Dry Temperatures, and Hot Winds Fanning it. As of today there is no place out that way to play pool, or having any tournaments.
The only place now is Silver Q, and they cater to the under 25 generation, and do not sell Beer, Wine, or any ALCOHOL.
The only place now is Silver Q, and they cater to the under 25 generation, and do not sell Beer, Wine, or any ALCOHOL.
I agree Flickit, there are still some good pool halls to play at in the West Valley. Metro has tournaments every day of the week and always get 20+ players. The barboxes were just re-done last month and the much needed big tables were done on Wednesday. They are not as fast as they were, which is a good thing, because they were ridiculously fast before. Al and company have always done a great job in reaching all the different skill levels of players.
As far as SixShooters, I'm hearing that Daryl (I think that's his name), who use to manage the place is either the new owner or partner. And there is some red tape with the building owners on monies owed from SixShooters and probably a bunch of other BS that I don't care to know. Once this is done, I think they are going to take out some tables, add some dart boards, tidy up the place and start running some good things for pool. This is all speculation at this point, so let's keep our fingers crossed. (I'm hoping Ron can somehow get involved and turn this place into a gold mine.)
Northern Lounge always takes care of it's 5 tables as well, and Larry and Marty have been involved in the pool community for many years. They offer weekly tournaments and work pretty hand-in-hand with Metro in offering different tournaments and leagues for players. Now if we can get all the pool rooms on the West to work together we might be able to stop the bleeding now.
Cocobolo - What about The Deli Sports Bar? They have tourneys all the time.
As far as SixShooters, I'm hearing that Daryl (I think that's his name), who use to manage the place is either the new owner or partner. And there is some red tape with the building owners on monies owed from SixShooters and probably a bunch of other BS that I don't care to know. Once this is done, I think they are going to take out some tables, add some dart boards, tidy up the place and start running some good things for pool. This is all speculation at this point, so let's keep our fingers crossed. (I'm hoping Ron can somehow get involved and turn this place into a gold mine.)
Northern Lounge always takes care of it's 5 tables as well, and Larry and Marty have been involved in the pool community for many years. They offer weekly tournaments and work pretty hand-in-hand with Metro in offering different tournaments and leagues for players. Now if we can get all the pool rooms on the West to work together we might be able to stop the bleeding now.
Cocobolo - What about The Deli Sports Bar? They have tourneys all the time.
FLICKit said:
I was not referring to the Bar Box's....but are you kidding?... Actually you may be correct that they are nicer than "most" but you obviously have not heard the same comments from other players as I have regarding those bar boxes.
I was actually referring to the 9' tables. I think if they pulled one table and rearranged the others, changed out the cushions so they don't play faster than "billiards" tables...they could have a very nice set up... The place itself is not bad... (except for the tables)
I would actaully go there often if they did something with the tables...I am 5 seconds away from that place and would probably eat lunch there and hit some balls, but I don't want to play on those table any more than I have to... Those tables are so fast, you can hit shots on those tables that you can not hit on ANY other table... If you are telling me I am wrong...you need to ask any player rated higher than an 8.
(if they want to cater to bangers forever...so be it)
Believe me..I am not flaming the place... With the sad news that Alexanders is closing their doors....The owner should be jumping at the opportunity to set up those table correctly.
I actually like the "lay out" in general of that place...(just remove 1 of the 9's) so they are not so crammed together.
Frankly, I can't think of any room on the West Side that anyone rated higher than an 8 is going to want to play in on a consistent basis....(other than Alexanders) ...especially a 9'.
I do not consider I-17, and Peoria the Westside of the Valley, if Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, and Gilber are the EAST VALLEY.
Once again I re-state be careful... We should be grateful for the little that is left, else we'll lose that, and then things will really be worse.CocoboloCowboy said:
Don't know if you've ever tried to run a pool hall (no matter, it's not the main issue anyway). But, most poolplayers conception of the perfect pool hall, when put into existence, would go out of business quicker than the ones we're seeing now. Pool players can be a very tough, picky group and yet contribute relatively little $$$ to the establishment (ironically the bars end up having to contribute to the players). The poolplayers wanna get a lil extra cash to help pay their own rent and monthly expenses, all the while unaware of the hardships that the establishments go through for their monthly expenses. Hence one of the big reasons why pool establishments are shutting down all over the place.
Therefore, not every establishment may be perfect, nor will they fulfill on yours or anyone else's every whim. But many of them provide a good service to certain niches which are needed for pool. For example, I know you like to play a lot of tournaments, which Six Shooters never really did. But for league players, Six Shooters served that niche well. In addition, that place worked much better for special event tournaments as opposed to weekly tournaments. Without Six Shooters that niche would be negatively impacted.
Once again, that niche may not serve certain poolplayers directly. But often it could serve those players indirectly. For example, there are many players who got their start and developed their skills through the leagues at Six Shooters. Without those leagues many of them would not have developed to the regular pool enthusiasts that they are now. Therefore, without them the pool tournaments that you regularly play in, would be much smaller.
FLICKit said:
Having owned, and operated a business for 20 or so years I understand what a business owner goes through to keep a business going, and if it is not profitable, the owner might be better off in a Blue Vest with a Yellow Smiley Face working at Wal-Mart for a Pay Check, and Benefits.
Six Shooters use to have a monthly tournaments that was run by a friend of Mike Howerton's, named CP. When the tournament stopped happening I ask CP what happened. He said Six Shooter decided to stop supporting his event, and pool in general.
That I know was true as Mike's All Around use to have stops at Six Shooters, and they were moved I believe to Main Street, and Kolby's in the East Valley when Six Shooters quit supporting the All Around Event.
If the Six Shooters does reopen, I do hope they will again have tournaments, as I personally have never played in a league, as I do not wish to make a long term commitment to a league.
FLICKit said:
I just don't get it...If these rooms are deveolping players than what happens to them when they develope into better players??? Do they stop spending money or something?
Bottom line is that the bigger majority of pool players are just people that go somewere to throw a few darts or play a few games of pool.
If that is what rooms want to cater too that is fine...That IMO is a Bar that happens to have some pool tables in it... (so be it and more power to them)
However......Pool Rooms (such as Kolby's & Main Street) will not exist on the West Side when Alexanders closes.....JMO of course.
BRKNRUN said:
I do not think since I have lived in the Valley there has been a Kolby's & Main Street type room in the West Valley. IMHO.
As I said the West Valley Cities of Surprise, and Peoria are both growing like a Wild Fire with a Dry Temperatures, and Hot Winds Fanning it. As of today there is no place out that way to play pool, or having any tournaments.
BrkNRun,
As I said, wasn't looking to get into any flame wars or pissing matches.
But I will respond to your statement quite simply.
I understand exactly what you're talkin about and some of your points are very valid. I was just tempering your comments a bit by acknowledging the very good aspects of Metro Sports Bar and other west side establishments.
But it can be helpful to look at things from a perspective other than the pure comfort of the pool player. For example, from a businessman's perspective, the question is: would that place generate more revenue if it had less 9' tables providing for more room for the pool player?
The resounding answer is NO. As a pool player you may not like the answer, for obvious reasons. Just stating it isn't always 100% about the pool player. Those 9' tables get filled very quickly, very often. There are many times when people come in and get a bit frustrated that there are no 9' tables available to play on.
The owners of Metro Sports Bar are good people and they do much to satisfy their customers and provide a good service for their niche of customers (i.e. as mentioned in another post they slowed down the felt in order to better satisfy their customers. Another example is that their 9' tables are free for their patrons from 11:00am to 7:00pm every day!).
ASIDE: Notice that conversation is quite a unique one to have. In most every other bar with pool tables many people have to adjust because the tables are too slow and ratty.
As I said, wasn't looking to get into any flame wars or pissing matches.
But I will respond to your statement quite simply.
I understand exactly what you're talkin about and some of your points are very valid. I was just tempering your comments a bit by acknowledging the very good aspects of Metro Sports Bar and other west side establishments.
But it can be helpful to look at things from a perspective other than the pure comfort of the pool player. For example, from a businessman's perspective, the question is: would that place generate more revenue if it had less 9' tables providing for more room for the pool player?
The resounding answer is NO. As a pool player you may not like the answer, for obvious reasons. Just stating it isn't always 100% about the pool player. Those 9' tables get filled very quickly, very often. There are many times when people come in and get a bit frustrated that there are no 9' tables available to play on.
The owners of Metro Sports Bar are good people and they do much to satisfy their customers and provide a good service for their niche of customers (i.e. as mentioned in another post they slowed down the felt in order to better satisfy their customers. Another example is that their 9' tables are free for their patrons from 11:00am to 7:00pm every day!).
ASIDE: Notice that conversation is quite a unique one to have. In most every other bar with pool tables many people have to adjust because the tables are too slow and ratty.
The unfortunate answer is in many cases YES. I've seen a number of players who used to go get drunk and play pool then develop and watch the better players (i.e. 10's, 10-1, ...) who drink primarily soda, water, coffee, ... So in order to play better those developing players do much the same.BRKNRUN said:
True and unfortunately those bangers are often better customers to cater to.BRKNRUN said:
Actually, depending on how you look at things Six Shooters and Main Street are setup more like the traditional pool rooms. Alexander's looks more like your typical bar.BRKNRUN said:
Now on the other hand, Alexander's, Metro Sports and Main Street run their establishment to cater to the better pool players (at least on 7' barboxes), whereas Six Shooter clearly does not.
Main Street caters to the better players on 9'. Metro Sports at least has places for them to play, whereas Alexander's has very few 9' tables (I believe just 1).
Looking from an even different perspective: Alexander's has Diamond tables, which Metro Sports, Six Shooters and Main Street do not. Although from what I heard the owner's of Alexander's did not own those tables.
Now, we can go back and forth and argue the semantics all day long (OK, actually I can't, cuz I'll be leaving soon...
). But you get the point...Just wanted to point out, they all provide some good and serve a particular niche. I'd rather appreciate them all, because that at least provides options for the poolplayers. When they are gone, then we no longer have those options.
We've all stated and agree that the 9' at Metro Sports Bar used to be very fast. Even so, me and a number of other good players have been able to adjust accordingly. When you're able to adjust, they're kinda neat to play on, because you can do so much with such little effort. Many times it felt like you just willed the ball around the table for perfect shape, rather than having to muscle it.BigCat said:
I understand it took an initial adjustment virtually every time I went there.
Nonetheless, as has been stated it's now a mute point, since they are now using slower felt.