Practice without breaking the bank

hobokenapa

hobokenapa

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
OK so I want to dedicate one or two evenings a week to practice. The place I currently practice at in Jersey costs me $8 each way in a cab, and it's about $10 a hour table-time. Add on a beer or two and that's over $50 for three hours.

Since my office is in Jersey City next to the PATH to NYC, I'd like to find a more cost effective way to practice. Ideally somewhere near the PATH (easy to get to and only $1.50 each way), and maybe a much cheaper rate. Surely the 'A' players must have accumulated serious practice time. How do you do it without breaking the bank? Where in Manhattan to go, and what are the weekday evening rates?
 
Have you spoken with the Room Owner about your working for them part time in exchange for FREE PLAY TIME? I did this once, and CLEAN THE RESTROOMS DAILY. For FREE PLAY.... ;)
 
Bruce S. de Lis said:
Have you spoken with the Room Owner about your working for them part time in exchange for FREE PLAY TIME? I did this once, and CLEAN THE RESTROOMS DAILY. For FREE PLAY.... ;)
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I did something similar to that... I ran the weekly pool tourney at my fav pool room in both SC and TX. They were both handicap tourneys which can be a pain to run because no one is ever happy with either theirs or someone else's rating. The room owners got tired of running them so I offered to do it in exchange for free pool.
 
I approached it differently,,,I bought the pool hall, LOL,,,I know in other parts of the country rent can be prohibitive, but here in central Mississippi buildings are still available for 'cheap',,,NOW I can play anytime I want, 24/7 (except when all the tables are busy,,,need the $ more than the practice),,,,,,,,jflan
 
One benefit of working for me is free pool. (when there is an open table).

I've had several high school age kids clean pool tables regularly for pay and included with that is free pool. One won a national championship. Another finished top 5 or 6.
 
I'm originally from Jersey...live in the ATL now...I don't know how weekends work in your local rooms, but here all my local rooms do 'FREE POOL' on Sat & Sun from 11:30-3:00, and during the week with lunch...so that's my practice routine...also if you are a league player you can usually get discounted or free time depending on table availability...get chummy with your local room owners...never hurts...
 
best deal

Best deal I managed to get was $40 then half-price pool for a month, but that was only Mon,Tue,Wed,Thur. Fri/Sat/Sun after 6pm were blacked out. Amsterdam do a good deal $29 11am-6pm weekends but I'm away weekends more often than not.
 
are you an intermediate player or better
find a community center with an old gold crown and teach some kids
the basics in exchange for access to the table
 
Well i would ask around at the pool hall and find out if anyone owns a table, and just make friends with the person, or ask them if you could come over to shoot with them sometime.

Playing for table time is always nice lol. Expecially if you find a newbie, or someone who wants to get better, teach them in exchange for table time.

I happend to meet a guy from this message board, a couple weeks ago, and he lived up in the same town as my Mom, and like a mile away from her lol. Anyways we meet up at a bowling alley that had two bar boxes, 25cents a game.

And since the only pool hall in town closed, it was cheap. He also had a table at his house, and afterwards we went back and shot some stick there too.

Or if you can afford it and have room for it,, buy a table of your own, like a Valley BB with the quarter slots, and tell some friends of yours about it, and say its 25cents a game.

Its cheaper than the pool hall, and plus you'd have your table payed for fast.
 
i can't help you with the taxi fare, but idf you can get to herbert's billiards in secaucus, they offer a deal to apa members, spend $6. on food and/or drinks, and get an hour of pool free. if you play in herbert's division of the apa , it's 3 hours of pool free per $6. spent. hours are opening time 12pm thru 7 pm daily including weekends.
feel free to send me a pm if you have any questions.
 
Hey Tim,

Two places for you... the first is Fat Cat Billiards in NYC. It's right on Christopher street, so you can get off at that stop. It's dirty as hell and the tables aren't great (although I've found 1 or 2 that are good), but it's cheap as hell. Last Friday I went there for 3 hours with a friend and it came out to about $25. I think it's even cheaper during the week.

The next is Broadway Billiards in Bayonne. You should call to see if they still have this deal. I haven't been there in a while, but when I used to go, you could play all you want until 7pm for $15.
 
Teacherman said:
One benefit of working for me is free pool. (when there is an open table).

I've had several high school age kids clean pool tables regularly for pay and included with that is free pool. One won a national championship. Another finished top 5 or 6.
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I used to work for a pool hall and the owner is such a cheap ass he doesn't give free pool to his customers...lol!
 
hobokenapa said:
OK so I want to dedicate one or two evenings a week to practice. The place I currently practice at in Jersey costs me $8 each way in a cab, and it's about $10 a hour table-time. Add on a beer or two and that's over $50 for three hours.

Since my office is in Jersey City next to the PATH to NYC, I'd like to find a more cost effective way to practice. Ideally somewhere near the PATH (easy to get to and only $1.50 each way), and maybe a much cheaper rate. Surely the 'A' players must have accumulated serious practice time. How do you do it without breaking the bank? Where in Manhattan to go, and what are the weekday evening rates?
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I haven't been there in 10 years but Willow Billiards in Hoboken was always very nice. I probably just named the room you're trying to get out of but figured I might be of service.


Fat Cat (formerly Tekk Billiards) was once New York City's first upscale room having been featured on MTV's The Week In Rock. However, the late 80's and early 90's were not terribly favorable for the Greenwich Village poolroom and a wave of crime basically forced the old owners out of the business. Owned now by the same people since, Fat Cat has become the great cheap alternative for Downtowners. It features a seperate room for live Jazz and has a beer bar. They have all Ghandi Tables with generous pockets. Their two front tables have Simonis Cloth and Centenial Balls but the rest are a crap shoot. Oh, and their rates are next to nothing. It'd be nice if this place actually put it all together but then, they'd have to charge an arm and a leg.
 
I offered to clean the tables and run a weekly tourny in exchange for free pool time. I figure I have saved hundreds if not thousands already. Try one of the owners, you never know.....................
 
Perhaps this will help you.

I've been to a place called Broadway Billiards in Manhattan. It's located near the corner of 21st and Broadway (just west of Broadway; south side of 21st) which puts it within shouting distance of Union Square and therefore the 23rd St PATH stop. The place is a basement establishment, but the tables are 9ft Gold Crowns, I believe, with fast cloth. When I was there (sometime during a weekday), the rate was $4.00/hr/person, but I seem to recall that the posted rates for evenings and weekends was just $5.00/hr. I also think that they sell bottled beer there. Give them a call to confirm. (212) 388-1582.

If you're currently patronizing Willow Billiards in Hoboken, Broadway may be a better alternative for your pocketbook. Broadway's decor is a bit dingier than Willow's, but the quality of the tables and equipment are roughly equivalent.

Good luck in your search. I spent a while looking for something in your general area as well, but I have access to a car so I can venture out further into Jersey.

sdtonyc

hobokenapa said:
OK so I want to dedicate one or two evenings a week to practice. The place I currently practice at in Jersey costs me $8 each way in a cab, and it's about $10 a hour table-time. Add on a beer or two and that's over $50 for three hours.

Since my office is in Jersey City next to the PATH to NYC, I'd like to find a more cost effective way to practice. Ideally somewhere near the PATH (easy to get to and only $1.50 each way), and maybe a much cheaper rate. Surely the 'A' players must have accumulated serious practice time. How do you do it without breaking the bank? Where in Manhattan to go, and what are the weekday evening rates?
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I worked in a PH for 3 years on the weekends just so I could get free playing time. The tables were 4 1/2 by 9 Olhausen family tables (crap) but it was still free pool and I got paid a little. You do whatever you can if you really want it bad enough. Three years was all I could handle because I had a regular 40-hour-a-week-job already. It damn near killed me!!
 
sdtonyc said:
Perhaps this will help you.

I've been to a place called Broadway Billiards in Manhattan. It's located near the corner of 21st and Broadway (just west of Broadway; south side of 21st) which puts it within shouting distance of Union Square and therefore the 23rd St PATH stop. The place is a basement establishment, but the tables are 9ft Gold Crowns, I believe, with fast cloth. When I was there (sometime during a weekday), the rate was $4.00/hr/person, but I seem to recall that the posted rates for evenings and weekends was just $5.00/hr. I also think that they sell bottled beer there. Give them a call to confirm. (212) 388-1582.
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This sounds promising. I will check it out. Thanks!
 
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