This is what confused me....OP said it was 1.50 per game, but also said the table was on a timer...
Syntax error
Does not compute
Price of Pool R U Kidding Me
- Thread starter irock
- Start date
This is what confused me....OP said it was 1.50 per game, but also said the table was on a timer...
Syntax error
Does not compute
In Elkhart Indiana there is a sports bar that charges 1.50 a game.. And 2.50 a beer.. I'm not going to shoot there until I'm a lot better and i make the challengers pay to try to beat me.
About 10 or so years back here they changed the bar tables from .75 to $1.00 a game and I quit playing basically. All the tables are crap anyway and not worth it but now they have some Diamond bar boxes for $1 a game and I think it's a fair price to play on a quality table, it is highway robbery on a pos table.
How long do you get for your $1.50?
Ha, try $95!
Ha, I just got screwed for $95 here in Dallas. Took a lesson and after 6 hours the bar charged us $95! My jaw nearly hit the floor. The tables weren't the nicest either. Even when I go to play on the nicer tables in Dallas it's usually $30-$40 for a couple of hours, so it wasn't entirely out of line but was still a shocker.
The price of pool is one of the reasons I don't often visit pool rooms, and when I was younger it certainly would have been a barrier to entry. I used to shoot at a place where it was $5 for the entire day until 5pm, but with bars now having to exclude minors, then this restriction would have kept me out as well. I understand that there are costs associated with running a room, but I thought that food and drink would have driven the majority of revenue. It feels as if now that pool time is the primary driver of revenue, which simply prevents folks from playing.
RKC had a good concept that he related once; he suggested that rooms require a minimum beverage or food consumption per hour and in exchange free pool time is provided. I thought this was a nice compromise so that players would feel they were getting something in exchange rather than paying for time..... If I had a full belly of beer and burgers, I would have been less upset at paying $95.
Ha, I just got screwed for $95 here in Dallas. Took a lesson and after 6 hours the bar charged us $95! My jaw nearly hit the floor. The tables weren't the nicest either. Even when I go to play on the nicer tables in Dallas it's usually $30-$40 for a couple of hours, so it wasn't entirely out of line but was still a shocker.
The price of pool is one of the reasons I don't often visit pool rooms, and when I was younger it certainly would have been a barrier to entry. I used to shoot at a place where it was $5 for the entire day until 5pm, but with bars now having to exclude minors, then this restriction would have kept me out as well. I understand that there are costs associated with running a room, but I thought that food and drink would have driven the majority of revenue. It feels as if now that pool time is the primary driver of revenue, which simply prevents folks from playing.
RKC had a good concept that he related once; he suggested that rooms require a minimum beverage or food consumption per hour and in exchange free pool time is provided. I thought this was a nice compromise so that players would feel they were getting something in exchange rather than paying for time..... If I had a full belly of beer and burgers, I would have been less upset at paying $95.
As one that owned and operated a bar or 2 I can tell you this.....
Tables are priced according to what the vendor and bar owner want as they typically split 50/50 on the income. A place that does not do much action may give more to the vendor. Smart bar owners will buy the tables being they can be easily had for about $600 a piece and produce a couple to a few hundred a month in revenue. New covered rails are about $160 and new felt is about $200 both of which are very easy to do on a Valley table so it is a good investment long term.
It is rear to find a bar charging more than $1 for a game around here with some doing 50 or 75 cents.
The "bar" I currently shoot out of rents tables by the hour or all night at a discount. They have 8 tables so it is very much a hybrid bar/pool hall. $13hr Friday & Saturday - $8hr every other day. League players get to shoot free anytime. League nights or tournaments they have a greens fee. For leagues it is $10 and tournaments are usually a couple bucks.
Tables are priced according to what the vendor and bar owner want as they typically split 50/50 on the income. A place that does not do much action may give more to the vendor. Smart bar owners will buy the tables being they can be easily had for about $600 a piece and produce a couple to a few hundred a month in revenue. New covered rails are about $160 and new felt is about $200 both of which are very easy to do on a Valley table so it is a good investment long term.
It is rear to find a bar charging more than $1 for a game around here with some doing 50 or 75 cents.
The "bar" I currently shoot out of rents tables by the hour or all night at a discount. They have 8 tables so it is very much a hybrid bar/pool hall. $13hr Friday & Saturday - $8hr every other day. League players get to shoot free anytime. League nights or tournaments they have a greens fee. For leagues it is $10 and tournaments are usually a couple bucks.
It's all perspective. Johnnyt told about the '50's at a dime. I played in the '60's when it cost a quarter. At that time a beer was 25 cents too. A sandwich for a buck and gas at 29.9 a gallon.
But I only made $80 a week and that was for five and a half days. And you ***** and want to pay 50 cents a game? After 45 or 50 years you want it to be double the price to be fair? Would you work for $160 a week? No overtime for that half day on Saturday.
How much does that Diamond smart table cost? Then figure in the cost of drunks sitting on the tables cracking the glue line on cushions, spilling pitchers on a $300 piece of wool and how about the cost of a city permit per table, say $150 each. Now how much in sales does the bar owner lose because of lost table space? One pool table equals two bar tables that could sit a total of eight.
If it's so freakin' greedy why not go into the bar or table leasing business?
But I only made $80 a week and that was for five and a half days. And you ***** and want to pay 50 cents a game? After 45 or 50 years you want it to be double the price to be fair? Would you work for $160 a week? No overtime for that half day on Saturday.
How much does that Diamond smart table cost? Then figure in the cost of drunks sitting on the tables cracking the glue line on cushions, spilling pitchers on a $300 piece of wool and how about the cost of a city permit per table, say $150 each. Now how much in sales does the bar owner lose because of lost table space? One pool table equals two bar tables that could sit a total of eight.
If it's so freakin' greedy why not go into the bar or table leasing business?
Are local VFW keeps the tables at .25 cents. I`ve been playing there for over 25 yrs. They do own the tables & get them re-clothed every year. They have 4 different league matches every week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday they also put FREE hot dogs, Hot Sausage, bean soup, noodle soup every league night for ALL teams to enjoy. Its there way of given back to the pool players that frequent there establishment. Great little place to shoot & fill your belly @ the same time.
One of our local vfw chapters operates nearly the same...and they still allow smoking ( because it's grandfathered into the law) and by golly there's a shooting range in the basement ..couldn't ask for much more lol
The thing that ticks me off about the vending company in Calgary is that so many of their vending machines flat out do not work and when the machine eats your money they proceed to ignore customer feedback.
I put a $2 coin into a SML Vending pinball machine at the Calgary Airport and the coin went straight into the coin basket without sensing the coin at all. There was no hitting the coin return button, no credits, the coin was simply gone.
So I phone the company and get a machine and leave a message telling them the machine, the location, the amount it ate, my contact information, ect... Never heard a peep from them.
I don't care that much about the money, but the principle behind the act of doing business is that the company receives the money they charge for a service, and the customer receives that which they paid for. In this instance they had a machine that just devours twonies and does not give the customer the credits that they are paying for. And then they simply ignore that fact, take the money out of the machine, and move on....
SML Vending in Calgary might want to work on that a bit. Get your machines working properly, and when you fail to manage to do that than at the very least make sure to follow through with your customer service and refund people who have had their money taken and not had the use of the machine they are paying for provided.
If SML Vending cannot figure it out than the Calgary Airport Authority should have these machines removed from the airport completely. It is idiotic to have a large number of small games areas throughout the airport and have numerous nonfunctional machines doing little more then stealing the money of tourists and visitors to the city. It ultimately looks bad for the airport, and bad for the city.
I put a $2 coin into a SML Vending pinball machine at the Calgary Airport and the coin went straight into the coin basket without sensing the coin at all. There was no hitting the coin return button, no credits, the coin was simply gone.
So I phone the company and get a machine and leave a message telling them the machine, the location, the amount it ate, my contact information, ect... Never heard a peep from them.
I don't care that much about the money, but the principle behind the act of doing business is that the company receives the money they charge for a service, and the customer receives that which they paid for. In this instance they had a machine that just devours twonies and does not give the customer the credits that they are paying for. And then they simply ignore that fact, take the money out of the machine, and move on....
SML Vending in Calgary might want to work on that a bit. Get your machines working properly, and when you fail to manage to do that than at the very least make sure to follow through with your customer service and refund people who have had their money taken and not had the use of the machine they are paying for provided.
If SML Vending cannot figure it out than the Calgary Airport Authority should have these machines removed from the airport completely. It is idiotic to have a large number of small games areas throughout the airport and have numerous nonfunctional machines doing little more then stealing the money of tourists and visitors to the city. It ultimately looks bad for the airport, and bad for the city.
Banks
Banned
Not a bad idea.
Tap, tap, tap
In my area, it's the same with all/ most of the vendors. Split take with the establishment on all machines, including the ATMs. That's right, most bars around here have crappy ATMs. Thankfully, my bank pays back all fees. For Pool, I've yet to see anything more than $0.50/game. Honestly, if anyone tried to charge more than that, most people would probably just not play. The Vendor provides free maintenance, if the bars care enough about conditions to call the vendor,
Never had a problem opening the tables for leagu nights or tournaments. The bar always has a key, which is useful, considering how crappy some of the tables are, and balls get stuck.
I agree with the OP, charging that much per game for a tournament in which you're already paying to play is pretty bad. There's potential to pay more than what you would take home. However, some vendors/bar owners only see the short term gains.
Never had a problem opening the tables for leagu nights or tournaments. The bar always has a key, which is useful, considering how crappy some of the tables are, and balls get stuck.
I agree with the OP, charging that much per game for a tournament in which you're already paying to play is pretty bad. There's potential to pay more than what you would take home. However, some vendors/bar owners only see the short term gains.
Last edited:
How ever a game takes to play.
I don't know exactly how much the timed rate is, but I think something like $5 for 30 minutes or so.
They have Gambling also? Like bowls and such? Brian.
Really. Locally, our tables were one dollar. Then $1.25 and that soon went up to $1.50.
Considering that we have a 2 dollar coin, I hear rumblings that it won't be long before the the coin slots are changed out. Either that or 2 one dollar coins.
The only place we can play now is at a bar. Trust me on this. 20 bucks worth of pool change doesn't last long if yer not having a good night and plugging lots.
Beer is now $5.50. Wings are on special Wed League night.
Considering that we have a 2 dollar coin, I hear rumblings that it won't be long before the the coin slots are changed out. Either that or 2 one dollar coins.
The only place we can play now is at a bar. Trust me on this. 20 bucks worth of pool change doesn't last long if yer not having a good night and plugging lots.
Beer is now $5.50. Wings are on special Wed League night.
Every table I played on 30 years ago was 50 cents a game. Adjust for inflation and $1.50 is not out of line.
Banks
Banned
That's one of the problems.. they're still using the same table.
WOW if our club had a shooting range in the basement, my wife would never see me. lol
Yeah Brian our club has tickets (rip offs) tickets is what us locals call them. lol
Its a great little club, that's for sure. They really take care of there pool & dart teams.