Suggestion For Opening A Pool Room

8-ball bernie

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
hello my name is bernie friend IPT player,(i accept your apologys) anyhow, i've been in pool rooms since 1968,and have found, that if your interested in opening up a pool room, that would be the talk of the town, so much so in fact, that you may make it a franchise, try this~~~~~~~~

the current problem that has always existed with pool rooms, is that they don't cater to anyone specific, the result? everyone comes out hating them! here is a solution that would be swell. (did i just say swell?) anyway here:
three pool rooms in one. yes, you heard me right, 3 different pool rooms in one building. you can call it tri-pool halls. here's the theory,there are three different types of players that would dare venture into a pool room, cater to ALL OF THEM! watch

picture this if you will,

you open the door and the counter is in front of you. there are three different rooms to chose from, however, your not allowed to chose, the owner/mgr. will show you to your room. in golf, rotton players never play the tough course, and the greats never play the easy couse, the same should be true in pocket billiards.

first, there is the "dating room" this room is for guys dating girls. the entire room is red. red walls, red carpet,red cloth,red speaker grills, the bar inside has red cherry wood,with red candles,the only liquid on the menu is red wine, or cherry coke. the chalk is also red as well. the music consists of all ballards,from the 1960's to current. the house cues that hang on the walls are two piece $75 plain cues without any fancy inlays,but you guessed it, the wraps are RED. the lighting for the most part is subdude, and the feel is romantic,light,and fun. the couples in this room, are really having FUN! even though they are missing easy shots, they love it here.

moving on, we now enter the second room, the "ball bangers room" yes, that's what it should be called,no harm in it, this is where 75% of most guys will be hitting,punching stabing,and miscueing the balls, causing winces from the opponents, here in the ball bangers room, we find, loud rock music from the 80's at rock concert volume. the cloth is warn out,the chalk has holes bored into it, the lighting is half assed, the balls are as dirty as tommy lee's,and everything is the worst way possible. here the food consists of french fries,pizza and cokes, no napkins needed just wipe it on the 1976 dufferin one piece cues provided. ciggerretes are encoureged,and all the ball bangers are as happy as kevin trudea on television.

now, for "thee" room, the "PRO ROOM" you do not have to be a pro to play in this room, however you should be at least a baltimore APA SL 6 to be allowed to play in this room. from the moment you enter this room, your breath is taken away. all throughout the room flush inside the walls are de-humidifiers,quietly humming away, taking out every last drop of humidity, so the tables play perfectly. it is always 68 degrees in there,with zero% humidity. the lighting over the table is bright and even,the cloth is new,fresh, but worn in so the slide is consideribly diminished. the balls are so clean, they seem to blind you. every table comes with a SARDO M-5000,and a two page 5 inch instruction booklet. the music piped in through the japanese DENON amplifier,and J.B.L. earth brown grills is beethoven.the room features theatre seating with crushed orange colored chairs, that are a small fortune but oh so damn comfortable. 65 auidence members can watch the games that take place on the 12 tables spread out with plenty of room. the scoreboards are electronic and easy to read from anywhere. the players in this room usually run around 175 in straight pool, and can run around 7 racks in a row of 8-ball. they usually stay there for around 13 hours a day, 6 days a week. not only do they serve fine red french wine in the pro room, but they also serve up AVO 80th. cigars, right out of a savinelli humidor,oh the good life.

well, there you have it, one pool room, three different rooms inside to please all of the pool playing population,now, go and build it, copy it, and put them up all over america.
 
You may have something here. The pool room that's near me has the exact types of people you are describing all together and it's not a good atmosphere for good pool players to play in. At the very least put the ball bangers and the "dating room" crowd together and let the more serious players have a separate area.
 
8-ball bernie said:
now, for "thee" room, the "PRO ROOM" you do not have to be a pro to play in this room, however you should be at least a baltimore APA SL 6 to be allowed to play in this room. from the moment you enter this room, your breath is taken away. all throughout the room flush inside the walls are de-humidifiers,quietly humming away, taking out every last drop of humidity, so the tables play perfectly. it is always 68 degrees in there,with zero% humidity.

I don't think you'd really like humidity that low;)
http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/static.html
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=100&hl=en&lr=lang_en&newwindow=1&q=static+electricity+ball
 
instead of commentating on my playing which is not ball banger, schmujck head, why not comment on the insightful post,*****!
 
8-ball bernie said:
instead of commentating on my playing which is not ball banger, schmujck head, why not comment on the insightful post,*****!

There are a couple of rooms like this (minus the ridiculous stuff) here in Southern California. Hard Times has a pro room with very well kept tables, there is another section for 3 cushion players, another area with the 2 snooker tables, a ball banger area and another area that can be used for tournaments but can also be used by ballbangers if there is no tournament.

Shooters in Riverside also has a great pro room that is completely separate from the rest of the poolhall.

Both there rooms have huge seating areas for audiences in the pro rooms.
 
Crap
I cant have nothing!!!

"the "PRO ROOM" you do not have to be a pro to play in this room, however you should be at least a baltimore APA SL 6 to be allowed to play in this room. "

I guess I am out of the loop but why a Baltimore SL 6? I wonder how us left coasters match up. Would my LA Area APA SL 7 make the cut.


Just kidding Bernie
I think the problems(some of them anyway) would be ...

1- location ..finding a place big enough and cheap enough yet accessible and safe enough for all your wanted crowds to mingle.
2- Human nature -- Sometimes people just want to be only around there own kind. One aspect about pool that I have also found interesting is that
its a huge melting pot. If we seperated everyone I wonder how each group would react.
3-Love the part about the tempered air but it would be costly. Would
pool players PAY for this...(i bet in the room owners section the vote would be a not so close NO).

Wayne mentioned Hard Times and it does have its seperate zones but it
still misses a huge target. Theres tons of pool players looking for nicer than HTs. Theres no alcohol there either. I wonder how the place would do with it. Probably have more trouble for sure. Its also in a not so nice area. Not horrible but not very good either. Same building and or size would be much higher in a better area.

IMO ownership does matter in opening a pool room and a good owner can
keep a place going and keep most people happy. A bad owner will soon not be an owner unless he is very lucky.

Theres a chain called Fox & Hounds English Pubs that have Diamond tables and has a treated air system. usually they are set up with two sides so that they can seperate people. They also have a dining room/bar area.
Everything in the place is pretty nice. Its the closest I have seen to
what you are describing except most dont want real pool players( the LA Area 5s and up :). I cant say that I blame them that much.

Your ideas are good but I wonder if they can all be worked out practically.

On a side note there was a bar in SoCal(inland Empire) that had several different rooms with each one being somewhat of a club within a club. Each room was for a different genre of music.
Those Jazz vs hiphop fights just got way out of hand!;)
 
Nobody is going to want to be escorted to the "ball bangers" room, you will end up insulting people and driving them away. Secondly if a new customer walks in where do you escort them? You won't know how they play. I just don't think it is a good policy to say "you can't play over there because.....you suck."

One thing I would do though as a room owner, is to ask the customers not to take tables directly beside someone else unless they know the person or there is no other tables available. This would keep the "ball bangers" from disturbing the serious players.

As for the dating crowd, they don't bother me. Neither do the ball bangers either, usually.
 
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Cameron Smith said:
Nobody is going to want to be escorted to the "ball bangers" room, you will end up insulting people and driving them away. Secondly if a new customer walks in where do you escort them? You won't know how they play. I just don't think it is a good policy to say "you can't play over there because.....you suck."

One thing I would do though as a room owner, is to ask the customers not to take tables directly beside someone else unless they know the person or there is no other tables available. This would keep the "ball bangers" from disturbing the serious players.

As for the dating crowd, they don't bother me. Neither do the ball bangers either, usually.

You make a great point. Here's a true story that happened to me:

One time I went to a pool hall in Atlanta and they had a couple of really nice tables by the counter. Lots of space around them, tight pockets and simonis cloth. I asked for one and the counter help said "those are reserved for our better players." I told him I was a good player. He just said he didn't know me and put me on another table. Shag carpet, bucket pockets etc...So, I slammed some balls in for a few minutes while I simmered...Then I said loudly:

"Let me put it this way, who do I have to beat to play on that table?"

He dropped a dime and the house pro showed up. We gambled for a few hours, I ended up down 20 after we exchanged four packs the last set. They comped my table time and I went on my way.

A couple nights later I came back, same puke, still wouldn't let me play on the table. I reminded him that I was there a few nights before playing with the house pro....he said "The thing is, I don't know you. Take table 7." I told him to keep his F***ing balls and never went back. Lived there almost two years, played pool 3-4 nights a week. That place was about two blocks from my apt...sucked driving all over town to play, but I wouldn't go back there.

Funny thing is, if they didn't have the nice tables, I would have played on the crappy ones all that time and never said a word. I wonder if the owner knows his nice tables cost him several thousand $$.

Also, the place was EMPTY both times.

Cheers,
RC
 
cuetechasaurus said:
Sadly, if this were a real poolroom, you would be escorted to the ballbangers room.
8-ball bernie said:
instead of commentating on my playing which is not ball banger, schmujck head, why not comment on the insightful post,*****!
And Bernie is supposed to be a guy with a sense of humor??? Oh and the word "PREVIOUS" is missing from the following statement...
8-ball bernie said:
hello my name is bernie friend IPT player
 
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I think

that some good ideas are brought up here, but I dont think you really have to go to all those lengths... Plus I don't mind seeing the hens in the pool hall from time to time, if I say so myself...One of the halls near me has it set up pretty good.....The hall is split down the middle to form to rooms with one side serving alcohol...But they also split both sides of each room in half..This way the put the bangers on side and the players to the other.. I think it works out well....if you want a table away from other people, it is always available..
 
I think you have a good 'start' of an idea, however, when a pool room has something set up like a 'pro' room, or certain tables set aside for higher level players, it opens up argument as to who's qualified to play on those tables, and how does one earn the right to play in such a room. I am not familiar with the speed of a Baltimore APA 6, but I would be willing to bet that there are lower level players that are serious enough about the game and their improvement to deserve playing in better conditions than what you described in your 'bangers' room.
I automatically do an about face when I see a sign that says "NO JUMP SHOTS" or "NO MASSE SHOTS". However, from a room owners perspective, bangers that don't know how to properly jump/masse can become a liability. While at the same time, the more serious players would walk if you try to limit them to playing without jumps and masse shots.
dave
 
cuetechasaurus said:
Sadly, if this were a real poolroom, you would be escorted to the ballbangers room.

High-larious! I'd give you bad rep for that, but:
You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to cuetechasaurus again.
 
i was told that baltimore has more APA players than any other place in america, if that's the case, then if your a baltimore 6 SL, that would be like a utah 9,meaning,it's tough to make it to a six in baltimore.anyhow, the suggestions come from the heart, and new players automatically get escorted to the ball bangers room, where the house pro judges them, and then and only then do they become worthy,if up to snuff for other rooms, hey it's my fantasy, i'm allowed!
 
8-ball bernie said:
i was told that baltimore has more APA players than any other place in america, if that's the case, then if your a baltimore 6 SL, that would be like a utah 9,meaning,it's tough to make it to a six in baltimore.anyhow, the suggestions come from the heart, and new players automatically get escorted to the ball bangers room, where the house pro judges them, and then and only then do they become worthy,if up to snuff for other rooms, hey it's my fantasy, i'm allowed!
It also means there are a lot more 2, 3, 4, & 5s.:D :D

Hey there are a lot of poolrooms with the special table (house table). and a lot of places have a Players room. Nothing wrong with that if you got room.
 
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