Welcome to Gestapo Billiards. Have a good time.

I will not disagree with that, but in the 1980s or so it was the style for a lot of pro players to bend their break cue into the cloth during the very long follow through. A friend of mine was on the pro tour and he ground down his Meucci break ferrule enough that it had to be replaced.

Like this...

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it's about demand i guess. if your pool hall is located right i guess you can setup rules that will potentially scare away the bangers / casual players and still have the place go round. i get annoyed too by loud bangers and drunk slot machine junkies in my local pool room but between them and us serious players there's no question who brings in the money
That is exactly right. Some of us are not in a position to be able to pick and choose and educate all our customers to take care of our tables and equipment the same way that I would. It’s just not realistic, and I simply can’t afford to turn off half of our clientele.
 
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That's it, and your post is exactly why I didn't name the place or the rules.

The actual last rule was, 'Absolutely no whistling' if I remember correctly.

There was no music, no TV's, loud noises weren't allowed. I was in the once during the day while the Mariners were on their 116 win season, there was only one other guy there, an elderly man. I was there for about five minutes when he walked over to me to ask if it was okay that he had the game playing on his little radio. He was playing in the opposite corner, I had to concentrate to even hear the radio. They were serious about the rules, but they always made people feel welcomed. I was 23 and young looking when I went there, I only got carded once because they remembered me. I didn't go very often, but the place was outstanding.

It's an example of the same level of expectation with a completely different attitude.
Now that you mention it, I do remember the absolute silence. Unlike most every other pool room I've played at before or since, there wasn't any woofing or sharking. All it needed was a house man to tell first time visitors, "This is 211, mister".

I loved that place, and the last year I was in Seattle (2000) it was closed when I got there. Turned out the closing was just temporary, but by the end of the year it'd closed for good.
 
it's about demand i guess. if your pool hall is located right i guess you can setup rules that will potentially scare away the bangers / casual players and still have the place go round. i get annoyed too by loud bangers and drunk slot machine junkies in my local pool room but between them and us serious players there's no question who brings in the money
But the ones sending the cue ball into orbit are weekly players that play on a team in a league. At some point a player needs to learn how to break without sending the cue ball off of the table.
 
But the ones sending the cue ball into orbit are weekly players that play on a team in a league. At some point a player needs to learn how to break without sending the cue ball off of the table.
For many guys, how hard you can break the balls seems to be masculinity pride thing, much like how far you can hit a golf ball is for golfers, regardless of how little control you have and where the ball may actually end up.
 
These are actual posted rules on a wall of a pool room in my area. Has anyone ever seen a more hostile attitude?

View attachment 749248
While it certainly isn't friendly or welcoming, I wouldn't go so far as to call this hostile. There's nothing on the list that's all that unreasonable and it describes my behavior when I play. It's a shame that the owner feels it necessary to post a sign like this, but let's face it, some people that come to play pool are ignorant, drunken a**holes and those are the ones that can't say they weren't warned.
 
The break marks are nothing but burn marks. They really don't affect the life at all.

Some people do find them a bit unsightly though…
I can tell you've played mostly in upscale rooms....If you leave the cloth on for too long, the most common break spot will be worn through. Unfortunately using a break cloth will only protect this spot and not the 1 ball spot, which will also at this point approach being worn through. Using a sticky spot can help a bit with that. Fact of the matter is, that when cloth gets this old, it's probably going to have tears and wear spots on other places too. You can maybe extend the life a little bit, but really not a whole lot. It would work a little better if it was a private club with extensive self policing for cloth abuse, but for a public room...probably not.

I played for a private snooker club, which has some pretty extreme rules to extend the life of the cloth. The cloth for snooker tables can priced double of what Simonis costs, if you want top shelf stuff. For instance you don't "plop" the balls on to their spots, you gently roll them into place etc..Also many blackball clubs, if not most, have "racking cloths" which are cloths that you put on the table when you rack the balls. Never seen those on a US style table. Truth be told, I think they mostly matter with napped cloth, to prevent the nap being frazzled in the racking area.

If you replace the cloth every year, these things don't really matter so much. Many years ago I played for a club which had round the clock hard play and didn't change the simonis for almost 3 years. In the end the cloth was paper thin. It was 760, so it was still fast and playable, but with many small holes worn into the cloth. So many burn marks that the cloth was almost looking uniformly coloured...It played quite different to a new cloth, but actually it wasn't all that terrible. Speed was not heavily affected, you'd get a lot of roll out of the cueball, but draw didn't take very well. It also banked quite "long". Some of my best memories are from that room.
 
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These are the rules in my house. When you spend as much as it costs for a really nice Diamond table if someone doesn't respect what you put into it, they can GTFO.
I don’t have a problem with all of these posted rules, but the larger font line underneath was not necessary.
 
I don’t have a problem with all of these posted rules, but the larger font line underneath was not necessary.

Reminds me of when I got stuck paying for a windshield that wasn't broken in my shop. I was pissed and printed new quotes, "Not Responsible for Glass Damage" was the biggest text except the title and right over the signature block. About a year or so later a customer and I were standing there when a windshield was cracked as my shop foreman was working on a car. Probably not his fault, a windshield with a chip in the edge will crack when trying to remove it.

The customer said, "Oh well, I was warned." I told him he didn't understand. The big notice on my quotes was to avoid paying for glass we didn't break. Glass we really broke was taken care of at my expense. That was the only glass we ever broke, I could afford to cover our glass damage. I do understand big letters when you are annoyed. The tone of that sign makes me suspect the owner was a bit annoyed when he had it made.

I probably wouldn't post a sign but I think I would make new customers sign a rules sheet and give them a copy.

Hu
 
Welcome to <Insert Name Here> Pool Room!

Please, come and play here and enjoy yourselves! We have wonderful equipment, good food and drink, and our waitstaff try and keep you happy because they’re working for tips!

We hope you come here because we pride ourselves in having excellent equipment and a comfortable environment, thereby enhancing everyone’s game.

To keep it that way, we kindly ask that you observe a few “House Rules”, basically common-sense actions that help keep this a great place to play!

House Rules
  • Keep your drinks away from the table; let’s all play on nice cloth
  • Same with food; eat that at a table or the bar
  • Actually, hand powder is the same as food or drink; don't use that and ask us about maintaining a smooth shaft if necessary
  • We also provide a break pad to use when breaking; that helps the cloth to last much longer; tell your waitperson if you need instruction
  • Please don't sit or lean on the tables; we'd like them to be level as long as possible
  • Help us take care of the slate; don't tap balls in place or dump balls on the table when you arrive
  • Chalk creates dust, unfortunately, so let's not chalk over the table or put it face down on the table
  • Jump and masse shots are a part of the game today; but please, practice them elsewhere
  • If you match up and are moving to another table, please let your waitperson know so we can accurately track your time
  • When you've finished your domination at the table, please gather your balls and return them to checkout
Unfortunately, there are those rare few who don't want to keep things nice for everyone else. We'll point out your error without consequence the first time we see it, but if you repeat, we'll likely ask you to leave.

Finally, there are consequences for intentional or accidental actions:
  • A spilled drink or a stain on the table caused by you will result in a $100 charge
  • Torn felt and/or a permanent stain will result in a $500 charge
Thank you for coming, and we really appreciate your business!
 
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Achmed The Terrorist Pool Room Rules
Spill drink .....I keeel you
Make balls come off table ....... I keeeel you
Masse, Jump Shot or put big fat butt on rail.......... I keeeel you
Run out and don't pay time............... Never Mind , nobodys stupid enough to do that.
 
Welcome to <Insert Name Here> Pool Room!

Please, come and play here and enjoy yourselves! We have wonderful equipment, good food and drink, and our waitstaff try and keep you happy because they’re working for tips!

We hope you come here because we pride ourselves in having excellent equipment and a comfortable environment, thereby enhancing everyone’s game.

To keep it that way, we kindly ask that you observe a few “House Rules”, basically common-sense actions that help keep this a great place to play!

House Rules
  • Keep your drinks away from the table; let’s all play on nice cloth
  • Same with food; eat that at a table or the bar
  • Actually, hand powder is the same as food or drink; don't use that and ask us about maintaining a smooth shaft if necessary
  • We also provide a break pad to use when breaking; that helps the cloth to last much longer; tell your waitperson if you need instruction
  • Please don't sit or lean on the tables; we'd like them to be level as long as possible
  • Help us take care of the slate; don't tap balls in place or dump balls on the table when you arrive
  • Chalk creates dust, unfortunately, so let's not chalk over the table or put it face down on the table
  • Jump and masse shots are a part of the game today; but please, practice them elsewhere
  • If you match up and are moving to another table, please let your waitperson know so we can accurately track your time
  • When you've finished your domination at the table, please gather your balls and return them to checkout
Unfortunately, there are those rare few who don't want to keep things nice for everyone else. We'll point out your error without consequence the first time we see it, but if you repeat, we'll likely ask you to leave.

Finally, there are consequences for intentional or accidental actions:
  • A spilled drink or a stain on the table cause by you will result in a $100 charge
  • Torn felt and/or a permanent stain will result in a $500 charge
Thank you for coming, and we really appreciate your business!
People say my posts about pool are too long on a dedicated pool forum. No person is reading all of that in a pool hall lol
 
People say my posts about pool are too long on a dedicated pool forum. No person is reading all of that in a pool hall lol
Probably not.

Saw this thread (after 4 bourbons) and thought, “I could word that better.”

So, I did.

Not a sign for a pool hall I would operate. Simply a better-wording of the original sign.
 
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