Went to a remodeled pool hall today, 13.50 per hour?

[ChrisinNC]

The worst attitude I've seen in a room owner was where every person in the playing area was charged as a player. You want to sit and watch a match? You pay table time. Six people in a group with only two players? All six pay table time. You step inside the rail? You're on time.

When groups of players come in our room we ask them how many are playing on the table. If there are 6 of them and they say 6, we’ll put 6 of them on the clock on the table to start with. If we see they are taking turns playing doubles (4 at a time) we’ll delete 2 players off the clock. Even if they are playing singles, two at a time, we’ll only charge them for two players, even if they rotate who plays among the 6 players. It is very common for there to be 3 players coming in together and they rotate playing 8-ball, so we’ll only charge them for two. Those sitting and watching even if they are not on the clock, are likely to spend $ on food and drinks.

 

[middleofnowhere]

When groups of players come in our room we ask them how many are playing on the table. If there are 6 of them and they say 6, we’ll put 6 of them on the clock on the table to start with. If we see they are taking turns playing doubles (4 at a time) we’ll delete 2 players off the clock. Even if they are playing singles, two at a time, we’ll only charge them for two players, even if they rotate who plays among the 6 players. It is very common for there to be 3 players coming in together and they rotate playing 8-ball, so we’ll only charge them for two. Those sitting and watching even if they are not on the clock, are likely to spend $ on food and drinks.

I used to have a group came in my place that worked at a photo lab. They always played like that. They usually took two tables and rotated playing each other. They would stay for hours and between them they drank cases of beer. Plus they would tip the girl really well.

 

[jimmyco]

Lots of employee scams. I had to fire a few men I really didn't want to over them. Some were stealing from me, some from the customers! I was over at a friend's auto salvage. A customer wanted to know what he would sell the tires on a car for. "I'll take ten apiece or fifty for the set!" The customer bought the set.

I waited until after the customer left. "Roger, you just charged the customer extra to buy the set of tires. "I know, Brother(one of his hands) did it and the customer was happy so we have been doing it ever since." All I could do was shake my head and laugh, it wasn't a practice I took up.

Hu

Finding a matching set of used tires is well worth the premium, IMO.

I had to fire an enterprising gas station attendant. One kid was "short sticking" the customers.
If a woman rolled in, he'd ask to check the oil. When she agreed, he would place the top of the dip stick between his thumb and index finger when checking the oil level. He would then show the customer the low reading on the stick. Of course, a sale was made and the scammer would then slide the steel spout, in plain sight of the customer, into the top of a previously opened from the bottom empty oil can, concealing the hole with a rag as it was inverted.
If the woman's husband found out the dip stick had a low reading and was positive that could not be the case and proceeded to check himself, expecting to find an overfilled crank case, everything was as it should be.

 

[CocoboloCowboy]

The worst attitude I've seen in a room owner was where every person in the playing area was charged as a player. You want to sit and watch a match? You pay table time. Six people in a group with only two players? All six pay table time. You step inside the rail? You're on time.

So is this place still open, or did it fold?

 

[middleofnowhere]

So is this place still open, or did it fold?

Businesses often survive in spite of their owners. A lot of business owners are not very open to criticism, constructive or otherwise. When you are in a business where you come in direct contact with customers one of the most common comments you get is, "You know what you should do". or "You know what I would do if I were you". It is usually some ridiculous idea from someone who has no idea what they are talking about.

It is hard to listen and you don't want to be rude but sometimes there can be a nugget of gold in there somewhere. My wife used to get annoyed with me because as she would say, you will talk to anybody. I do, many people are interesting and have a lot of varied life experiences. I had a guy tell me once, a bum by the way who was living in his car, how to increse my beer and soda sales by as much as 20 to 30%. It was something he had seen in LA. The next day I looked into it and did it. And yes my sales went way up.

Many of your customers are certain they know everything you are doing wrong especially in a poolroom. Sometimes though they do have good ideas.

 

[ChopStick]

I saw a place just like that in Dallas Texas. Billy Incardona was one of the principles. The place was in a kinda heavy commercial area best I recall and still had the chinese restaurant sign out front. It had seven tables instead of fifteen or so but it was also around twenty years ago and the nine foot Diamond were set up to take dollar coins. Only selling very limited snacks, you could bring your own beer in. I looked at the place, realized that it had to be a honey trap of sorts. Billy was ready and willing to play anybody that came through the door, betting pretty high! Catch was Billy misjudged his current skills and the road players were a black hole instead of a source of income. The place closed shortly!

Asking seriously, what keeps the room you described open? It would have to have a 100% use more hours of the day than I have ever seen a pool room have and I don't think it would fly then.

Hu

When that place first opened pool was free. Players that got into matches were supposed to kickback a portion to the house. The dollar a game and the change machine on the wall came later. I did not understand how that was going to work out. I played there a few times.

 

[ShootingArts]

Finding a matching set of used tires is well worth the premium, IMO.

I had to fire an enterprising gas station attendant. One kid was "short sticking" the customers.
If a woman rolled in, he'd ask to check the oil. When she agreed, he would place the top of the dip stick between his thumb and index finger when checking the oil level. He would then show the customer the low reading on the stick. Of course, a sale was made and the scammer would then slide the steel spout, in plain sight of the customer, into the top of a previously opened from the bottom empty oil can, concealing the hole with a rag as it was inverted.
If the woman's husband found out the dip stick had a low reading and was positive that could not be the case and proceeded to check himself, expecting to find an overfilled crank case, everything was as it should be.

Tony was running that scam and a few more. Never caught him doing as bad as some people and cutting a belt or sticking an icepick in a hose. Temperature and pressure do go up right after shutting off an engine. Embarrassing when one really blows a hose while you are under the hood! I once had an old car with a lot of miles on it pull into my shop for a tune up. Went to pull it from the spot it was parked in my parking lot into my service bay. It wouldn't start. When they shut it down it had pitched the timing chain! We hadn't even touched the car before it quit running but who would believe that? Charged standard price for a tune-up, timing chain and upper timing gear on the house! I told them about it just so they didn't have another chain and gear installed.

I had a wrecker service and was running almost a hundred and fifty miles each way for a customer. Saw an old lady broken down on the side of the interstate and stopped to see if I could help. Nothing I could do so I towed her to the nearest mechanic shop I knew of. She wanted to pay me but I had to tell her that would be unethical if not illegal, it was called pirating to solicit business from people broken down on the highway. I stopped hoping I could use tools or equipment on my truck and it would have been ridiculous to not tow her car when I was in a wrecker. Never-the-less, I couldn't take a fee or the large tip she offered. Free tow and I hoped good PR since many people saw wrecker operators as scam artists. I was over a hundred miles from my business so just my good deed for the decade, the free call wasn't going to help me or my business. I ended up being stiffed on the wrecker fee for the call I was running to begin with so a little PR for friends down there is all I got for that all day sucker and burning almost two tanks of gasoline. Lost a day's work from my business too but what the hell, the sun was shining the birds were singing and I wasn't working the front desk of my business!

No matter how sweet the deal ladies of all ages are often convinced they are being robbed because they are a woman. My sister-in-law from Korea was shafted, somebody changed an inline fuse on a wire on her Volvo. Considering the car and driver and the driver being fifty miles away from home they figured they could overcharge a full hundred dollars on that job! My brudda is just a tad smaller and less hairy than I am so we tribed up to go visit the shop and had some adjustments made, as in over ninety percent of the bill!

It goes both ways so you just have to be alert. These days I would have pictures or video of what they are doing too. A cell phone used right can shut down a lot of scams!

Hu

 

[Island Drive]

So I found out that a pool hall near me, that I went to visit 1 year ago, was reopened with a new owner. The one and only time I was there a year ago, the tables were so dirty and nasty, that I only lasted 30 minutes, before I left in disgust.

so I was pretty happy to learn that a new owner had taken over, and had cleaned the place up, and had recovered the 9 diamond 7 foot tables. I thought wow, this could be my new home. The web page said 6.50 for a solo player per hour. Wow, perfect.

so I walked in today, ready to practice for a hour or two, and the nice girl at the front desk it’s 13.50 a hour to use a diamond table???

I said sweetie, your web page says 6.50 for a solo player? She said not anymore, as the diamonds have been recovered. I said I have two places that only charge 8 dollars per hour for diamonds?

I really wanted to give them my hard earned money and to help them on there journey, become a regular maybe.

but no way am I paying that price. Then I called there house pro for lesson prices, (not saying his name)and he says 100 a hour?

felt like saying dude, your not mark wilson or a famous pro, 100 a hour? So I struck out twice.

I just went to a newly remodeled bar in Penrose CO for pizza. They have chicken wings for $13.99.
Each order is 1/2 lb and I said I'll just take the celery and not the carrots.
So I got 4 slices of celery, that were 1/3 cuts and a Small blue cheese dip that was Nothing special and the wing could not fit in the dip cup .
Plus they charged me $4.23 cents for a pint of beer, not 4.25.
Tended bar for years in 5 states, no barkeep ever should handle pennies when serving drinks, w food yes.
The chicken wing meat was the best I ever had, but having to ask for more celery twice and dipping 2 more times, I'm not gettin' the wings anymore. $14, never paid that much Anywhere for wings, and it's farm country.

 

[PoolBoy1]

Get used to those prices.


Jeff Livingston

uummm get used to more empty pool rooms.....they are passe... it's like real estate...location....location..what will the traffic bear....at $14 per hour finance one of your own....last resort cough it up!!

 

[ShootingArts]

Businesses often survive in spite of their owners. A lot of business owners are not very open to criticism, constructive or otherwise. When you are in a business where you come in direct contact with customers one of the most common comments you get is, "You know what you should do". or "You know what I would do if I were you". It is usually some ridiculous idea from someone who has no idea what they are talking about.

It is hard to listen and you don't want to be rude but sometimes there can be a nugget of gold in there somewhere. My wife used to get annoyed with me because as she would say, you will talk to anybody. I do, many people are interesting and have a lot of varied life experiences. I had a guy tell me once, a bum by the way who was living in his car, how to increse my beer and soda sales by as much as 20 to 30%. It was something he had seen in LA. The next day I looked into it and did it. And yes my sales went way up.

Many of your customers are certain they know everything you are doing wrong especially in a poolroom. Sometimes though they do have good ideas.

My dad and I had just borrowed up to our ears, bought land, had a building built, and opened a mechanic shop. A customer came in with a bad water pump only a week or two after opening when business was very slow. From the time I opened the hood the customer was leaning in from the other side telling me how I should do things. I was patient explaining why I was doing things the way I did at first but a half dozen suggestions in ten minutes and I walked over to the front desk, propped my feet up on one chair while leaning way back in another chair and commenced reading a trade rag that had came in a day or two before.

After a few minutes I saw my dad and the customer easing up side by side out of the corner of my eye. I didn't look up! When it was obvious I was ignoring them dad asked what the deal was. "This customer knows more about how to do the job than I do, I figured I would let him do it!" A very red face and disclaimers, the customer was apologizing in a hurry for his meddling. I told him, "You sit in this chair and don't get out of it, I'll finish changing the water pump!

Hu

 

[Secondbest]

So I found out that a pool hall near me, that I went to visit 1 year ago, was reopened with a new owner. The one and only time I was there a year ago, the tables were so dirty and nasty, that I only lasted 30 minutes, before I left in disgust.

so I was pretty happy to learn that a new owner had taken over, and had cleaned the place up, and had recovered the 9 diamond 7 foot tables. I thought wow, this could be my new home. The web page said 6.50 for a solo player per hour. Wow, perfect.

so I walked in today, ready to practice for a hour or two, and the nice girl at the front desk it’s 13.50 a hour to use a diamond table???

I said sweetie, your web page says 6.50 for a solo player? She said not anymore, as the diamonds have been recovered. I said I have two places that only charge 8 dollars per hour for diamonds?

I really wanted to give them my hard earned money and to help them on there journey, become a regular maybe.

but no way am I paying that price. Then I called there house pro for lesson prices, (not saying his name)and he says 100 a hou

So I found out that a pool hall near me, that I went to visit 1 year ago, was reopened with a new owner. The one and only time I was there a year ago, the tables were so dirty and nasty, that I only lasted 30 minutes, before I left in disgust.

so I was pretty happy to learn that a new owner had taken over, and had cleaned the place up, and had recovered the 9 diamond 7 foot tables. I thought wow, this could be my new home. The web page said 6.50 for a solo player per hour. Wow, perfect.

so I walked in today, ready to practice for a hour or two, and the nice girl at the front desk it’s 13.50 a hour to use a diamond table???

I said sweetie, your web page says 6.50 for a solo player? She said not anymore, as the diamonds have been recovered. I said I have two places that only charge 8 dollars per hour for diamonds?

I really wanted to give them my hard earned money and to help them on there journey, become a regular maybe.

but no way am I paying that price. Then I called there house pro for lesson prices, (not saying his name)and he says 100 a hour?

felt like saying dude, your not mark wilson or a famous pro, 100 a hour? So I struck out twice.

Hate to say it, $13.50 is fair. I was paying six an hour in nineteen seventy. That wasn't in super primo places either. Rent has doubled, other expenses have doubled, tripled, or worse. Those pool tables take up a lot of square footage and the truth is the owner can take them out and put in almost anything else and make more money.

The owner will either get in line with rentals other places or go under. Might go under anyway! I had a business, the wholesale price of components I was selling had doubled, the retail price had halved. I held prices on the main profit items as long as I could but when you can buy the same thing two doors down much cheaper it was hard for me to hold the line. Sold my land and building and went away.

Hu

So I found out that a pool hall near me, that I went to visit 1 year ago, was reopened with a new owner. The one and only time I was there a year ago, the tables were so dirty and nasty, that I only lasted 30 minutes, before I left in disgust.

so I was pretty happy to learn that a new owner had taken over, and had cleaned the place up, and had recovered the 9 diamond 7 foot tables. I thought wow, this could be my new home. The web page said 6.50 for a solo player per hour. Wow, perfect.

so I walked in today, ready to practice for a hour or two, and the nice girl at the front desk it’s 13.50 a hour to use a diamond table???

I said sweetie, your web page says 6.50 for a solo player? She said not anymore, as the diamonds have been recovered. I said I have two places that only charge 8 dollars per hour for diamonds?

I really wanted to give them my hard earned money and to help them on there journey, become a regular maybe.

but no way am I paying that price. Then I called there house pro for lesson prices, (not saying his name)and he says 100 a hour?

felt like saying dude, your not mark wilson or a famous pro, 100 a hour? So I struck out twice.

So I found out that a pool hall near me, that I went to visit 1 year ago, was reopened with a new owner. The one and only time I was there a year ago, the tables were so dirty and nasty, that I only lasted 30 minutes, before I left in disgust.

so I was pretty happy to learn that a new owner had taken over, and had cleaned the place up, and had recovered the 9 diamond 7 foot tables. I thought wow, this could be my new home. The web page said 6.50 for a solo player per hour. Wow, perfect.

so I walked in today, ready to practice for a hour or two, and the nice girl at the front desk it’s 13.50 a hour to use a diamond table???

I said sweetie, your web page says 6.50 for a solo player? She said not anymore, as the diamonds have been recovered. I said I have two places that only charge 8 dollars per hour for diamonds?

I really wanted to give them my hard earned money and to help them on there journey, become a regular maybe.

but no way am I paying that price. Then I called there house pro for lesson prices, (not saying his name)and he says 100 a hour?

felt like saying dude, your not mark wilson or a famous pro, 100 a hour? So I struck out twice.

I still charge $6 per hour per person and it gets cheaper the more people you have at the table. My only competition in my town are little bars, and they let you play for free. I guess it depends on where you live and what competition you have. $13.50 might be fine in NY City or California.

 

[Cuedup]

13.50 an hour might be ok for a group of casual players to knock them around for a few hours and split the bill a time or two a month. I shoot far to much pool to frequent such an establishment with any regularity.

 

[ChrisinNC]

I still charge $6 per hour per person and it gets cheaper the more people you have at the table. My only competition in my town are little bars, and they let you play for free. I guess it depends on where you live and what competition you have. $13.50 might be fine in NY City or California.

We get people all the time in our place, we give them a tray of balls, they play for a while, return the tray of balls to the counter and start walking out the door, apparently honestly making the assumption the pool is free! Nothing surprises me anymore.

 

[Island Drive]

One things for sure in these dayz.
Many have gone outta business.
Many warehouses are Vacant.
Sooooooo depending on where your at, renting vacant properties allows the tenant to pick and choose.
A good friend of mine in Colorado Springs found a warehouse, 3,000 square ft, 30' ceilings with bathroom for $500 a month. For motorhome repairs/roofing etc. It cost him less now, than ever before.
He no longer has to go ''to them'' they come to him.

In times of change one must look for loopholes in society and life.

 

[skip100]

I wonder if there's any overlap between the group of people who complain ad nauseam about nits who won't gamble and the people who clutch their pearls at the idea of paying a rate for table time that allows pool hall owners to stay in business. Hopefully not

Monthly memberships with unlimited play seem to be a popular offering in the Bay Area as a middle ground for room regulars.

 

[alphadog]

My dad and I had just borrowed up to our ears, bought land, had a building built, and opened a mechanic shop. A customer came in with a bad water pump only a week or two after opening when business was very slow. From the time I opened the hood the customer was leaning in from the other side telling me how I should do things. I was patient explaining why I was doing things the way I did at first but a half dozen suggestions in ten minutes and I walked over to the front desk, propped my feet up on one chair while leaning way back in another chair and commenced reading a trade rag that had came in a day or two before.

After a few minutes I saw my dad and the customer easing up side by side out of the corner of my eye. I didn't look up! When it was obvious I was ignoring them dad asked what the deal was. "This customer knows more about how to do the job than I do, I figured I would let him do it!" A very red face and disclaimers, the customer was apologizing in a hurry for his meddling. I told him, "You sit in this chair and don't get out of it, I'll finish changing the water pump!

Hu

My nephew about crapped his pants when I took a chair out of my work van and told the customer if he didnt sit there and be quiet I was driving off.

 

[eg9327]

The price of everything goes up. Typically in jumps, so it always seems worse. In 1963 I was paying the rack boy 10 cents a game. 57 years later 13.50 seems high, but compared to everything else really not so. Just take a look at golf.

 

[ShootingArts]

The price of everything goes up. Typically in jumps, so it always seems worse. In 1963 I was paying the rack boy 10 cents a game. 57 years later 13.50 seems high, but compared to everything else really not so. Just take a look at golf.

I am not a golfer so when I stumbled on rates for not only big time courses but the local courses too I was very surprised!

Pool hall rates have always been all over the place and the overall rates today are less than they were fifty years ago. I remember rack boys from a few years before too. Dime a rack, fifteen cents a rack, but big spenders tipped a dime a rack. One place tried rack girls, surprisingly they didn't work out! Rack "boys" in the places I frequented were almost always past retirement age black men. Apparently people favored a good rack over watching a girl racking for them!

Hu

 

[Scrunge19]

Pool hall rates have always been all over the place and the overall rates today are less than they were fifty years ago. I remember rack boys from a few years before too. Dime a rack, fifteen cents a rack, but big spenders tipped a dime a rack. One place tried rack girls, surprisingly they didn't work out! Rack "boys" in the places I frequented were almost always past retirement age black men. Apparently people favored a good rack over watching a girl racking for them!

Guess it depends on what kind of "rack" you're into.

 

[Dead Money]

Cue up the song Rack City?