What is the most important thing in a successful pool hall?

BangkokMichael said:
what is the most important to you about a pool hall?
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Beside a clean environment and nice equipment, being courteous to your customers and making them feel appreciated goes a long way into having a successful business ( poolhall ), and remembering your regulars names helps too, you will find that they will spend more of their free time and money at your place.

A room owner that follows these simple steps gets my play above all others.


David Harcrow
 
Lots of players on poker and fruit machines so they can keep the time low on plenty of clean fast well lit mostly 9' tables in a nice cool dark pool room with nice clean bathrooms. Bar boxes and a snooker or 3C table as well Secure parking lot is a plus open attitude to action with an owner who will bet something on either themself or a local player. Occasional tourneys that get a draw on regional or national players with the house adding money to the pot free water is a plus
 
a great idea and certainly better than "just a juke box

jay helfert said:
My juke box was wired into the sound system so that as soon as it stopped playing, my own music would kick in. I regulated what music was offered on the juke box and made sure to have lots of oldies, soft rock, classics, etc.
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Thats a great idea and certainly better than "just a juke box," however, it's still not the atmosphere that will become "timeless" (where no one looks at the clock).

How music is played effects not only the overall atmosphere, but it effects the individuals as well. The BPM's (beats per minute) influence our internal programming at a level that we are not aware of. Professional, experienced DJ's have this down to a science, and although I would not recommend a pro DJ in your pool room, I would suggest patterning the songs in a BPM Category so there's a "flow".....like a ride in a brand new Mercedes, rather than a bumpy 'Jeep CJ' ......the ride is much smoother and time becomes "timeless" on those long rides.....or long sessions in the pool room.

The best examples Billiard venues with programmed music is in the FOX and HOUNDS, COOL RIVER's and even Cue Master's in Virginia does a nice job of flow with their BPM's. The upper scale concepts are more likely to pay attention to this, however, I believe any pool room can profit more by paying very close attention to their music protocol.

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Just saw this

Old thread but great responses. Makes me remember how civil AZ used to be. All great ideas well articulated.
 
Concerning music...I have to remind the bartender every Sunday that NOBODY, besides him, is wanting to listen to his hardcore rap early in the mornings when us OLD guys come in to play.

Everybody in the room is probably old enough to be his dad.

If I owned a pool room, rap would not be allowed to be played at all, unless it was in a closed lounge somewhere inside the building.
 
For me, it's respect for my privacy and the maintenance of a pleasant playing atmosphere.

I don't want strangers kibbitzing my matches uninvited and, to the greatest extent possible, I don't want strangers interrupting me while I play.
That makes the enforcement of the "players only in the playing area" rule extremely important. In my experience, most pool halls have but don't enforce this rule.

Also important to me is a lack of rowdy and profane behavior. Again, the tone is set by the management of the pool hall itself. If players become rowdy and/or profane, and the managers of the room let it go, it becomes rampant.

Next in importance to me is cleanliness. The room and, especially, the bathrooms must be clean.

It is only after these requirements are met that I care about the equipment.
 
If your pool tables SUCK, I'm not going to your place even if everything else is 5 stars.

If I'm going for something besides playing pool, I can find good restaurants, bars, night clubs, etc.

I do hate nasty places though.
 
I think the market has changed. Today you need to provide seating and table space for each pool table. The $$ are in having several couples go out together and some play, some sit and talk. Also the people who will spend the $$ need to feel comfortable, IE not be beside someone who is intimidating. You need to attract a high end crowd to make high end $$.

When I see a large area with just pool tables and no seating, I see loss of $$$.

Many factors come into play today, not just pool tables.

My humble opinion.
 
ideologist said:
Well-kept equipment. Good, clean balls and tables with fast cloth.

I can deal with crappy food and mediocre drink selections as long as I can go and play great pool. Bad tables, I'll leave everytime.
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Yep. I do however, prefer that the kitchen be considered in the equipment upkeep department. As far as drinks go, I don't drink enough to care anymore. ;)
 
Snooker

My favorite new place is prince snooker club in brooklyn. No tv no music. But there is smoking and they have parrots.
 
HawaiianEye said:
Concerning music...I have to remind the bartender every Sunday that NOBODY, besides him, is wanting to listen to his hardcore rap early in the mornings when us OLD guys come in to play.
Everybody in the room is probably old enough to be his dad.
If I owned a pool room, rap would not be allowed to be played at all, unless it was in a closed lounge somewhere inside the building.
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YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
Best post of the entire thread, in my opinion.
:thumbup2::thumbup2:
 
old thread but good points

A lot of good points. For me the owner an staff come first. They make it a clean friendly place or somewhere you don't want to be. Equipment comes next. Decent cloth and cushions, reasonably spaced, I can make do from there.

PaulieB makes maybe the most important comment in the thread. Hardcore pool players aren't where the dollars are at. I hate leagues. In a place that allows smoking it seems like each league player has three cigarettes lit. My eyes burn, my lungs can't handle that crap either. The music is usually loud and bad this time of the evening too. "Bad" being a matter of opinion of course.

The date crowd can be as bad or worse. Noisy, rowdy, no idea of pool etiquette. Standing around tables talking to each other interrupting play on nearby tables until you have to ask them to move.

Sad truth, these people are the ones that pay the bills! The hardcore player drinking water or coffee won't support most pool rooms these days. Unless a building and equipment is paid for and a room owner is satisfied to just get by it takes a lot of business to just meet overhead. Years ago I owned a business most people think is a gold mine. They didn't see the fifteen thousand a month overhead back in the eighties. Busy months and slow that fifteen thousand nut stayed about the same.

Hu
 
ShootingArts said:
A lot of good points. For me the owner an staff come first. They make it a clean friendly place or somewhere you don't want to be. Equipment comes next. Decent cloth and cushions, reasonably spaced, I can make do from there.

PaulieB makes maybe the most important comment in the thread. Hardcore pool players aren't where the dollars are at. I hate leagues. In a place that allows smoking it seems like each league player has three cigarettes lit. My eyes burn, my lungs can't handle that crap either. The music is usually loud and bad this time of the evening too. "Bad" being a matter of opinion of course.

The date crowd can be as bad or worse. Noisy, rowdy, no idea of pool etiquette. Standing around tables talking to each other interrupting play on nearby tables until you have to ask them to move.

Sad truth, these people are the ones that pay the bills! The hardcore player drinking water or coffee won't support most pool rooms these days. Unless a building and equipment is paid for and a room owner is satisfied to just get by it takes a lot of business to just meet overhead. Years ago I owned a business most people think is a gold mine. They didn't see the fifteen thousand a month overhead back in the eighties. Busy months and slow that fifteen thousand nut stayed about the same.

Hu
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Owning a room is tough action. In my experience having regulars playing 4 and 5 days a week is a rooms base. They play year round and know how to conduct themselves. Those that don't, you show them the door.

You build from there. There will always be recreational players and many enjoy watching and learning from higher level players. Some will step up and take the game more seriously. Having house leagues encourages lower level players to improve as well. Pool will not survive on recreational players and national leagues. At least not pool worth having. If you open a room to get rich, you are doing it for the wrong reason and will likely be disappointed.
 
BangkokMichael said:
what is the most important to you about a pool hall?
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As a poolroom owner / manager for 22+ in a rural location, it's not easy, but here are some musts in no particular order:

Location
Some level of commitment to advertising - particularly in the early years
Quality Equipment - tables, cloth, balls, lighting, even nice house cues
Daily maintenance to keep above equipment in top condition
Commitment to Customer Service / friendly and competent employees
Employees always making regular customers feel special and wanted
Keeping regular consistent hours of operation - a minimum of 70+ hours a week
Cleanliness / Upkeep of the entire facility including restrooms and entire playing area
A good value food and beverage operation, serving a consistent quality product, with a bar with seating area separate from the pool table area
A food/bev operation good enough to attract regulars who just come to eat/drink and not play pool
Reasonable prices for pool play including special rates for low demand periods
Weekly leagues and/or tournaments for the more competitive regulars
Attractive exterior with convenient and safe parking for customers
At least some TVs for viewing of popular sporting events, and music playing regularly at a reasonable volume - jukebox, pandora, or whatever
Fostering and maintaining an environment where all levels of pool players from beginners, females and kids to "A" level players feel comfortable and not intimidated playing here
Someone on premises who can offer novice players who have a desire to improve and to work on their games some instruction / tips and suggest appropriate videos / books for them to check out
When a novice player is doing something out of line like a scoop jump shot or setting a drink on a table, having the tact to discreetly and politely as possible handle it and educate them
Most importantly - an owner/manager who values and respects all his/her customers and employees, is a passionate pool player, and has enough pride in his/her facility to have the incentive to maintain all of the above
,
I'm sure there are more I may think to add, but that's a start
 
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VERY sad to say, but in Atlanta, they have to allow smoking.

As an asthmatic, it pisses me off. But every pool hall to go non smoking goes out of business.

Sucks.
 
Shirts and shoes no BO FOR ALL ...THAT MEANS EMPLOYEES AND CUSTOMERS ALIKE AND MOST OF ALL NO RAP CRAP ...
 
Upon reflection, it hadn’t occurred to me that even the smalltown poolroom where I grew up likely couldn’t have stayed in business relying only on ’table time’ revenue. They had a busy sodafountain up front, a very large magazine rack and several pinball machines, an extensive displaycase that stocked every available cigar/cigarette/snuff & pipe tobacco, and several continuously occupied card tables in back. But, the pool/billiard tables were always fastidiously maintained, the playing atmosphere was ‘church-like’ (no juke box), and the rackboy kept a sawed-off baseball bat at hand to roust any rowdies who dared disturb the players! The spectator seating (a row of old folding theater seats) were usually occupied by old men (who generally favored a location near a spittoon) that seldom kibitzed.
 
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having the owner on premises working every day.

many rooms nowadays just have a minimum wage person sitting behind the counter that doesnt care. and no wonder all those things abouv mentioned dont get attention.
 
Quality Equipment

As a customer, quality equipment is #1.

That means first quality nine foot tables that are regularly maintained and clean balls.

In an ideal world, the tables would be cleaned daily and far enough apart so there is no interference between players at adjacent tables and either no music or music at a lower volume. No smoking would also be a plus.
 
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