What makes a GREAT pool hall?

G

glfgd82

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Ok so there are a few factors here, but overall, I was wondering what makes up the difference between a good pool hall and a great pool hall in the eyes of a pool player. The pool hall I am again being a regular at, was just taken over by new management, good people and they are doing some upgrades to the place, such as updating the bathrooms so they look presentable, they have a new triple shimmed table that is great for practice, as well as a double shimmed in the works. They also have a new heated slate billiard table which is great, even though I do not play 3 cushion much. The pool hall is pretty good overall, needs new carpet, there are holes around the tables that you can get hung up on sometimes, annoying.

The only complaint I have is the new owners seem "pushy" when it comes to the availability of their new food menu, I was there for 4 hours last night as was asked if I wanted any food about 12 times, nice of them to ask, but I'm there to play pool first and if I wanted any food, I would order some after the first time I said "no, just ate dinner at home". So, aside from the "used car salesman" approach to the food menu, its a pretty decent place, great table lights, a couple different playing tables, and when you are playing, there is plenty of room between tables.

So which matters more in a pool hall, the setup, the owners, or the atmosphere while your there?
 
I think having many top players in a room make a room great. This will increase the level of play of ALL the players. It will make the weak players try to get better. Constant action between the players is also a must.

Without the two above factors, the room can have the best tables in the world, the best cloth, the best bathrooms, etc., but be a boring place to go to.
 
tap, tap, tap

iusedtoberich said:
I think having many top players in a room make a room great. This will increase the level of play of ALL the players. It will make the weak players try to get better. Constant action between the players is also a must.

Without the two above factors, the room can have the best tables in the world, the best cloth, the best bathrooms, etc., but be a boring place to go to.
Click to expand...

tap, tap, tap

right on the money.
 
asiasdad said:
tap, tap, tap

right on the money.
Click to expand...

Good tables, action at hand, woofing, decent food, good lighting, space between the tables, those special tall chairs, Centennials, friendly help that isn't pushy, on-site tip replacement, etc. etc.

But especially important is having good players around...

By the way, Asiadad, nice avatar! Who made that cue?

Flex
 
glfgd82 said:
So which matters more in a pool hall, the setup, the owners, or the atmosphere while your there?
Click to expand...

Cleanliness and decent equipment are basic ingredients of any good pool room, but for me, what makes a pool hall is atmosphere.

People come to the pool hall for different reasons.

There are those who come just to solicit action, who won't play at all unless the right game cmes along. There are those who come just to watch others play while sipping on a drink or two. There are those who come to play a nice social game, having a few laughs along the way. Finally, there are those who come to play very serious pool, who don't want to be interrupted.

The perfect atmosphere is one that accommodates all of these people, enabling them to have the expereince they seek. I believe that the single most important ingredient in accomplishing this for a poolroom is the enforcement of the "players only in the playing area" rule. In my expereince, the pool rooms that enforce this reul most diligently have the very best atmosphere, and are the poolrooms I want to play in.
 
clean, reasonably quiet, good equipment, well lighted

I have always used my favorite place to work on my game so it is really a practice room. I never gambled there because I didn't want it to be a constant interruption when I wanted to tune and practice.

The things listed in my title and I am happy, add a snooker table and I am delighted. Reasonably friendly staff and something to eat that doesn't take cast iron innards to keep down while I go back to playing and the place is near perfection.

Hu
 
sjm said:
I believe that the single most important ingredient in accomplishing this for a poolroom is the enforcement of the "players only in the playing area" rule.
Click to expand...

SJM,
Thanks for the advice. I have just issued an edict banning the wife and kids from "Betmore's Basement." If there are any complaints, I'll give them your phone number.
 
Cue in avator

Flex said:
Good tables, action at hand, woofing, decent food, good lighting, space between the tables, those special tall chairs, Centennials, friendly help that isn't pushy, on-site tip replacement, etc. etc.

But especially important is having good players around...

By the way, Asiadad, nice avatar! Who made that cue?

Flex
Click to expand...

Thanks for the compliment, one of the coolest things about this cue is that even though it is a pimp stick, it doesn't yell at everyone in the pool room "LOOK AT ME I'M A PIMP STICK" LOL

You got to get right up on this one for it to show off. I would rather think of it as a trophy wife, one that knows how to act in public.

It was made in 2005 by Mike Lambros. I bought it from Joe at classiccues.comView attachment 20593
View attachment 20595
 
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I'll mention one big minus:

Running a vacuum while there are customers in the room trying to play.

Lou Figueroa


glfgd82 said:
Ok so there are a few factors here, but overall, I was wondering what makes up the difference between a good pool hall and a great pool hall in the eyes of a pool player. The pool hall I am again being a regular at, was just taken over by new management, good people and they are doing some upgrades to the place, such as updating the bathrooms so they look presentable, they have a new triple shimmed table that is great for practice, as well as a double shimmed in the works. They also have a new heated slate billiard table which is great, even though I do not play 3 cushion much. The pool hall is pretty good overall, needs new carpet, there are holes around the tables that you can get hung up on sometimes, annoying.

The only complaint I have is the new owners seem "pushy" when it comes to the availability of their new food menu, I was there for 4 hours last night as was asked if I wanted any food about 12 times, nice of them to ask, but I'm there to play pool first and if I wanted any food, I would order some after the first time I said "no, just ate dinner at home". So, aside from the "used car salesman" approach to the food menu, its a pretty decent place, great table lights, a couple different playing tables, and when you are playing, there is plenty of room between tables.

So which matters more in a pool hall, the setup, the owners, or the atmosphere while your there?
Click to expand...
 
lfigueroa said:
I'll mention one big minus:

Running a vacuum while there are customers in the room trying to play.

Lou Figueroa
Click to expand...


That one happened last night :( I still like the place, but there is no action, not llke I'm a big baller or anything, but friendly "table time" sets would be nice, its on its way up, but here in Lansing, there really isnt a huge "pool hall junkie" crowd.
 
From a players stand point:

>Clean snug equipment spaced out enough for comfort.

>Staff that realizes not to put recreational players next to people gambling as long as their are tables available.

>I'm not real big on the food thing, just good coffee, and snacks.

>A range of action players by skill level and amount betting is a must.

>Music is fine, just don't play it too loud.

>Dailey special rates is good too.

Gerry
 
glfgd82, were you at RG's or Pockets? If you were at RG's, what time were you there and was anyone in the room at all?
 
To me a great room is like a second home. You are as comfortable there as you are at home. You look forward to going there and enjoy yourself while there. It offers what you want, be it great rates, action, a good menu in case you want something to eat, leagues and tournaments. Probably the most important part is the people, because without them it's just a room. If you don't have the right mix, then there is always something missing.
 
Two sections of tables.
One section with big pockets and slow cloth.
One section for the serious players.
A waitress for each section who has a brain and big hoohoos. :)
Music and tv not too loud.
Players' special food ( non greasy food like air fried fries, teriyaki bowl, etc ).
No lowlifes allowed.
 
To me the most important things a room must have are.

1. Top notch equipment, well maintained.
2. Billiard chairs, tall spectator type designed for pool players.
3. Properly spaced tables.
4. Clean establishment
5. Good Menu.
6. Waitresses that know better than to walk across a players line of sight.
7. No hoods allowed, keep it safe.
8. Good TV's & Music not too loud.

Black Cat :cool:
 
breakup said:
The only thing that gives a pool hall legs for the long run is the owners.
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Hello, I am a pool room owner and I also love to play pool. I think that Action, Good Food, Good lighting, Great equipment are all major factors with any pool room. However, I would also add that a fully stocked Pro-shop, with both high and low end merchandise, Full cue repair, including Tips will you wait and all other repairs through complete refinish work on site all also enhance the draw of a pool room. Last, I also think that ice cold beer is also a plus:D


William
 
From a pool players perspective.

ACTION between good players first and foremost.

Back in the day when i really sucked, we would go to the local weekly tournament, and as SOON as we got knocked out, we would pile in the car, and head on down to South Philly to watch the races to 15 ahead for 10 or 15 thousand , or the games of one pocket for thousands of dollars.

Action is good for business.
Not only does it bring better players in to either get a piece of it or watch as a result, but it also serves to inspire.
Watching those guys play for all that money, and play AWESOME on top of it, was the thing that made most of us try and get to the next level.

WE wanted to be those guys.
It never failed that after watching some champs go at it, we would all be practicing and gambling ourselves to pieces trying to be like them. Cool and collected under pressure. It gave us a perspective of what could possibly be attainable.

AND, as someone else said earlier, having good players in the room is key. PERSONALLY, i think most good players in my area are really looking for action, and when the action dries up, they go do other things. Which believe it or not, has an effect on the room.
When i was starting up, i had lots and lots of guys that i would just watch, and be fascinated at how they could play pool. To me it was amazing to see a couple of guys gambling for a few hundred.

As i got older, and my game got better, and all the crowds were replaced by new crowds of people, there was always a couple who stuck with it, who were themselves, always watching the action, and practicing. But as the better players slowly went their own ways and less action was around, there are less and less inspired kids who want to study how to play.
Now, that there aren't a lot of great players matching up in the room i play at, it seems like people really don't know what good pool can be like, and there is nothing to inspire them. No new up and coming prospects.

I have often wondered what would happen if my local room owner got the top players in the room to play matches against each other for display purposes only (fake bet), or hooked us up with incentives if we were to play/tutor/teach those that seemed interested after watching one of those dispaly matches, how that would affect business. Would that serve to get a couple of newbies to take real interest in the game.

Cause as it stands now, kids just come in and bang balls around. They have no clue what real pool is all about, and no real interest.

As for other things that make for a good pool room in my opinion.
Good equipment.
A room that doesn't smell like ASS from all the smoke!
 
Dustin_J said:
glfgd82, were you at RG's or Pockets? If you were at RG's, what time were you there and was anyone in the room at all?
Click to expand...



I believe there is a lansing Iowa, as well as Illinois. I used to live in Lansing MI and Rg's is a very nice room and there are some pretty strong players that are in there now and again.
 
asiasdad said:
Thanks for the compliment, one of the coolest things about this cue is that even though it is a pimp stick, it doesn't yell at everyone in the pool room "LOOK AT ME I'M A PIMP STICK" LOL
Click to expand...

What in the world is a Pimp Stick?
 
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