Why Pool is devastated by the new Smoking Laws.
- Thread starter Paul Schofield
- Start date
But the whole thread has been about how smokers want us to smell like smoke when we get home while we don't want to smell like that. They are attempting to inflict their nasty habit on us. That makes them nasty--even if they are the friendliest and nicest person in the room.
That never happened.
I drove through Maine yesterday and stopped by TJs in waterville. It was a saturday night between 5:30pm and 7:00pm and I was the only person playing pool.
There used to be waiting lines in pool halls on saturday nights. Now the pool hall is a ghost town. I don't see how pool halls are going to survive even in maine where you say restaurants, bowling alleys, and bars are still doing well.
I wish I was wrong, but I don't think there will be any pool halls left in a decade or so to play in at least not in the Northeast except for maybe Snookers in RI.
No one here is advocating repealing the smoking ban laws. That is not what this thread is about. The effects of the ban need to be recognized and understood in order to have a plan moving ahead. I talk about this in the closing paragraph in the OP.
So far, a vast majority of the room owners have concluded that there are not enough non-smokers and reformers to replace the smokers. It just has not happened. I say that it is a demographic issue for pool.
It happens every time a smoker lights up in a poolroom.
I still do not believe that the smoking ban is the primary reason pool rooms are slower now than before.
To address your specific example if TJ's last night, it has long been a summer scenario in Maine that clubs aren't nearly as busy as during the other seasons. I would expect that there were likely more people in there later in the evening....most places don't start to get busy until after then, you note you were only there till 7 pm. Yes, the days of the pool rooms being busy all day are likely long passed....i expect its a night time activity for most, and certainly in our very short summer season here.
Times have changed in other ways, too. We have many, many more choices available to us than we did in the relatively short period since the smoking ban took effect here. For instance, there has been a pretty popular music festival running all week here in Bangor, which is less than an hour away from Waterville. There are often other festivals on the coast these days. There are state fairs also running this weekend in two different parts of the state, one of which is about 30 minutes away from Waterville.
There are far more things to do here than before, and not a significantly larger population. This contributes to slower times in various venues.
I'm sure every area lost some players due to the smoking ban. But they have also gained some, too....me, example number 1.
Amsterdam Billiards charges $20/hr on weekends an there is always a line. Non smoking for many years now.
If your poolroom isn't making money I'd look elsewhere for a reason. It ain't the no smoking law that's the problem. Learn to adapt the business to the changing times.
Well yeah, but there's nothing else to do in NYC. :wink:
I'm not going to look at all three hundred sixty some replies, but in my opinion the premise is incorrect. Pool, or more specifically pool halls, have only been marginally (if at all) affected by smoking bans.
What has caused pool rooms to close, or cut back on services, is the economy, plain and simple. Higher taxes, rising wholesale food costs, utility increases, employee compensations, etc., have all contributed.
Paying customers are on a decline, not because they aren't allowed to smoke, but rather as a result of the dwindling numbers of good jobs; especially in the trades, where many former pool players were employed. :smile:
What has caused pool rooms to close, or cut back on services, is the economy, plain and simple. Higher taxes, rising wholesale food costs, utility increases, employee compensations, etc., have all contributed.
Paying customers are on a decline, not because they aren't allowed to smoke, but rather as a result of the dwindling numbers of good jobs; especially in the trades, where many former pool players were employed. :smile:
Last night I played in a bar box 8 ball tournament with 55 other players. This particular actual pool room does this every week. They have 20 bar boxes and about 8 or 9 nine foot GC's. There is also a 9 ball tourney every week that attracts a different type of player and averages about 25 players a week. This room also has lots of leagues, specials during the day, decent food, and a nice bar. Its no smoking. I drive about 125 miles round trip to play there. I've also seen this done on a much smaller scale. People want to play pool. They also want a safe, friendly place to play. Oh, did I mention, the manager is a lady, and its mostly women that work there. They also don't tolerate people that are disruptive. They get barred! All I'm sayin' is pool is changin' and there's room for everybody. You just have to be intelligent enough to see where its going to be successful.
Nope. Smokers don't sit around in the lobby after their lobby group meetings and discuss ways to piss off non-smokers. Non-smokers however go out of their way to shove their opinions down everyone's throat though. Right or wrong doesn't matter, only their views.
It is cute when they cough and you haven't struck your lighter yet.
As strange and inconceivable as it may be, smokers agree it's nasty and willingly smoke outside. It's a welcome break. With black-tinted glasses where the world is against you all the time, I suppose the negativitists think it's not possible. But that's ok, cough away Merill. Cough away. Life must be a struggle when you fight every day.
This is what has suprised me. The non-smokers would have you believe that they want to be around pool without smoke. That is only partially true. They primarily want to be around smokers and have them not smoke.
When NY started out with an interim comprimise for their ban, a poolroom had to divide their room and make a non-smoking area with perminent walls and seperate ventilation. The non-smoking areas were empty. All the non-smokers were in the smoking area. What a waste.
Now ten years later, the whole place must be non-smoking and the whole place is empty. (I am thinking of one room in particular. This guy is a 30 year man in the business. After 20 years of increase, he points to an exact date his revenues went into decline. This could just be anecdotal.)
When NY started out with an interim comprimise for their ban, a poolroom had to divide their room and make a non-smoking area with perminent walls and seperate ventilation. The non-smoking areas were empty. All the non-smokers were in the smoking area. What a waste.
Now ten years later, the whole place must be non-smoking and the whole place is empty. (I am thinking of one room in particular. This guy is a 30 year man in the business. After 20 years of increase, he points to an exact date his revenues went into decline. This could just be anecdotal.)
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It's not surprising if you study interaction. You don't have to go to school or take a graduate course, just watch what people do with an open mind. The most insecure of all will rail against something as long as they have backing to do so. It may start out as, "I have a problem with..." and then grow if they find an audience.
The age of, "Everyone has a soapbox called the internet", makes them think they have a bigger following than they truly do. It takes someone more than merely confident to say, "I don't really care" and walk away. So the anti-smoking advocates and internet bloggers garner support but still need that group to get mad at. It's genetic competition in the digital age. If they lose the people they want to demonstrate superiority over, they need to go somewhere else. It's all just an attempt to disguise their own shortcomings.
Like Earl, they may have a point somewhere in there, but 99% of it is rambling.
Yeah, that must be it
Oh brother....and yet you are here on your soap box...well played..
I move that non smokers be refereed to as clean-air-breathers from here on.Paul we just want to be around you..