Best city for running a profitable pool hall ?
- Thread starter Sam1914
- Start date
gulfportdoc
Verified Member
New Orleans' Jefferson Parish allows video poker machines in the poolrooms. Not sure how many other parishes in the State do. But that's a tremendous source of income.
Didnt know that . I saw red shoes in Chicago has machines also I believe they are more like slot machines . Where I am from rooms are closing all over and without places to play we cant promote any game .
jrhendy
Verified Member
Sam, of course you need an area with adequate population to support you, friendly city, county, state rules (Machines), but the main thing is you, staff, food and location IMO.
mr3cushion
Verified Member
When Doc Hurbert & 3 partners bought Chris's in Chicago, NO liquor/beer & wine, NO machines, minimum food, only 56 tables.
For the first 6-8 years it grossed over $1,000,000.00 per year!
For the first 6-8 years it grossed over $1,000,000.00 per year!
56 tables holy shit lol
Always wanted too but in some areas in seems like such a daunting task .I’m in nyc I wonder if there will be any rooms in 10 years
Hopefully yours will have been flourishing for roughly a decade by that time.
Best of Luck,
Keith
Thank you
Simple math. Price per sq. foot is too expensive for pool tables.
sheldon
Verified Member
The sad truth.
Your right
NH Steve
Administrator
I would think NYC would be one of the toughest places -- between high rent, high taxes and lots of regulations (on that I am presuming without knowledge though).
Yeah it’s brutal
BrookelandBilly
Verified Member
A lot of NYC pool room issues revolve around rent but it’s not just a NYC issue.
MattRosendaul
Verified Member
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2005
- Messages
- 34
Having owned and managed a room back in Michigan for many years (closed end of 2001), I can tell you it’s a real tough gig for all the reasons already listed here. The space requirement pushes you to a low rent district, and you need to have a lot of other complimentary revenue streams. A couple key points:
1. Don’t think of it as a pool room. Pool rooms have a bad reputation and you’ll be battling that rap full time. You need to focus on entertainment/recreation/restaurant. You make the bulk of your money on average people who want to spend a night out and drop $20 a piece maybe for a couple hours of fun and drinks as a couple or with friends. Your competition is bowling alleys, golf courses, movie theatres, breweries with a band and a food truck, etc. we made the bulk of our money on table time, but a very close second was Mountain Dew fountain pop.
2. After catering to the open player public, then concentrate on player development and building a core of regular and serious players who will carry you through the slow times (summer), buy from the pro-shop, pay for lessons, and play in leagues and tournaments. I had lunch with the owner of a bowling alley one time and he said that the bulk of their income was from league play which they had 7 days a week. They had seniors, women, juniors, beginners, scotch doubles, every configuration you could imagine. After that meeting, I started more leagues and saw immediate results. Catering to these players also requires top notch equipment in superior shape.
I have a lot of other advice I can give if you really want to start a room and are putting together a plan. In fact, I might still have a copy of my pool room business plan and pro forma financial statements somewhere in the archive.
1. Don’t think of it as a pool room. Pool rooms have a bad reputation and you’ll be battling that rap full time. You need to focus on entertainment/recreation/restaurant. You make the bulk of your money on average people who want to spend a night out and drop $20 a piece maybe for a couple hours of fun and drinks as a couple or with friends. Your competition is bowling alleys, golf courses, movie theatres, breweries with a band and a food truck, etc. we made the bulk of our money on table time, but a very close second was Mountain Dew fountain pop.
2. After catering to the open player public, then concentrate on player development and building a core of regular and serious players who will carry you through the slow times (summer), buy from the pro-shop, pay for lessons, and play in leagues and tournaments. I had lunch with the owner of a bowling alley one time and he said that the bulk of their income was from league play which they had 7 days a week. They had seniors, women, juniors, beginners, scotch doubles, every configuration you could imagine. After that meeting, I started more leagues and saw immediate results. Catering to these players also requires top notch equipment in superior shape.
I have a lot of other advice I can give if you really want to start a room and are putting together a plan. In fact, I might still have a copy of my pool room business plan and pro forma financial statements somewhere in the archive.
MattRosendaul
Verified Member
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2005
- Messages
- 34
As a side note, John at Red Shoes would be another great resource for what works and what doesn’t. Another note BTW, Chris’ Billiards in Chicago is Mecca for pool players. At some point everyone needs to go.
J.R.
Verified Member
Video gaming is legal in Illinois as long as the municipality (local government) allows it. Currently, Chicago does not allow State video gaming but many other cities, towns, and villages throughout Illinois allow it. One of the requirements for any establishment to have State video gaming in their place of business is a State of Illinois liquor license.
On one hand, Red Shoes Billiards in Alsip, Illinois has a State of Illinois liquor license and has 6 (maximum allowed) State machines. On the other hand, even if video gambling was legal in Chicago, Chris's Billiards could not have video gaming because it does not have a State of Illinois liquor license. Nevertheless, Chris's Billiards does have another form of video gaming which are known as "sweepstakes" machines. These machines, according to local and state courts, are considered "sweepstakes" machines because any person can redeem their winnings with other prizes like furniture type items. However, the payouts on the "sweepstakes" machines is never a table, chair, or lamp but the almighty dollar.