Smoking In Pool Halls
10/23/2006 1:03:53 PM
Smoking In Pool Halls
With no-smoking legislation being passed all over north america these days, one has to wonder what the financial impact of this decision will be on pool hall owners.
Personally, I am all for outlawing the act of smoking in all public places, and pool halls and bars are no exception. Cigarettes are proven killers, and let's face it, we wouldn't allow people to tout firearms openly as they walk down the sidewalk would we?
I've got a lot of friends though who enjoy a smoke or two while drinking and playing billiards, but I'm not so sure they'll stop playing or patronizing these places because of a non-smoking clause. They'll simply smoke outside, and come back in.
What are your thoughts on the smoking bans and their effect on pool halls?
Smoking In Pool Halls
Replies & Comments
aspin on 10/25/2006 1:39:24 PM
To hell with that. I smoke, and I don't see the big deal here. Its a pool hall for god's sake! People go there solely TO smoke and drink!
At least give us a smoke room with a table in it.
mdungelman on 10/29/2006 11:40:13 AMYeah! Lets stick them in a sealed room so they can smoke! In the meantime I can play pool for a few hours and not STINK like an ash tray. Hope you and cancer get along well! Cheers!
Ginger on 11/1/2006 8:58:11 PM
In pool halls, it should be absolutely outlawed. There are far too many people who don't smoke that it should not negatively impact the pool hall owner's bottom line. In fact, it may increase repeat business.
Oh and @aspin have a look at this:
billiardsforum on 11/2/2006 1:49:26 AMCheck this out; KVUE news just did an article on this exact topic (kvue.com/news/local/stories/110106kvuesmokebanrules-cb.ad1f017.html) where an Austin TX Clicks Billiards is the city's WORST offender in terms of both complaints and actual violations of the anti-smoking by-laws.
They interviewed some guy who said he didn't think he should have to leave the hall in order to smoke. (although he admitted that he does leave if asked.)
The point of the article was that the city is going to start passing along the fines to the individuals rather than the establishments.
jana on 11/27/2006 10:40:34 PMSmokers in my city (Halifax, Canada) are soon to be confined to smoking in either their homes or their car. That is if they have no children.
It is a step in the right direction, and pool halls should have no special exception.
- billiardsforum on 8/12/2007 10:38:01 AM
I hate to bump this old thread, but I was reading the APA version of Blackball pool rules, and they have actually implemented fouls for smoking while playing. Although it does not address smoking as a whole in the pool hall, its a step in the right direction:
Touching the table while having a cigarette (lit or unlit) in hand or mouth. Causing a cigarette (lit or unlit) to touch the table or enter the space directly above the table.
I guess this is more in protection for the equipment, but it may also help to cut down on smoking in the pool halls, and will also help clean up the image of those playing at the amateur and professional level.
ShotCaller on 9/25/2007 4:14:13 AMOh my God! What is wrong with you people.. People that smoke are treated like second class citizens. I think this is readiculous. When I'm drinking and playing pool, sometimes I'll have a cigarette. No big deal! There is no need to freak out and say "hope you and cancer get along well" wtf?! Besides, second hand smoke isn't as deadly as the media makes it out to be. The government skews the results of studies in order to get everyone to quite smoking. You can get just as much toxins being in a major metropolitan area. I do agree too many people smoking in bars and poolhalls is bad. Thats why most have decks or porches now. Can't we just leave it at that at cut the rude remarks!
jeffduke on 10/20/2007 9:09:34 PMDo you guys still smoke? I wanna know if you do, and if so, WHY...And if you don't, like me, please tell us WHY. I happen to know that a lot of pool players smoke, and while its disgusting to me, A LOT of people do it. My reasons for not doing it are these, and are in no specific order. 1: it smells like **, and makes everything smell like ** also 2: its expensive as all hell 3: its very unhealthy, in fact, it'll kill you sooner or later 4: it turns your teeth, which you should have taken care of regularly, a nasty yellow color, or even black A LOT of people, whether male or female, won't date a smoker ( I know I won't ) 5: you can no longer do it everywhere you want to 6: you have to carry something else around everywhere, and very carefully, not to crush them 7: you need to have ash trays in your home, and they're NEVER emptied afterwards 8: it turns your walls in your home yellow over time also Thats enough for now, I'll come up with more later lol
djkx1 on 10/21/2007 8:45:00 AMI smoke and haven't made it to the quitting point yet. Although I agree with most of your list, it is a powerful addiction and is not easily shaken. Not starting is a whole lot easier than quitting. I'm sure most people who smoke wish they had never started. One thing I disagree with is your point of it being expensive. I mean it is expensive here, but where you live its about a quarter or a third of the cost as it is in Canada. If I could buy smokes at the prices you guys pay, I would still consider it a cheap bad habit, instead of an expensive one.
Either way smoking is uncool, and hopefully one day I will have the courage to beat the addiction. Thanks for the guilt trip Jeff.
- jeffduke on 10/21/2007 4:06:51 PM
Sure thing Darren, anything for you bud lol You do know that quitting is more mental, than it really is hard to do, right? Every smoker I've talked to says its so hard, so they never try, but what most don't know, is there ARE simple things around that to quit. 1st, STOP making excuses for smoking...They DON'T help the cause. 2nd get yourself into a routine that does not allow you to smoke...do something else like chew gum, or something. My mom quit like this and she says she's felt better since then, and if SHE can quit, anyone can! lol I know the first month is the worst on a smoker, cause' its something different for them, but after that, it gets much easier. I'm sure you think I'm nuts by now, but all it takes is a lil' knowledge, a strong will to quit, and a lil' patience while going through it. I'm just trying to help, so take my advice or not...Its your life you're playing with here, and that goes for ALL of you, I am not speaking directly at Darren
Bishop on 10/22/2007 8:20:56 AM
I smoke one cig on the way to work. Then I'll smoke one cig before bed if I've been drinking.
shark3149 on 10/23/2007 3:09:43 AMI smoked for all most 16 years and I am only 33.I quit 4 months ago for good.I had wanted to quit for a long time but never could.Well my state passed the law where you cant smoke in public places.So I went to a seminar on how to stop smoking and so far it has worked.I can't even stand the smell any more it makes me sick.The best thing I have ever done.The cool thing is the money I spent on my smokes I am now saving to invest in another pool cue to add to my growing collection.
Slowhand on 10/23/2007 7:04:55 PMI quit smoking in 1971, a pack was only 50ยข back then and I smoked a pack a day. I'm still active and play volleyball in the summer and wallyball in the winter every week. Half the people I play against are older than me and none of us smoke. When I look at the people that I know that are my age that still smoke, most of them are couch potatoes. I'm very grateful that I quit and know that if I hadn't I wouldn't be able to enjoy the lifestyle that I've grown accustomed to. Looking around me I realize that smoking really does make you grow old before your time.
CaptainHook on 11/26/2007 3:02:43 PMI don't smoke.
The Flamingo is a smoking bar cause they do not serve food, almost everyone else smokes except the owner and myself.
My clothes always smell from smoke when I leave, I throw them in the washing machine as soon as I get home and shower to get smoke smell off my skin.
I leave my case to air out and clean it with pledge or 409 if it's really bad.
I have nothing against smokers, I tried it when I was a kid but did not like it, I just wanted to carry a lighter and try to be cool.
shexcpoolgawdess on 11/26/2007 8:16:53 PMYeah so even though I smoke...I don't really smoke much these days. Especially this time of year. This entire state passed a law...unless you are reservation...all establishments are NON SMOKING! So defeats the whole purpose of smoking during my matches any more. Gotta be 25 feet from the damn door...psssht...forget that....guess I have to find something else to do while shooting lol
Fenwick on 12/17/2007 10:06:24 AM
I have been a Smoker for 47 years and I'm only 57 years old. I watched both my Parents die as a result of long time smoking. One had a stroke and the other just stopped breathing after withering away. You would think that would have made me stop but the success rate for stopping is very small. I myself think it is a dirty filthy habit. I am a Addict just the same as if I was using Heroin. I cringe when I see young people smoking and will often tell them they don't know what they are doing to themselves. I have non smoking friends but because of my dirty habit contact is restricted. I go out of my way so as not to share my second hand smoke with none smokers. I don't smoke in my house, I step out side but I do smoke in my car, truck and when on my boat. So I am in favor of the smoking ban but the ban here will force people to snoop and poop as we called it in the Service, it means sneak around, and in some way or another break the law. You can't just step outside anymore you have to leave the property but you have nowhere to go except your automobile as smoking in plain view as of 1/1/08 is forbidden.
ninjashoes on 2/29/2008 6:23:47 AM
The hardest thing I have ever done is quit smoking
quickshot on 7/12/2008 6:22:24 PMSmoking is an addiction and everyone knows it. I quit 22 years ago, and it was the smartest thing I ever Did. I'm 78 now and in pretty good health and shape from working out 4 times a week. I play in an APA league and belong to the "old guys team". If smoking were allowed when we play I would not even take out my cue stick. And for the record, second hand smoke is the deadliest form of smoke there is. If you don't believe that, it is time to do your research.
If you have children educate them and save their life.
I had a triple heart bypass two years ago. I did not understand because I worked out all the time. The doc said, and I quote." we can clean out the fat and triglycerides, but we CANNOT undo the damage caused by your years of smoking". Enough said. Have a nice life.
- billiardsforum on 7/15/2008 6:07:06 PM
Omaha has banned smoking in the majority of public places, including billiard halls. A large billiard hall feels they will lose a significant-enough amount of revenue to fight the case in court. They are trying to circumvent the legislation by exploiting a loophole.
There was another appeal Tuesday morning to Omaha's smoking ban. An attorney for Big John's Billiards argued in front of District Court Judge Mark Ashford. The attorney for Big John's argued that the elimination of the Keno exemption, in the new ban, is detrimental to his client's business.
Until last month you could smoke in any business that had Keno. But the Nebraska Supreme Court threw out those exemptions. Big John's argued there are other exemptions for hotels, nursing homes and tobacco only shops. Big John's attorney said, "Why not keep Keno as an exemption?" Mark Welsh from the anti-smoking group G.A.S.P. said the owners of Big John's should stop making appeals.
Welsh said, "He needs to welcome in the 80 percent of people who do not smoke into his business. He should cater to those who don't smoke." Judge Ashford will take the matter under advisement.
Each side now has seven days to submit their briefs.
- quickshot on 7/15/2008 10:50:19 PM
I can't see why a billiard would look for a loophole to circumvent the no smoking rule. Pool players are pool players and I believe that the love of playing will eventually out weigh the need for a smoke. Especially if there is a place for people to smoke. On the other hand, the billiard hall, instead of looking for a loophole, should look to how they can clean up the smoke soaked atmosphere and try to appeal to a broader customer base who does not play pool because of the smoke filled room. Billiard and pool halls are their own worse enemy because of the unhealthy enviornment they created.
guest on 1/19/2009 1:53:16 PM
I think it should be up to the owner of the establishment. The customers have a choice, if they want to go in or not. For the record, I can carry my hand gun just about anywhere I go, concealed, or out in the open. I live in Tennessee.
- mdungelman on 1/19/2009 3:30:29 PM
Who cares if you carry a handgun. Does that make you tough?
snipershot on 1/26/2009 12:00:42 AM
man, I tell u what, all this talk about smokin makes me want a cig even more. you see, I am tryin to quit smokin. only 4 days in the fight, and its killing me. Im taking that Chantix pill that is supposed to make the craving go away, but it aint working! with that said, I ask one thing from everyone: If you have never been a smoker, please dont tell us smokers (or hopeful former smokers) how to quit, or how easy it is to quit! I realize your intentions might be very good, but unless you have had the nic fits, please don't tell us how it feels! ok, sorry for the rant. As for smoking in pool halls, I guess it depends on how much smoke there is. if its full of chain smokers, that bothers everyone, smoker or not. If there is just a little smoke, in my opinon, it adds some atmosphere. Yea, I know second hand smok is bad for ya, but so are those cheesebugers from tha fast food place, and numerous other things we do all the time. and thats all I have to say about that.
Mitch Alsup on 1/26/2009 1:12:11 PM
I, for one, am torn. Torn between the basic notion that in a free society that public places are where you encounter the rights others are currently using, and at the same time not wanting to come home stinking of smoke when I want to go to a bar or to a pool hall. I am middle of the road on the issue as a whole, with a wife who thinks that smoking is the work of the devil. If I come home stning of smoke--and here concept of stining is if she can smell anything whatsoever--I get lambasted for all sorts of things.
Would that competition could be such that for every smoke filled pool hall there would be a smoke free pool hall right next door, each one tempting the others costomers with the other environment. But, alass, this never happens.
As for pool hall owners, I would imagine the smoke free environment would be a boon to maintanence. The felt would not get sticky, nor the balls, nor those long sticks hanging on the walls.
But overall, it should be a free country, with citizens who are able to make poor choices for themselves and their families without society turnign them into second class citizens with minimal rights to make those poor choices. This is one of those watershed lines that in one direction lead to more freedom and libberty, and the other leads towards control and supression. Why is it that we cannot educate the masses to choose the path set forth by our forefathers?
- quickshot on 1/26/2009 1:57:36 PM
Sniper: You are in an uphill battle and congrats for taking the first step. I quit 23 yrs ago 2 pks a day. Keep trying it will pay off in the long run. I used the patch and it worked for me. Good luck.
Mitch: you are right. If the owner wants to allow smoking that is his prerogative. If he wants to live with the damage the smoke does to his tables and equiptment that is also his choice. It is a free country, but by making the smoking choices, the non smoker also has the choice to walk by his door and go somewhere else.
But it used to be there was no other {pool hall; bar} where one could even go without smoke!
- quickshot on 1/28/2009 1:46:56 PM
It still is to a degree about the pool hall. There are a lot of people who do not even go into a bar for any reason. And the pool halls are spread out. Least where I am. Maybe that's why he sport is losing ground. I don't have the ans. If I din't play in the APA league, I wouldn't be caught dead in some of the dumps we play in.
RMCORP2006 on 1/30/2009 9:11:27 AM
i think it should be at the option of the business. you choose to smoke just like you can choose not to go into a place that allows smoking. with the economy slipping this is just one more thing that is hurting our small businesses.
besides who doesn't enjoy a good cigar coupled with a good glass of scotch enjoyed with intelligent friends and conversation? i know i do.
- quickshot on 1/30/2009 11:14:26 AM
besides who doesn't enjoy a good cigar coupled with a good glass of scotch enjoyed with intelligent friends and conversation? i know i do.
What you are saying here is, not only are you inhaling your own cigar smoke but also the second hand smoke from your friends. Double the smoke ...double the problems. You are also imposing the second hand smoke on anyone within striking distance.
As far as I'm concerned the jury is in on what damage smoking and second hand smoke can do. I do not begrudge anyone who smokes as long as it is not done around me.
Now the scotch and the conversation is a big plus. Make mine Chivas on the rocks. On second thought, make it a double. Gotta keep the economy moving.
I will also raise my glass of straight Chivas with you and respectfully not light up in your presence. great topic.
OH and obesity is now an epidemic and spreading worst than addiction itself. there are stats out there they say obesity has become so bad that just having fat friends makes you more at risk to becoming fat yourself.
Nico_Pompadour on 2/18/2009 3:29:52 AM
I quit smoking 10 years ago and I am very happy with that.
With the profits of non-smoking for 10 years I was able to buy a new car... and also a new cue... and also a Jim Rempe training ball but that only takes 1 week of non smoking.
Just one additional argument to consider in abandoning the cigarette.
Discussion on smoking in poolrooms or anywhere else. As long as you respect your partner - friends - family - i believe it is all a question of self-convincing and choices to make in live.
Enjoy the game - enjoy the smoke - keep it moderate.
PS. Anyone changed ideas since last posts?
- quickshot on 2/18/2009 7:13:16 AM
There is no such thing as moderate smoking. A person is signing his/her own death warrant because the smoke/nicotine, whether one weed or a pack, will linger in the body some where and over time will eat away at the organ it has taken up residence in.
I'll clarify on that 'moderate': cigarettes smoke is less annoying than cigar or pipe (although not much seen in poolrooms) and 1 cigarette will not bother the game. And if we are talking about health : the junk food which you can get in some poolrooms is as much dangerous for heart malfunctions.
I also prefer fresh air for the game, although somehow i appreciate the atmosphere of drinks and smoke - it makes part of it.
- Scotch. Check
- Intelligent friends. Check.
- Cigar. Bleck.
Even though I smoked casually for a few years (1 pack a week), and smoked a pipe for a while (the tobacco kind), And I even chewed on cigars when I lived near the Cubans in Miami, I never got to the point where I could tolerate the smell of a lit cigar, good or not so...
- quickshot on 2/19/2009 9:06:31 PM
And people say that one is not inhaling cigars. That is a crock because every time we take a breath we inhale something. The atmosphere is bad enough with out adding smoke to it.
dlabout on 2/24/2009 9:58:37 AM
Ok, I'll ring in on the subject. I have played for many years and had to play pool in both smoke and smoke free rooms. I have never smoked anything of any kind. In the days of a smoking pool room I would watch the layer of smoke under the pool lights as it would have swirls and flows as people walked by. I would use eye drops due to the burn of the smoke and would have to take my clothes off in the garage from the stench. I had a choice as did the rest of the people there, and I would favor those rooms with a good vent system. In the current time all of Denver is smoke free. I enjoy the pool rooms, bars and tournaments far more and don't have to go through the routine of changing in a cold garage or coughing up lord knows what after a tournament.
To use the obesity analogy, if someone over eating caused cholesterol to build up in my blood stream then I would expect it to be governed. As it stands, there behavior doesn't have any lasting health risk on me. The day they make a cigarette, cigar, or pipe that doesn't emit smoke then I'm all for allowing it anywhere.
My 2 cents. -Doug
Line Up on 2/24/2009 3:25:18 PM
Everyone male female or what ever you are is addicted to something. I am a smoker and have been for 30 years, I respect the right of others and the laws. They are not telling you that you cant smoke. They just tell you where you cant. Remember when the law said you cant smoke in the malls or public places like that, every one said...that I wont go there anymore. Do you go there now?
It is just an adjustment to be made especially when it applies to your favorite place to be. I have no problem with that.. When it hit the bars in Maryland this year I could care less, I Don't go to the bar. Again everyone is addicted to something its just where you do it.
Right on brother.
patrickp123495 on 3/1/2009 4:41:13 AMWhy smoke? You have air conditioning. In the Philippines there is none. So it don't matter. But it is a killer and causes air pollution. Global warming! Just my 2 cents.
Smoking In Pool Halls
- Title: Smoking In Pool Halls
- Author: billiardsforum (Billiards Forum)
- Published: 10/23/2006 1:03:53 PM
