Alcohol and Snooker Halls & Clubs

Brabazone

Over the years I seen a couple of snooker clubs come and go in my town. In the last few months I have wanted to get back into snooker but there is just no place to play in my town.

When I was a teenager my friends and I would tip down to the local snooker hall and have a few pints and a frame or two of snooker. Always enjoyed it and a cheap night too.

I was wondering what people thought about that, the few pints and a game of snooker that is. Is this the reason for the demise of snooker and the snooker hall in Ireland. If people could have a drink while playing, would more people play?.

I go to the pub onces or twice a week for a game of pool but I also have my few pints. I think if I couldn't have my pint I prob wouldn't bother going, same as if I couldn't have my game of pool I would't go either.

I know the purists may view my opinions as sacrilegious but I read here on Boards every few weeks of another club or hall closing down. It doesn't look good for the game of snooker in Ireland to be honest. Do you think if snooker halls and clubs served alcohol it could in someway revive the interest we had back in the 80s.

Just today I was browsing on the internet and seen 5 more tables for sale due to another club closing down somewhere in Galway. I think its an absolute shame because, and I know I'm stating the obvious, but the less clubs the more inaccessible the sport becomes. When this happens we will have no young talent coming trough at all, and if you don't have young players your not going to have those same players in the future when they are the older generation.

Setun

Interesting thread, and I hope more people comment on it as I'd be interested to hear more opinions!

I have recently joined a snooker club in the Netherlands (where I live at the moment - I don't make the long commute from Ireland :P) which seems to be doing quite well for itself. The pool section is very busy, the snooker section less-so but still quite popular. They have a bar there that serves drink and some hot food - mainly snacks etc. Overall there's a good atmosphere, the tables (13 snooker, at least the same number of pool tables but probs more) are very well looked after, and off to one side they have a tv where you can sit around while you're waiting or a game if all the tables are busy. They run weekly pool and snooker competitions, regularly update their noticeboards, and offer an excellent (to the point of insane, imo!) membership rate of €6 per week for unlimited snooker and pool play. If you're playing with a non-member it's only €5 an hour.

To say the obvious - there has to be a demand amongst the public for a place like this to thrive. Secondly, they have to take advantage of this demand and give people a reason to come regularly by providing excellent facilities at a reasonable price. If the hall is really good, they could even stimulate demand and encourage more people to play. Unfortunately, it appears the demand has fallen in Ireland, which results in clubs closing down, which in turn means it's more difficult to stimulate demand - and so on.

Another point is to look at the demographic of snooker players - the last few times I've been down at the club, asians have outnumbered dutch players considerably - just another reminder of where the games future professionals will be coming from

vincenzolorenzo

I have to admit that i wouldn't really be in favour of drinking in snooker halls. I do enjoy a pint and a game of pool down the local but snooker is a more serious game really, more concentration required and more importantly table condition always deteriorates rapidly when drink is involved

Setun

vincenzolorenzo wrote: »

I have to admit that i wouldn't really be in favour of drinking in snooker halls. I do enjoy a pint and a game of pool down the local but snooker is a more serious game really, more concentration required and more importantly table condition always deteriorates rapidly when drink is involved

I agree to an extent - although the tables I've played on at my local club are probably the best I've ever played on. Very well looked after, no nicks in the baize, cloth brushed regularly etc, and there is also a serious atmosphere about the place. It is first and foremost a snooker club, secondly a bar. I think if it was marketed the other way around you would see much less respect for the facilities.

Spawell has a bar in it and that seems to do ok - then again any pub that happens to have a snooker table thrown in a corner somewhere will rarely look after it.

Oasis_Dublin

I don't think encouraging drink as the solution is a proper solution. Lord knows Irish people couldn't have a few games of snooker with pints before someone would drink too much and cues would be at the ready for whatever might ensue. Personally, drink and snooker has never sat well with me; I tend to shake more when I'm drinking, the opposite of what I assumed alcohol would do. This can persist into the next day, if the previous night has been very heavy.... maybe I should be talking to a doctor about this!

Setun

Yeah I certainly think that it would have to be a place where drink is sold, but drunkeness is most definitely not tolerated. It'd certainly be a tightrope you'd be walking if you didn't make that clear - I just keep getting images of somebody spilling a pint of Budweiser over the cloth. :eek:

zack01

I lived in the UK for five years around the late '80's early '90's and every club i visited had a bar, in fact i don't think there is a club in the UK that does'nt have a bar.My local club was in Ilford and between that club Romford and Barking was were the top amateurs at the time played,also pro's such as Davis, Mark King, Ken Doherty and a young Ronnie O' Sullivan all played there including many other great amateurs who sadly did'nt make it in the game.Having a bar in the club made it a great place to socialise for these guys and also for people to drop in have a pint and watch them play in the weekly pro-am competitions or as so often happened watch some big money games.Most of the clubs had kitchens that served food all day so seating with tables was normally situated well back from the snooker tables. Nearly always there was a card game going on as well, but i never once saw any hint of trouble, i never saw anyone drunk and playing snooker or voices raised bar the odd f**k it if a frame winning ball was missed!
As i said the bar was more a social part of the club and was well appreciated by the members.

For some reason Ireland and Dublin is a different story as with the licensing laws here, you did'nt see snooker clubs opening up with bars, it's vice versa and more like bars putting a few tables at the back or upstairs. For example The Four Provinces put several tables at the back of the premises after they first opened, it was run well and the punters enjoyed the idea of having a pint while playing,however the main bar was struggling, the nightclub up stairs closed down and soon after so did the pub, it's now a Superquinn.
Then there is the Racecourse Inn in Baldoyle, the snooker room above the bar this time, i
played there a few times and found it a nice club, i have heard that it's struggling lately hopefully they can stay open.
Then we have the Spawell,again tables upstairs over the main bar, it always was a great club and run well especially when Richie McAuley was at the helm, it closed for a while and has reopened again, i was in it recently and it seemed to be doing okay.
There is also the Golden Ball in Kilternan a local pub with i think four tables upstairs.
There are also many workmans type clubs like Wellington Quay and Inchicore that have a couple of tables and a bar, but one thing we dont have and that is a stand alone snooker club with its own bar.
I dont know why prehaps it's to do with the licensing laws here, maybe someone out there knows and can explain to us, then again look at all the clubs that have closed down over the years, would you take a chance and open a club with a bar in this climate?
I personally see no problem or issue with alcohol around snooker tables, as long as the premises is run and managed well, there should be no problems.

Paully D

I play an occasional game here in Ireland and when I'm back over in The UK and I have to say I much rather playing in The UK as I can have a few pints whilst playing.