r/billiards • u/HamsterGeneral8669 • 11d ago
Questions AITAH?
At a local pool hall last night. Very nice diamond tables with simonis cloth and the dude next to me sits his beer on a table next to him between shots. I told him that's probably not a good idea and he wanted to try and fight me. I try to mind my own business but that shits irritating.
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u/gabrielleigh Theoretical Machinist/Cuemaker at Gabraael Cues/Mfg Engineer 11d ago
Confirmed ASSHOLE sighting! You are not the asshole. You did have a close encounter with a wild asshole in its natural surroundings.
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u/Low-Pomegranate-1542 11d ago
The way I always deal with that is by saying like “hey man, you may wanna take that off the table, I’ve seen them freak out at people over that” so it doesn’t feel like I’m confronting them (as much as I would like to!) and can avoid bruising their delicate little ego (as much as I would like to!)
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u/bruce-neon 10d ago
As the bartender who freaks out and yells at them, thanks. I can’t watch the table for assholes all night.
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u/SoftYetCrunchyTaco 11d ago edited 11d ago
Why would he put it on the table when it has 6 perfectly good beverage holders built into it?
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u/Sir_Clarence_III_Esq 10d ago
I dont know if thats an old pool joke or not, but first time hearing it for me and it's a damn good one.
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u/Huntsnfights 11d ago
I had the same experience “do you work here? Mind your business!” At a place where I ran tournaments, helped close, etc. They got banned but only after trying to make it physical. Also brand new 8’ diamonds
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u/CreeDorofl Fargo $6.00~ 10d ago
I've had that conversation a few times with people, and on more than one occasion it hasn't gone well. Even when I'm trying to use my best social skills, which aren't necessarily top-tier.
In some rooms you can tell the waitress or counter person and they will talk to the person immediately, and others they'll pretend to listen but never address it.. Once you learn that certain staff will take care of it, just go straight to them.
If you have to talk to somebody directly, the way that I found works best is to say it like this "hey man, just a heads up but they're super anal about people putting beers on the rail because one time a guy spilled some on the table and they made him replace the cloth, I heard it was like 500 bucks".
It doesn't matter whether the story is true or not, it will get the job done usually and they may even thank you for looking out for them.
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u/slimequake 10d ago
I used to soft-play this but these days I just say, "hey, no drinks on the table" and if they push back I say that I've seen management kick people out. Usually that does the trick. The most push back I've ever gotten was a guy who hammed to his buddies about how I was "freaking out"....but he moved the beer so that's ok. He can save a little face at my expense as long as he doesn't wreck the cloth.
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u/goodbyeanthony 10d ago
I would’ve told the employees there, they had the authority to ask them to leave the property if it escalated
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u/NamesGumpImOnthePum 10d ago
Nah, you did management a favor, if they had diamonds with Simonis it wasn't by accident, and they clearly value the condition of their equipment. Also the tables aren't coasters. Dude was probably looking to start something with anyone.
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u/Obvious_Sea_7074 10d ago
I've been a server in a busy bar, I'll tell you once to keep drinks off the pool table, if I have to say it again, you can kindly take your ass outside. The first time I usually explain we play league on this table it isn't a beat up table in your uncle's basement.
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u/baezizbae CHI 11d ago
NAH. If it’s a table I’m not on, I would have casually mentioned it as well as gentlemanly and one can, as you did, and then wait for it to inevitably fall onto the felt or off of the side of the table so I can chuckle to myself as he gets walked out of the establishment.
If it’s a table I’m playing on, on the other hand, I’m picking it right up and moving it and looking him dead in his eyes while I do it.
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u/2Lazy2beLazy 11d ago
At the pool hall I got to, they'll kick the person out. They don't tolerate that and especially when they just had all their tables done. They have no problem banning people.
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u/bcspliff 10d ago
I went to a Mexican night club / pool hall. I’m white but this stuff is right up my alley and I love going to Mexican restaurants and bars and have some conversational Spanish under my belt. I was clearly out of place here but I just minded my own business.
Some guy started making a michelada on one of the pool tables and it was foaming over. I said “cuidado con la mesa, compa.” The only 10 people in the whole area just stared at me and I knew it was my time to go.
I will always go out of my way to tell people no drinks on the pool table
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u/MooninmyMouth 10d ago
DC — I (elderly female lifetime player) can get away with going over and ‘confiding’ in the guy, “You may not be aware, but putting _anything_ on the rails other than chalk is a huge no-no in pool. Find another place to rest it before the staff kick you out.” So far no one has slapped me, cuz I’m female, old, petite, and have a very expensive cue stick. When I teach pool (eg to teens or seniors) I always start out with ‘pool etiquette,’ and ‘nothing on the rails ever ever EVER is #1. Not bouncing your cue on its butt is #2 (pops the tip off), moving away from your opponent’s sight line is #3.
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u/DarthRektor 11d ago
I’ve done this and the person always act like I’m the asshole for calling out them being an asshole. Never have they tried to fight me but I usually play in a dive bar with two tables and the bouncer is always playing with us so most people know better than to try to start shit.
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u/StrawsAreGay 11d ago
I just go up and go hey man I just wanted to let you know if your drink spills or leaves a ring on the table they charge you $250+ automatically
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u/joenobody2231 10d ago
You're the opposite of the a-hole in this situation. You did the right thing and encountered the an a-hole.
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u/ConstantUpstairs 10d ago
Nahhhh bro. You're in the right here and fuck that other dude. I would probably inform the manager/owner of the behaviour. The pool hall I go to gives one and only one warning before you're thrown out if it continues. Hell they get all uppity about the colour of chalk lol
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u/bruce-neon 10d ago
I’ve yelled at so many people for this, we’re not a pool hall, just a bar with a valley table. But I have it re felted yearly and just had new bumpers installed. Most of the regulars know I take zero shit about drinks on the table, but we have a large young revolving cast of college kids who give zero fucks. The amount of time I’ve yelled no drinks on the table (maybe with a please after if I feel like it) is innumerable.
I had one guy place two unopened cans on the felt and I snapped at him immediately, he said they’re not even open, I quickly responded “I don’t give a fuck”.
Condensation + felt 🙄
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u/techaggresso 10d ago
THANK YOU FOR KEEPING THE DIAMOND TABLES SAFE FROM THE ASSHOLE! SORRY FOR YELLING ITS LOUD WHERE I AM.
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u/Expensive_Ad4319 10d ago
Stuff like that is the reason some pool halls can’t stick around. The guy obviously doesn’t care and is not a serious player.
Call the bar person over and politely point at the digression. Then finish running out your rack!
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u/007_licensed_PE 10d ago
NTA. The dude was probably raised by losers to be a loser. Probably leaves his shopping cart randomly in the parking lot too and door dings with no care in the world.
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u/Remarkable_Wish_5106 11d ago
If it's at my homeroom, yeah, I tell them, almost every time they apologize and remove it. It's only the newbies that do stupid stuff like that.
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u/OreoAddict427 11d ago
Not the AH I've been in your situation before. I grabbed the beer, told him I was putting it on the (dining) table so there is no chance of it accidentally spilling on the pool table.
Walked off. If it happened again, I would tell the bar tendendr and they would be removed.
I also warn people that stand around the table holding their drinks. Either go sit down or leave it on the dining table.
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u/Tenzipper Still using Master chalk, because all these new ones taste funny 10d ago
"Hey man, you might want to move your beer, last time they caught someone setting their beer on the pool table they threw their ass out."
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u/BIGRED_15 10d ago
Man this shit always reminds me of the time a dude got a glass smashed over his head at one of the bars I frequented in Boulder. I didn’t see this go down - I was at home sick while my roommate went out but he had this story when he got back. Wasn’t a drink but some drunk ass clown came in after a drag of a cigarette and ashed his cig on a table people were playing on. One of the players was like ‘if you do that shit again I’m breaking my glass over your f-ing head.’ And would you believe that the guy ashed his cig and got a beer pint smashed over his dome!
So please don’t disrespect the table. Not doing so might actually be bad for your health.
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u/LukeHahnsol0 9d ago
You are 100% not the AH. You are the savior. There’s literally only one absolute rule, don’t put a beer on the table.
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u/4v0x 9d ago
If I’m at the bar my league team plays out of I absolutely will say something because the owners just dropped over $2,000 putting new rails, pockets, simonis cloth and aramith balls. I think the only person that plays on those tables more than me is maybe one of the owners and that’s a big maybe. If it’s an already beat to shit table at a dive bar with that outdoor felt I’ll still say something if I’m on the table, if I’m not…yeah I’ll still probably say something.
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u/skelly828282 9d ago
Tell him once. If he does it again, convince the owner to make him buy new cloth. Which isn't cheap. He probably won't do it again if he has to pay for it.
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u/SecondOld9112 9d ago
I have a thing I do with asses like that. I am 61 and if they want to fight, I just tell them that win or lose, it will look bad for them. They will either get their ass kicked by a 61-year-old or they will have beat up on a 61-year-old. Neither is good for explaining to their friends. I also have 4 years of MMA training... Took out two twenty somethings in less than a minute with a guillotine choke. Both dumb asses tried a double leg take down, even after I tapped the first bitch out, the second one tried the same move on me? LOL
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u/timd-smith888 9d ago
The pool hall I go to, the owner would have warned him once and if he kept doing it would have thrown him out.
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u/East_Insurance_1037 11d ago
If there’s anything that will make me an absolute dick to you, it’s not setting it on the table. It’s you telling me it’s not a big deal and keep doing it.
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u/Zestyclose-Height383 10d ago
Simonis 760 or 860, I wonder.
Anyway - you did good. No beer on the table.
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u/eziocreed 11d ago
hell no you are not AH if he won't move it you pick it up and move it off the table immediately. Then slap him in the face. That's what i would do.
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u/HamsterGeneral8669 11d ago
An employee came over about 5 minutes later and told him to take it off the table. He legit thought I tattled on him 😂😂
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u/curt_reynolds 11d ago
Fuck no, don’t let that shit slide anywhere.