There are nine of us.
Does this work?
Usually, yes. The thing that decides it is how many tables you take, not how many people you bring.
2 tables, 2 hours — $80, or $14 each.
At $20 an hour per table. Four works — doubles, or winner stays on.
Book the tablesHow many fit at a table
- Heyball
- Two. A frame takes long enough that a third person is watching, not waiting.
- Pool
- Four, comfortably. Doubles, or winner stays on. Six starts to drag.
- Mixed
- A pool table and a Heyball table side by side handles six to eight better than two of either.
The room has Heyball tables down one side and pool beside them, so a group of eight taking two pool tables is an ordinary Tuesday rather than a takeover.
What to think about
- Ask about drinks. What is served changes, and for some groups it settles the plan either way. Better asked on the phone than discovered at the counter.
- Evenings after six are busiest. Two tables next to each other is a much bigger ask at eight on a Friday than at four on a Wednesday.
- Book ahead for a group. Two tables side by side is easy to arrange in advance and hard to find on the night. Book online or ring 0493 045 249; either way the table is held for fifteen minutes past the start.
- Agree how you are paying first. Table time is charged per table, not per person, so somebody has to be the one who settles it at the counter.
- The counter does food. Tea, coffee, cold drinks and hot food, enough to keep a table going for an evening without anyone leaving to eat.
Mixed abilities
The usual problem with a group night is that one person has played a lot and everybody else has not. Two things fix it. Put the experienced player on the Heyball table with whoever wants to learn, and run everyone else on pool with winner-stays-on, which keeps people moving instead of sitting out. Or play pool doubles, where a weaker player is carried by the format rather than exposed by it.