For a brewery taproom
Pool and games nights for a brewery taproom
Taprooms often close early, serve no food, and have a crowd that came for the beer rather than the game.
| Tables | 1–2 |
|---|---|
| Usual buy-in | Free, or $5 |
| Best night | Thursday |
The problem
A two-hour tournament does not fit between a 5pm open and a 9pm close, and half the room has never held a cue.
A plan that works here
- Run it free, with a prize from the bar — a growler, a tab, merchandise. A taproom crowd will join a free thing far more readily than they will pay $5 for one.
- Two lives, not three, if you are closing at nine. Twenty people at two lives is about forty minutes.
- Pick a format that does not punish beginners: golf pool or scotch doubles both work better here than straight three strikes.
- Start it at a fixed time and announce it from the bar. Nobody in a taproom is watching a poster.
What actually matters in this room
Free tier
A taproom running a free, informal night has no budget for software and should not need one.
Fast setup
Names in, start, done. The night is decided on the evening, not planned a week out.
The TV display
Taprooms are usually bright, open rooms where a propped phone is not visible. A screen helps more here than in a dark bar.
A run sheet you can steal
Sized for 1–2 and a Free, or $5 buy-in on Thursday. Shift the clock to suit your own closing time; the gaps between the rows are what matter.
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| T−30 | Sign-ups open. Names down, money in. Nothing starts until the pot is complete. |
| T−5 | Entries close. Say the pot out loud. State the three rules that cause arguments: scratch, slop, and the free break. |
| T | Draw the order in front of everyone, then break. |
| T+45 | Roughly half the field has a strike or two. This is when the room is fullest. |
| T+90 | Down to the last few. Put a shot clock on if it is dragging. |
| End | Pay out in front of people, and announce the next one before anybody leaves. |
The verdict
Best treated as a social event with a winner rather than a tournament. Keep it free, keep it short, and let the prize come from the taps.
If three strikes is not right for this room
It usually is, because it is the only common format that does not care how many people turn up. But if your crowd is small or very mixed, scotch doubles pairs strong players with beginners, and golf pool needs no pool knowledge at all. The full ranking is here.