In detail
A pool hall bookable by the hour, table by table.
In a pool hall tables are rented by the hour, and regulars always want the same one: the pool table by the window, the carom table at the back. If requests come in at the bar, by text and over the phone, sooner or later two pairs turn up for the same table. Here is how you keep everything in a single diary.
Pool, carom, snooker: every table is a space
Each table goes into the app as a space, with the name you use in the hall and a photo: pool players pick a pool table, carom players find the tables with pins. For each one you set the rental length, half an hour, one hour or two, and the link only shows the times when that table is free. You can run up to 12 tables in one account. If a cloth needs replacing or you want a table for a house competition, block the right hours and it stays off the link.
Packed evenings and the table that frees up
After nine every table is taken, in the afternoon far fewer. With price bands, up to three per table, you can charge more in the evening and at weekends, and whoever books sees the right rate before confirming; if your prices only live on the blackboard, keep them hidden online. When the good hours are gone, people who want to play join the waiting list for that slot. All it takes is one pair cancelling for an alert to reach whoever was waiting, if their notifications are on, and the table is busy again instead of sitting under its cover.
Opponents get the link
Whoever books a doubles match sends the others the link with “Share with who’s coming”: the message already holds table, day and time. Whoever opens it answers with their name, and the list only shows first names and initials, never phone numbers. If the booker says how many people are needed, the page flags when one is still missing. From the booking you see who is coming, and if someone asks you to join, you add them by hand.
Long frames and evenings that drag on
A carom game drags on, and the eleven o’clock pair stands waiting by the bar. Mark the delay on the table with one tap: whoever comes next finds the new time on their booking page and, with notifications on, an alert on their phone. You set the online cancellation window anywhere from zero to forty-eight hours; until you do, people can cancel whenever they want. Someone who books and never turns up gets marked as a no-show, and their next requests go through you before they are confirmed. Reminders reach, as notifications, the people who turned them on; everyone else gets a ready-made WhatsApp from the hall’s number. The bill is settled at the desk: the app never touches payments.
