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How to price billiard tables per hour: a worked example in UZS
How to price billiard tables per hour: cost per table-hour, occupancy, day and night rates, VIP tables, prepaid time, minimum billing and price increases.
Price your billiard tables from your own numbers, not from the club down the street: what one table-hour costs you, and how many hours a day your tables are actually in play. That gives you the floor. The ceiling is set by local prices, the quality of your hall and your guests. Below: a worked example in UZS, day and night rates, VIP tables, prepaid sessions, and how to raise prices.
What one table-hour costs you
Start with the club's fixed monthly costs, the ones you pay whether a table is busy or empty.
For example, a 6-table club open 14 hours a day, from 12:00 to 02:00:
| Cost | Per month, UZS |
|---|---|
| Rent | 18,000,000 |
| Electricity: lamps, AC, bar | 3,600,000 |
| Salaries: administrators, cleaner | 12,000,000 |
| Wear: cloth, cue tips, chalk, balls | 1,200,000 |
| Internet, advertising, software, other | 3,000,000 |
| Total | 37,800,000 |
These numbers only illustrate the method; use your own. Cloth and cue tips are replaced every few months, so spread their cost across months. You can add payback on the tables and renovation as a separate line. Taxes are a separate calculation, best done with a tax adviser. If your club isn't open yet, the full list of cost categories is in how to open a billiard club.
Table-hours available per month: 6 tables × 14 hours × 30 days = 2,520. So one table-hour costs 37,800,000 ÷ 2,520 = 15,000 UZS. That money goes out every hour, even when the table stands empty.
Occupancy: an empty table still costs money
Tables are never busy all day: quiet in the afternoon, full in the evening. So check your price against the hours you sell, not the hours you're open.
The same example at 70,000 UZS per hour, depending on how many hours a day each table is in play on average:
| Each table busy per day | Table-hours sold per month | Break-even price | Revenue | Left after costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 hours | 720 | 52,500 | 50,400,000 | 12,600,000 |
| 5 hours | 900 | 42,000 | 63,000,000 | 25,200,000 |
| 6 hours | 1,080 | 35,000 | 75,600,000 | 37,800,000 |
The break-even price is the hourly rate that exactly covers costs: 37,800,000 divided by the hours sold. Two things follow.
First, when occupancy drops, the break-even price shoots up. In a hall where each table is busy 4 hours a day, a 50,000 UZS rate loses money; at 6 hours the same rate is profitable.
Second, one extra hour of play per table per day adds 180 table-hours a month (6 × 30), which is 12,600,000 UZS at 70,000. Costs barely move, apart from a little electricity. Compare: raising the price by 10,000 UZS at 5 hours of occupancy brings in 9,000,000 UZS a month (900 × 10,000), and only if no guests are lost. Filling empty hours can be worth more than a price rise.
How to measure and track occupancy is covered in the key numbers to watch in a club. You need the start and end time of every session on record, which is close to impossible with a notebook.
Day and night rates
In the afternoon tables sit empty while rent and wages keep running. A lower day rate helps fill those hours: students, people with flexible schedules, players who come to practise. The evening rate stays for peak demand.
For example: 12:00–18:00 at 50,000 UZS per hour, after 18:00 at 70,000. As long as a day game brings in more than the extra electricity and wear, it beats an empty table. Just make sure your average rate over the month doesn't fall below break-even.
A session that crosses the boundary is charged at both rates. Take a game from 17:30 to 18:30: half an hour at 50,000 is 25,000, half an hour at 70,000 is 35,000, total 60,000 UZS. ClubTime lets you set prices by time of day and bills such sessions exactly this way, so the administrator doesn't recalculate by hand. Choosing the boundary hours is covered in day and night tariffs.
VIP tables and prepaid sessions
VIP tables
VIP means a separate room or a dedicated corner, better tables and cues, a sofa, a TV, service at the table. The price should be clearly higher, for example 100,000 UZS instead of 70,000. Two conditions apply. The difference must be obvious, so guests see what they pay extra for. And it shouldn't sit empty while the rest of the hall is full. If it is always empty, the price or the service is wrong.
You can price pyramid and pool tables differently the same way. ClubTime groups tables into types (VIP, for example), each with its own price. You can also rent out a premium cue for an extra fee: in ClubTime, equipment rental is added to the session bill and the shift report.
Prepaid time or amount
Some guests walk in saying "one hour" or "35,000 worth". At the evening rate, 35,000 UZS is exactly half an hour. Prepayment works for both sides: guests know their spend in advance, and the club is protected from unpaid time, especially at night and with new faces.
ClubTime has three timer types: open (no limit), fixed time and fixed amount. The app gives a warning before time runs out, so the administrator can offer an extension or get the table ready for the next guests.
Per minute, rounding and minimum time
This is a policy decision, not a technical one, and the owner makes it. The main options:
- Per minute. The clearest and fairest: at 70,000 UZS an hour, a minute costs about 1,167 UZS.
- Rounding, say to 5 or 10 minutes. Simpler to count, but if you always round up, guests notice.
- Minimum time, say 30 minutes. Even a short game needs the table set up, and in the evening it takes a slot from another guest.
Whatever you choose, follow three rules: write it on the price list, apply it to everyone the same way, and don't let staff "forgive" or "add" minutes at their own discretion.
Communicating and raising prices
Telling guests the price
- Price list at the entrance and the till: hourly rate, day/evening boundary, VIP, minimum time, cue rental.
- Show the half-hour price too, so guests can do the maths faster.
- Your social media and map listings show the same prices, with no outdated ones left behind.
- Give a receipt at the end: start and end time, amount. A clear receipt prevents arguments. ClubTime receipts include a detailed breakdown and a QR code. On Android they print to a Bluetooth thermal printer, on Windows and Mac to any system printer; receipts can't be printed from an iPhone.
When and how to raise prices
It's time to raise prices if:
- in the evening guests wait for a table or leave because none is free;
- rent, electricity or wages went up and the break-even price is getting close to your current rate;
- you've upgraded the hall: new cloth, new tables, air conditioning.
How to do it:
- Raise the evening rate first and keep the day rate, so you don't lose the quiet hours.
- Take small steps, for example from 70,000 to 80,000, with no sudden jumps.
- Announce it two weeks ahead, in the hall and on social media.
- For 3–4 weeks afterwards, watch revenue and the number of sessions by day and by table. ClubTime reports are broken down by day, table and shift, so you can compare the weeks before and after.
In short
- Cost per table-hour = fixed monthly costs ÷ (tables × opening hours × days).
- Check your price against hours sold: as occupancy falls, the break-even price climbs fast.
- A cheaper day rate fills empty hours; VIP tables and prepaid sessions add revenue and control.
- Rounding and minimum time are your call: write the rule down and apply it to everyone.
- Raise prices in small steps and watch the reports in the following weeks.
Try ClubTime free for 15 days. Time-of-day pricing, VIP table types and prepaid timers come with every plan, and the plan itself depends only on the number of tables: see pricing.