You normally go to a pub to drink and be merry with your friends.
But to say that pubs are only about the alcohol overlooks one important component of the place: the pool table. In fact, you could say that without a pool table, a pub really isn’t a pub.
After all, in-between glasses of Guinness, nothing spices up the evening more than a few rounds at the pool table with your mates.
But one problem with traditional pool tables is that you often need to fumble for loose change so that you can get the table to function. That sounds simple enough but when you’ve already had a few glasses worth of alcohol in you and it’s dark, that can be a very awkward task.
Fortunately, pool tables have also made it to the 21st century in the form of tap card payments. The new feature is being installed in pubs all across the UK and it’s a beautiful sight.
The one installed inside The Billesley in Kings Heath (just south of Birmingham) looks to cost £1($1.30) a pop.
One fan who saw it said: “It caught my eye as I’d never seen it before. It’s always the case you fancy a game of pool but have no change, so it’s a pretty genius idea really.”
It’s a wonderful application of modern technology and people couldn’t be happier.
One Twitter user replied saying: “Do you leave your card on the table to show others that you’re next on?”
One guy even claimed that he thought of the idea as far back as 2017 but is happy enough that it’s finally a reality.
A third person commented: “And you’re trackable.point 162 | Like pool? Sell their data to sports & betting apps, Sky, Bein, Paddy Power… they probably like a drink if they’re playing pool in a pub… sell it to brewers, distillers, deliveroo…whoever… ‘You want a loan? Your data says you like a drink and a bet…'”point 420 | 1
Others weren’t willing to go so far but were thrilled enough to start tagging their friends.
Either way, the future has arrived and has taken pool tables along with it.
Replaced!