A few years ago a French pool table operator gave an interview in which he admitted the rewards to table operators in France were usually based on the shares principle with the operator getting at least about 40 per cent of the table takings. In the UK, site owners expect to pay no more than an average of around £12 per week rental with shares only being evident if the operator's share were likely to be less than the average rental.

The AFEBAS championships are based on a rather complicated system of ranking; but the proof of the system is shown by the popularity of the tournaments and the number of players who want to be involved. Furthermore the association's finals, according to the tournament organiser Vincent Noel, receive good sponsorship with those held in May listing SLF, Simply Pool Ltd., Cue Craft, Aramith and Hainsworth as the main sponsors.

Simply Pool provided the 64 tables required for the event with Hainsworth Smart cloth used to cover them. The fact that British tables and cloth were used would appear to indicate that there could be a healthy market both in France and elsewhere for table manufacturers who have found the current difficulties in the UK  being experienced by pubs tend to stifle sales there. As this column has often said, pool is the victim of economic circumstances in the industry for which it is not to blame.   

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