When Mary Ann Starkey walked into a southern California pool room and saw gorgeous Diamond tables, she wished she had known about the room years ago. The room was located a mere 15 minutes from her house and had a great atmosphere. It was during that time that Mary Ann and Ramin Bakhtiari, her boyfriend and fellow pool player, had begun building an app designed for pool players. But it wasn't until she saw that room that she knew what direction to go with the app and the start-up company. Mary Ann thought, "There should be an app that tells you where to find a pool room or bar that has pool tables. It should tell you what you'll find when you get there, and allow the rooms themselves to promote the events they hold. Whether it’s tournaments or leagues or even things that have nothing to do with pool, like their menu or other kinds of games or entertainment." The task of building GoPlayPool had begun.
Mary Ann and Ramin knew all along that they did not want to charge the players or users of the app to find the information they would provide. They always knew they wouldn't charge anyone to download the app. They decided that offering pool rooms an affordable way to promote their business was the best way to go, along with giving pool players a source to find more pool rooms and more tournaments. That is why they decided to give pool rooms a monthly membership. The membership is free for the first 30 days, and after the free trial, it's only $19.95 a month. With the membership they create detailed profiles of what their room offers its patrons. Everything from what types of pool tables they have to what nights their tournaments are. They can include their food and drink menus, and list all of their other amenities. If they host darts tournaments on Tuesday nights and ladies nights on Wednesday, they can put that in their profile. While Mary Ann and Ramin's focus has always been on pool, they knew that pool rooms would benefit from being able to promote all of the other aspects of their room.
It was a long road, filled with sleepless nights and spending hours doing research. But after nearly a year, the GoPlayPool App was ready to launch and on September 17, 2012 the app became available in both The App Store and Google Play. To say that Ramin and Mary Ann were proud would be a vast understatement. The long road that stretched out in front of them would require hard work. In order for the pool rooms to have a reason to become a member, they needed to get people to start using the app. So, they spent the next year promoting it like crazy. Social media, press releases, articles and advertising with pool magazines and news sources, live stream advertising, even driving hundreds of miles to various tournaments just to hit another area and introduce the app to players and rooms.
The support of already established companies and the players and fans of the game has been incredible. Mary Ann said, “With September 17th marking 2 years since we launched the app, it’s great to see how far we’ve come. Looking back now, I think we've always had tremendous support from within the industry. People see what we're trying to do and they are more than happy to support a resource that just keeps growing and expanding. I think the direction we chose couldn't have worked out any better. We've given pool halls an opportunity to advertise and promote their room for an amazingly low rate. And unlike advertising in the newspaper, people will keep coming back to the GoPlayPool App. We're constantly adding new features and keeping the content fresh, so people always have a reason to come back. Users will always know when new members sign up and be able to see the member profiles." Along with the great cost of the membership, pool rooms will also receive a physical package when they sign up. It contains thousands of dollars’ worth of free sample merchandise, vouchers and discounts from companies within and outside of the pool & billiards industry.
Since the GoPlayPool App launched, it has undergone a lot of changes. As more time goes by, it becomes even more user-friendly and has thousands of hours of engaging content. Recently, they added a section called "GoPlayPool 101" which features hundreds of videos, drills and instructional material from some of the best instructors in the United States. Other sections like Flyers, a Calendar of World Events from AZ Billiards, and of course the phone and map directories of pool rooms all across the U.S. will keep users coming back for more, giving pool rooms every reason to sign up.
The GoPlayPool Team has also expanded their endeavors by reaching out to the community. After learning that a few different players had come down with various illnesses, Ramin and Mary Ann wanted to help. So they created the “Pool Together” site, as an extension of GoPlayPool. If players in need have a benefit tournament or charity, they can post it on the Pool Together site to reach more people and hopefully get more donations. Since taking on the venture, Ramin and Mary Ann have been a part of various fundraisers which have raised over $50,000.00 for players in need, or the families they have left behind. You can learn more and donate to the listed causes by visiting pooltogether.goplaypool.com.
If you're a player or fan of the game, you can download the free GoPlayPool App for iOS and Android devices. It's also available on Windows and Blackberry devices. Much of the information is also available in a mobile and web format. For more information, please visit www.goplaypool.com.
For all other inquiries, feel free to get in touch with the GoPlayPool App team at info@goplaypool.com
