New pool, billiards hall designed for league play opening this fall in eastern Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls pool players will soon have a new place to hit the cue. Rack City Billiards is a new pool and billiards hall located at 309 S. Bahnson Avenue, just off 10th Street.
Devinne and Kody Mertens, along with their friends Aaron Stoterau and Marc Phillips, are the four founders of Rack City Billiards.
Phillips has played at every pool hall in Sioux Falls for over 20 years, he said.
“The one thing I keep hearing is people saying, ‘It’d be nice to have a nice pool hall,’” Phillips said. “And that’s not a knock on anybody. There are other great places in town–we just want to try and give a different experience.”
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The pool hall will have six coin-operated tables and 13 high quality tables that rent by the hour rather than by the game, and there will be room for about 100 players.
The construction of the high quality pool tables makes for a more difficult and higher level of play, said Phillips. There are certain nuances players have to be aware of.
For that reason, he added, Rack City will be a great place to hold tournaments, especially for the more serious players.
Already, Rack City Billiards has three local leagues lined up to run out of their space.
“Most pool halls are not designed for league play. It's mostly the average person playing against their buddy or two,” Phillips said. “There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, but our pool hall in particular is catered more towards league play, which is a very important part of Sioux Falls.”
Still, anyone can play, he said, even those under 21. Phillips said they plan to host a junior tournament at some point in the future.
The 8,000 square-foot space will also include a bar as well as a casino in a separate area with its own entrance.
“The truth is, it’s tough to run a pool hall and thrive. It’s very expensive, and just pool by itself doesn’t typically allow you that,” Phillips said. “But for us, it’s a pool hall first and a bar second.”
Beer and wine will be served at the bar, and potentially cocktails. Rack City was lucky in getting a liquor license in July, Philips said, and they’re currently in the process of getting the funds for it.
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Rack City will serve typical bar food like pizza, chicken strips, wings and possibly burgers with their commercial-grade convection oven.
Opening day was originally meant to be in mid-September, but the owners just learned they need one more permit from the city, which is going to push their opening back a few weeks.
Rack City Billiards will likely open in late October with hours from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. every day.
People can find updates on league play and the opening date on the Rack City Facebook page.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Rack City Billiards pool hall opening in Sioux Falls this fall
