Used Olhausen Pool Table, Pool Cue & Fitness Equipment: A Venue Owner's FAQ

I run a 14,000-square-foot entertainment venue in Ohio. Since 2017, I've set up and replaced equipment for bars, family entertainment centers, and one hotel. I've also made a lot of mistakes—maybe 19 significant ones, maybe 21, I'd have to count the spreadsheet. Wasted budget? Somewhere north of $18,000. This FAQ is my attempt to save you from repeating them.

You might be wondering why pool tables and fitness equipment are in the same article. In my world, they usually aren't. But nearly every venue owner I talk to eventually asks about both: a used Olhausen table for the game room and some kind of exercise gear for the staff or themselves. This is the list I wish someone had handed me before I started buying.

Here's what this FAQ covers:

• Is a used Olhausen pool table a good deal or a money pit?
• Does an Olhausen pool cue really matter?
• Can a stationary bike for weight loss actually work?
• What dumbbell leg workout should you do without machines?
• What is leg press, and do I actually need it?
• Should you buy a stationary bike or a leg press first?

1. Is a used Olhausen pool table a good deal or a money pit?

If you're looking at an Olhausen pool table used at a bar or in a game room, both is the honest answer. In 2021, I bought a used Olhausen at auction for $1,300. The photos looked clean. The cabinet had no obvious scratches. I skipped the "extra" step of testing the table before the sale—I didn't think that was something you do with used pool tables.

It wasn't good. The cloth was worn through near the pockets, and the rails sounded dead. I paid $1,850 to get it re-felted and re-cushioned, which put my total at $3,150. A comparable new table from Olhausen would've been close to that, depending on the model. The upside was saving $1,200. The risk was paying nearly full price for a used table. I have a hard time admitting I did that twice.

"The rails have a life span too," a local table mechanic told me after the first re-felt. "You're buying the playfield, not the wood."

Olhausen's Accu-Fast cushion system is why even a 10-year-old table can still be worth saving—it's a well-known part of their build, and you'll see it in the product literature. The trick is checking whether the table still has that system in good condition. Here's the list I use now:

• Roll a ball from the head spot to the foot spot. If it drifts, something is off with the bed or frame.
• Push your hand against the cushions. They should feel firm and spring back, not squishy.
• Ask about the slate. If the table has been moved more than a couple of times, factor in a slate inspection before you buy.

Based on auction results I collected in the Midwest in 2024, used Olhausen tables ranged from about $900 for a rough 7-foot home model to $4,200 for a well-maintained 9-foot from a closing sports bar. That's a small sample—15 used tables—so your area might look different. (Should mention: the best used Olhausen I found came from a couple who barely played it. The worst came from a bar that let people put drinks on the rails.)

Looking back, I should have paid a local table mechanic $150 to inspect the 2021 table. At the time, it seemed like overkill. It wasn't.

2. Does an Olhausen pool cue really matter?

For a home game room? Not as much as people think. For a venue where customers are paying by the hour? It matters more than you'd expect.

I bought cheap cues in bulk for the first two years. They warped. Tips popped off. By the end of a season, I'd replaced maybe 30 cues. The smarter move was buying a set of Olhausen pool cues and keeping them behind the counter. Not every cue needs to be a premium cue. But having 8-10 straight cues with good tips changed how players treated the tables.

The difference isn't magic. A decent cue gives you a consistent tip and a straight shaft. An Olhausen pool cue, in my experience, gives you both without a high learning curve.

One mistake: I bought four fancy custom cues and put them in a wall rack. Nothing was bolted down. All four disappeared within a month. Lesson: if you run a venue, buy good house cues, but keep the showpieces in the behind-the-counter case. That's been my experience with paid-play tables, and it probably won't apply if you're just doing a man cave.

3. Can a stationary bike for weight loss actually work?

Yes, if you actually ride it. The best stationary bike for weight loss isn't the one with a screen or a subscription; it's the one you don't dread sitting on. I'm not a fitness professional—I'm just someone who has bought too many machines that looked great and got ignored.

What was standard advice in 2020—just do cardio—doesn't match how I see it in 2025. A bike helps, but I found better results when I added strength work. For weight loss, a stationary bike works when you make it a simple habit: 20-30 minutes at a pace where you can talk but not sing, four or five days a week. The machine doesn't need a lot of features. It needs to work and to be easy to get on.

In 2022, I put a magnetic-resistance stationary bike in the venue's break room. It cost $450, and it ran fine. The problem was my assumption that staff would use it just because it was there. Nobody did. We sold it and kept a rowing machine that one employee actually requested.

If you're buying for a home, start with a basic model. If you're buying for commercial space, place it where people can actually see it, or it becomes a coat rack.

4. What dumbbell leg workout can I do without machines?

Plenty. If you have one pair of dumbbells, you can work every major leg muscle. This is the routine I've been doing for two years, usually before the venue opens:

1. Goblet squats: 3 sets of 10.
2. Dumbbell Romanian deadlifts: 3 sets of 10.
3. Reverse lunges: 3 sets of 8 per side.
4. Standing calf raises: 3 sets of 15.

Start with a weight that feels too light. I once used 45-pound dumbbells for goblet squats before my form was solid. My knees were fine, but my lower back wasn't. Focus on keeping your chest up and your knees tracking over your toes.

A dumbbell leg workout like this won't build massive quads. It will build enough leg strength for someone who stands all day, and it takes up almost no floor space. That's exactly why I still do it even though I've owned bigger machines.

5. What is leg press, and do I actually need it?

A leg press is a machine exercise where you sit on a backrest and push a weighted platform away from you with your feet. It targets the quads, hamstrings, and glutes, and it lets you move heavy loads without needing much balance.

I owned a leg press in a staff gym for one year. It took up about 30 square feet. Most staff used it twice, then went back to the treadmill. We sold it for 60% of what we paid. If you're asking what is leg press good for, the honest answer is: it's useful for people who need lumbar support or who can't hold balance for a squat. For a typical home gym, I'd rather do a dumbbell leg workout and keep the space.

I'm not saying leg presses are bad. They're not. But I should have measured the floor space before I bought it. I didn't. That's another $1,100 mistake in my "don't do this" file.

6. Should you buy a stationary bike or a leg press first?

Not the order people expect. If you're setting up a small home gym or a staff room, I'd buy a dumbbell set before either one. A dumbbell leg workout covers squats, deadlifts, and lunges. Then, if you still want a stationary bike for weight loss, buy a simple bike. Leg press comes last, and only if you actually have space.

A leg press does one thing well, but it's a big, expensive thing. The bike is easier to justify. In my venue, the dumbbells got used daily. The bike got used weekly. The leg press got used twice. That tells you what the priority should be.