Every now and again we get a call from a customer asking why their coupon code isn't working.  In pretty much every case, we have to give them the bad news that the coupon code they have isn't a valid code after which, the customer asks why they've finding that code listed on coupon sites. So here's the skinny on coupon codes and coupon code websites.  There are literally thousands of websites that list coupon code and in most cases, they are reliant on their visitors to tell them if the code is valid or not.  Some of the codes are valid, but most are either expired or never existed in the first place.  Most of these websites aren't trying to overtly trick you.  What often happens is that they see the code on another coupon site, scrape it and add it to their own site without bothering to check the validity. Because there's no way for us to police this (as there are too many sites and there's no good way for us to get site owners to take down bogus or expired codes), I figured I'd list out a few key points to help you all sift through the coupon mess:

1. PoolDawg almost never offers "% off" discount codes.  There are some exceptions to this rule (as we typically do something special for Black Friday and sometimes let our player reps promote a % off code), but generally speaking, if you find a code that says off your order, you can safely assume that its bogus.  Some of the known bogus codes floating around are PDAWG, PDAWG10, PD10 and 10OFF.  None of these work, nor will they ever work.
2. If you see a code that says something along the lines of "xx% off orders of $yy or more", just skip it.  I personally do all the coupon codes and have not ever ran this style of offer.  If I worked for Eddie Bauer or J. Crew it would be a different story, but we don't get the margins that the folks in the clothing business do.
3. For the most part, any coupon codes we do have will be distributed via our email list.  Sometimes we also put them in our automated emails as well, so your best chance of getting a coupon code is by signing up to our email list (you can find the sign upin the lower right hand corner of our website).
4. You don't need a coupon code to take advantage of our standard special offers (free shipping @ $99+, free gifts with most pool cues, 20% off MSRP for most pool cues, etc)
5. If you have a question, you can always call us.  Just don't be mad at us if the coupon code you have isn't a real code.  Be mad at whoever gave you that code. 

In all seriousness, the vast majority of the coupons we do are along the lines of "spend $xx and get a free tchotchke with the PoolDawg logo on it".  For example, if you enter the code "comeonback" and your order is $25 or more, we'll send you a free PoolDawg coin holder (seriously, we will.  This is a real coupon code that doesn't expire until the end of 2011). Ok, that's all for now.  Hopefully this demystifies the coupon codes a bit.