Chalk etiquette?

Ask the houseman/woman. Their place, their property. The might not mind or will let you know.

I have a friend who insists on using gray chalk on my tourn blue. Drives me nucking futs. He likes to use the gray to keep his shaft cleaner. In other words, he cares about his shaft, but not my table. I say conform to house owner's wishes or find a table with cloth of your chalk color. Be respectful.

I do mind. Putting several hours in every week to ensure my tables are as clean and true rolling as possible, it's very irritating to come in to see the tables with white, grey, red, tan chalk marks all over them. I also don't like people lagging the object balls around getting them all chalked up after I just polished them for the 3rd. time that week. Then again, I'm anal. Brian.

nj82tj said:

That's pretty much what I thought but I wanted to ask. I would not let someone chalk differently on my tan. I appreciate other people's property as I would want them to appreciate mine.

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Simply ask where you play. I play in room where it's ok.
However our community clubhouse has 4 tables with tournament blue. I use tan chalk and it does piss one of the players off.

Only thing I don't like when it comes to chalk is when people leave chalk on the table, period!!!
I hate that....lol

Besides I've also seen it when people leave their chalk cube in "inconspicuous places" but are actually marking their bank shots.

I wish APA and BCA and EVERY other organization that hosts pool games
would adopt a rule that says no chalk on the table at any time, not even while you're shooting.

Look at snooker players. Most of them put the chalk in their pocket when they're done using it.
I usually have a chalk holder in my pocket. I like it more anyway than dancing all over the table looking for a cube.

9Ballr said:

Only thing I don't like when it comes to chalk is when people leave chalk on the table, period!!!
I hate that....lol

Besides I've also seen it when people leave their chalk cube in "inconspicuous places" but are actually marking their bank shots.

I wish APA and BCA and EVERY other organization that hosts pool games
would adopt a rule that says no chalk on the table at any time, not even while you're shooting.

Look at snooker players. Most of them put the chalk in their pocket when they're done using it.
I usually have a chalk holder in my pocket. I like it more anyway than dancing all over the table looking for a cube.

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I agree totally. It will always end up getting knocked into a pocket and then I get a call that the chalk is jammed up in the ball return at 12AM. Not cool. Brian.

a1712 said:

I agree totally. It will always end up getting knocked into a pocket and then I get a call that the chalk is jammed up in the ball return at 12AM. Not cool. Brian.

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I was playing 1pocket last week. Could not understand why I was behind. 2 of my balls were stuck in the subway because a chalk fell into the pocket.

nj82tj said:

I'm guilty of leaving my cube on the rail when I shoot. I don't use it to mark shots though. I also don't like anything on my person when I shoot. No phone, wallet, keys or change in my pockets. I have to take my watch off too if I'm wearing one.

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That's funny....lol....I'm EXACTLY the same way.
I have to take off my watch, wallet, change, phone......lol

Then I see Shane Van Boening and Jason Shaw and others play with these huge watches and sometimes even wrapped over their glove and it's so funny and looks weird.

…I think so, that it does matter; cleaning and redressing the tip between colors should
be done regardless of who the table owner is, I usually point it out with new visitors.
I make these caulkers, they have a 80 grit scuffer on down side, handy way to clean up
and change colors, I keep a green and blue in the case

.

At the room i usually play at it takes less than an hour to have the palm of my bridge hand turn completely black, I don't think they clean the tables more than twice a year, so i play with whatever color chalk i feel like.

nj82tj said:

My table has tan cloth so I use tan chalk. When I step out to a hall with different color cloth I usually use their chalk. I assume pool halls wouldn't like tan chalk on their blue, green or whatever color tables. Am I right about that or doesn't it really matter?

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reverse the question. would you mind if I used dark blue chalk on your table? of course they mind.

Maybe it's just my own experience but I have never played anywhere where you can't use any chalk or color you prefer.
That's what table brushes and vacuums are for. Cheap, inferior chalk is a nuisance and makes a mess with chalk debris.

But even some expensive chalks can create issues, like Kamui's chalk's paste that I find on tables from prior players.
It kind of goes with the territory of operating a pool room. You have to maintain the tables regularly, i.e., daily, for cleanliness.

I have a pet peeve with players leaving their chalk on the rails upside down. The rails get so darn dirty and also your hands. .
Take a damp cloth sometime and rub the rails on the pool tables at your local parlor. I wipe down the rails every time.
The dirt that is removed is absolutely shocking and keep in mind that the rails collect less dirt than the table cloth itself.

Color matching the table only leads to camouflaged chalk on the table which is much worse than being able to see it if you ask me.

If you clean your table often the color does not matter, unless you are OCD in that. If you don't clean it often, then I think you need to see the crap spread out on your felt there so you know to get it in order.

I also have a pet peeve of people that place the chalk upside down on the rail.

if your chalking right shouldn't really be leaving anything expecpt for the chalk residue on the CB....the greys pretty neutra imop no worse than people with hand chalk thats for sure, i just find the grey in masters and silver cup kind of dry for some reason....feels more gritty than the blue...but lets not derail on that subject lol

unless your trying to save money, tournament green and blue are the only colors a table should come in.....theres been studies done that show that the green is the best on the eyes long run....

i've seen the reds and it drives me nuts....there used to be a local spot that was just a bar witha 8ft that had black felt with the jack daniels logo on it lol....was terrible but at least you couldn't see the booze stains on it in the dim lighting....wasn't really for play, mostly atmosphere i guess.

Chalk Tools

Blue cloth Valleys where I play during the week. Blue masters chalk provided. Tables get allot of league and general play and owner changes out cloth regularly and we keep them up best we regulars can.

There is a guy that comes in from time to time with 'his' black Silver Cup and leaves his black crap all over cue ball and table. I can tell what table he has been playing from the night before by all the black leftovers and I clean it up.

All of us who play loathe the black dots all over the cue ball and black dust, debris on our blue cloth. It gets smeared into and stains cloth. One night he comes over and drops his quarters on the 8' table we play allot on ( there are three 7 sevens and one 8' footer) I tell him he is not welcome to play if he insists on using his 'special' black chalk it leaves black all over the cue ball and table. He thinks I am joking. I am not.

His turn to rack later on and out comes the black chalk. As soon as he leaves it on the rail after his dry break I snatch it and put it in my pocket. Once he notices it's gone he throws a fit 'wheres my chalk' I told him in the garbage but welcome to play with any of the 2-3 cubes of blue masters on the rail but opts to put his cue away and storms off like a little girl. He almost cried. Haven't seen him for sometime.

I am a very reasonable and respectful sportsmen. HOwever, I think it's rude and inconsiderate to deface balls and tables with dark colored ( Black, Red, Dk Brown) non-matching chalk on any table.

Have a good week,

-Kat,

9Ballr said:

Only thing I don't like when it comes to chalk is when people leave chalk on the table, period!!!
I hate that....lol

Besides I've also seen it when people leave their chalk cube in "inconspicuous places" but are actually marking their bank shots.

I wish APA and BCA and EVERY other organization that hosts pool games
would adopt a rule that says no chalk on the table at any time, not even while you're shooting.

Look at snooker players. Most of them put the chalk in their pocket when they're done using it.
I usually have a chalk holder in my pocket. I like it more anyway than dancing all over the table looking for a cube.

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Chalk cubes on the rails has been done since the beginning. No problem for all the greats.
I would ask the owner about the color for sure.