I did this tourney I thought I was supposed to win, the first time I played I didn’t cash. I was really surprised, I thought I was one of the top players at the tourney, there were about 60 players. Second time I did that same tourney I tried really hard and was shocked I didn’t cash again. Couldn’t believe it.

This time before this tourney, after not cashing at 4 tourneys in a row, I had a really strange thought: “I think I might be delusional, am I one of those narcissistic players who think they’re better than they are?”. First time in my life I thought that.

I didn’t get in the side pots, felt like I had no talent, past my prime, then a buddy talked me into getting into sides last minute, so got in the side pots. Then proceeded to easily win the tourney. It was surprising how easily I won it. Never won a tourney that easily. Everyone I played ended up making a mistake at one point especially in the finals. Easiest win ever, I feel like I didn’t do anything, don’t recall a single tough shot the entire tourney. The shot clock got to me at one point and the ref made a bad call once, that was about it.

Felt weird when people clapped at the end for just a small or mid-sized tourney. Then the best part while driving home was this moment when I realized I wasn’t delusional. I probably was one of the top guys there, turns out. If all this sounds boring it might be one of those situations you had to be there to get it.

Hello everyone

For my project about the current state of pool in America, POOL - A Game on the Wire, I am researching the OLD Society Billiards not to be confused with the newer one in operation in NYC.

Supposedly there were multiple locations including one in NYC. I know there is a newer one now, but do you know anything about the one in the poster attached.

What I know: The room in the poster called Society Billiards was on 21st Street, opening in the late 1980s.

Apparently it was in a basement and competing with one of the most saturated pool markets in the country, with The Billiard Club running more than forty tables, Chelsea Billiards fielding fifty-four, and Mammoth Billiards and Pockets adding still more capacity within walking distance.

Society Billiards was eventually acquired by the Mammoth Corporation, which was consolidating pool rooms across the city at the time, and the space was renamed Broadway Billiards, its hourly rate dropped to Mammoth’s standard rate and its hours extended to run around the clock. Broadway Billiards itself closed for good in the late 2000s, ending more than two decades of continuous pool play at that address.

Anyone have any information?