bars vs pool hall billiards

original palmer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Problem is, wenever I go to a bar, regardless wich one. There are hustlers there trying to tell me how good I am and blah blah blah. Its annoying! Like nats or flys that keep swarming around my face.
When I'm at an actual pool hall, everyone tends to keep to themselves. I've never hd a hustler come bother me in a pool hall.

Difference is, the bar only costs 50 cent a game, while the pool hall is 5 dollars an hour per person.

I can simply ignore them, but it is quit annoying.
 
Depends on the bar for me. If it's a hole in the wall with few people and nice tables..I'm game..If it's some joint where a guy is sizing me up with a beer bottle in his hand..No thanks.

Also,5 bones an hour would be fine for me,if it's a nice table and not a bar box.To each their own,but I just don't care for em..
 
5 isnt so bad but 5 a person is pretty bad
2 people playing 10 an hour! Playing doubles? 20an hour!
 
Wow it must really suck haVe people constantly telling you how good you are. J/k;) I kinda know what you mean I think. I usually shoot at the bar but I find it really annoying how many drunks their are and of course everyones an expert hard ass after a few drinks.
 
Problem is, wenever I go to a bar, regardless wich one. There are hustlers there trying to tell me how good I am and blah blah blah. Its annoying! Like nats or flys that keep swarming around my face.
When I'm at an actual pool hall, everyone tends to keep to themselves. I've never hd a hustler come bother me in a pool hall.

Difference is, the bar only costs 50 cent a game, while the pool hall is 5 dollars an hour per person.

I can simply ignore them, but it is quit annoying.

Those are odd rates for the same area.

Locally it's between $3.00 and $4.00 per hour person with the exceptin of one place that's $9.00 an hour and can't figure out why nobody plays there.

Bar tables are almost universally $1.00 a game, with a few at $1.25 and $1.50.

LWW
 
Pool Rooms have changed over the years. If anyone else on here remembers like me, years ago, if you carried a cue into a pool room, you can bet you a** you were going to be asked to play. All our bar boxes around here are $1 a game, I don't mind getting asked to play, because I like my odds. But you are definitely right about the drunks, I won't even waste my time on them even when I know i will get the cash, they are just too much of a pain in the a**.
 
Wow...$1.25-$1.50 for a 7ft bar box?!!!!

Our local bar boxes are 8ft in length, and are no more than $.50 a game, and quite often, we local players will split the cost per game. The local American Legion is still @ $.25 a game, and it's one of the nicest tables in the area...excellent cloth and in great condition overall, with nice lively rails. The bar I play league out of keeps their equipment nice and replaces the cloth regularly, as does the bar across the alley. Beyond that, most of them locally are crap...ancient faded felt, some have balls so old, that the colors are almost faded away....dead rails.

We lost our local pool all a few years back...mostly because the owner was more into drugs than the pool hall, and couldn't seem to pay his rent for over 6 months! Shame too...the only place in the local area to find a 9 ft table.

Lisa
 
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.50 - $1 here but we don't really have any pool halls. the 2 closest to a pool hall have 8 bar boxes and both are serve alcohol. Not condemning Alcohol but to me that makes it a ball not a pool hall. (even the drunks don't tell me I'm good)
 
Where I live we have 29 Gold Crown in our Community Room, the cost is our Annual Dues, and that is to use many facilities beside the Pool Room. It is a Bargin, it is Clean, the Balls are Clean, and the Cloth is change out 1 time a year. BTW you can wonder down the hall for a Beer, or Meal at a reasonable price.
 
I don't get the point of your post. Hustlers go where the money is, regardless of whether it's a bar or a pool room. Bars usually have people who can't run three balls who think they are hustlers and know how to hustle. They don't. If there is any action in your local pool room, you can bet there are at least some low level hustlers there. I've never found bar room play appealing, even since I moved to South Carolina, where most of the play is in bars. Very few real pool rooms.

Edit: If you've never had a hustler hit on you in a pool room, you probably ain't been in one!
 
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Man all you US people are lucky with the condition of the places and variety
Here in Richmond BC theres really only one good pool hall with action and unfortunately its at the other end of the city from me! T_T!!!
 
I don't get the point of your post. Hustlers go where the money is, regardless of whether it's a bar or a pool room. Bars usually have people who can't run three balls who think they are hustlers and know how to hustle. They don't. If there is any action in your local pool room, you can bet there are at least some low level hustlers there. I've never found bar room play appealing, even since I moved to South Carolina, where most of the play is in bars. Very few real pool rooms.

Edit: If you've never had a hustler hit on you in a pool room, you probably ain't been in one!

Lol, well I've been in two different ones and havnt been hit on "yet"
 
I can't stand playing in bars because no one knows the actual rules. You try to take BIH in a game of 8-ball, and people look at you like you have 2 heads.
 
Malarky's

That's why I play at Malarkey's in Tacoma,its the best (or worst depending on point of view)of both worlds.They have the bar up front with 50cent valleys and plenty of GCs in the back.All types of people frequent the place:drunks;serious tourney players;gamblers;hustlers;nits;league players;marks;up-and-comers;former world champs;thieves;lock up artists-and of course the pool players too.
 
Difference is, the bar only costs 50 cent a game, while the pool hall is 5 dollars an hour per person.
snipped for brevity.

$5 an hour is cheap, last week I paid $13 an hour to practice by myself.

It was a Friday night but still. $5 is a deal. 10 games in an hour shouldn't be too difficult if it's 8 or 9 ball.
 
bars & drunks

Pool Rooms have changed over the years. If anyone else on here remembers like me, years ago, if you carried a cue into a pool room, you can bet you a** you were going to be asked to play. All our bar boxes around here are $1 a game, I don't mind getting asked to play, because I like my odds. But you are definitely right about the drunks, I won't even waste my time on them even when I know i will get the cash, they are just too much of a pain in the a**.

Unfortunately, bars attract alcoholics. The toughest thing is adjusting speed to filthy tables.
 
new names

i remember how the drunk after you beat him would tell you how good he use to be. its funny to think about some things, how names change over
time . when i first started playing pool , i don't think we had any pool halls
in town .early 70s we had a lot of beer joints . the late 70s we had a lounge ,80s bar & grill , mid 80s to 90s sports bars, now we have a few pubs in town. what is next? i like to remember the 70s when i hung out
with my friends at buddy & jacks beer joint bar box 25 cents a game.
we had a lot of fun would play for a cold draft beer in a frosted mug.
a whopping 35 cents . i would go in saturday morning about 11 :00
with a pile of money 12.00 dollars hang out & play pool all day .
allways had fun. i miss those days but it is good to think
about them from time to time . just my thought take care
johnqbs : anderson sc
 
I have two pool halls in my home town. One has four 7-foot Valley tables and a 9-foot Valley that they keep in pristine condition ... and oh by the way, they're FREE. Aside from those free tables, there are four other bar boxes that are $.50 per rack.

The other pool hall charges something like $6 an hour per person, and they wonder why they're not doing so hot.

I don't even bother shooting at the bars anymore, it gets way too expensive, and not many bars have ideal layouts for tables. They're always too close to a wall, a pillar, the DJ booth, the bathroom, the jukebox, the bar, or any other number of things congesting the room.

If you don't want to be hassled in the pool hall, put your headphones on and don't make eye contact with anyone. Just keep to yourself and ignore people.
 
That's why I play at Malarkey's in Tacoma,its the best (or worst depending on point of view)of both worlds.They have the bar up front with 50cent valleys and plenty of GCs in the back.All types of people frequent the place:drunks;serious tourney players;gamblers;hustlers;nits;league players;marks;up-and-comers;former world champs;thieves;lock up artists-and of course the pool players too.

LoL!!!

Lisa=====>absolutely 'gets' this...not much different up north of you!...whether bar or pool hall. :smile:
 
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