An AzB-er let me know about this thread. Just read it this morning and felt compelled to chime in, though hesitantly, to add a few factoids.
There are two Jack and Jill pool rooms. One was in Arlington, VA owned by Weenie Beenie, and the other one was located in Glen Burnie, Maryland, which later -- not sure when -- two separate "Jack and Jill's."
I was a young girl when Jack and Jill's pool room in Arlington, VA was in full swing. When I was about 12, my girlfriend and I got the nerve to enter the front door of Jack and Jill's in Arlington, VA. It was dark, smokey, and all men. We left quickly, as it felt uncomfortable to us as 12-year-olds.
I was very familiar with Weenie Beenie's hot dog stands, which at that time were located all throughout Northern Virginia. In fact, there still remains one Weenie Beenie hot dog stand in Arlington, Virginia, and it receives high reviews by the patrons who go there today --->
Weenie Beenie's Sandwich Shop.
Jack and Jill's in Glen Burnie, MD (aka Bill and Billie's) was where the action was in Maryland for as long as I can remember, though the good action did not start until after midnight when all the bars closed. Everyone would drive to Glen Burnie, MD in a convoy to get in on the action. Every table was going, usually from the likes of Geese (of course), Bus Driver Ronnie, Newports (father and son, though the son was kicked out at midnight and had to wait outside), Boggs brothers (Scottie and Freddy), Timmy Crown and Stuey, Quick Vic and Bobby Hawk, Sterling, Reggie, Buck, Fat Wayne, Piano Man, White Max, and I'm sure I'm missing quite a few at the time of this writing.
Jack and Jill's in Glen Burnie back in the day had its own soda fountain with home-made delicacies. I remember being fond of the tuna fish sandwiches and fresh apple pie. They always had a pot of fresh coffee going. During the day, a group of regulars, mostly old-timers, would congregate at the soda fountain until noon, studying the Racing Form, and then off they went to Pimlico or Laurel, wherever the horses were running live. Hi, ho, Pimlico!
Jack and Jill's in Glen Burnie, MD was not as well known as the Jack and Jill's in Arlington, VA, but make no mistake about it, it was probably one of Maryland's top action pool rooms, bar none. And I've been to all of them. :grin-square:
If you hadn't even been to Jack and Jill's in Glen Burnie, MD, you'd never know it was there. It was located in the back of a warehouse district strip, kind of similar to the location of Drexeline Billiard Club in Drexel Hill, PA, for those who have been there. Not much signage. Jack and Jill's in Glen Burnie, MD, much like the one before its time in Arlington, was on every road player's TripTik. Word of mouth among the road agents spread fast that this was *the* place to get in action, and there was action galore in the '80s.
Like most pool spots in America, the pool rooms in Maryland because to decline in popularity beginning in the '90s and early 2000s. Though the movie "The Color of Money" did keep pool alive and well for many pool enthusiasts, giving pool a so-called "boon," the pool room owners couldn't turn a profit due to high rents, smoking bans, and lack of interest in playing pool.
I have several thoughts as to why pool took a nosedive in America in the '90s,but that's not what this thread is about. I myself took a hiatus from pool, much like I do from this forum from time to time, but my hiatus from pool was to work on my career.
After being away from pool for a couple decades, I was plunged back into it after meeting Keith, much to my surprise. I had been out of the pool circuit for a long while, but I had remembered Jack and Jill's in Glen Burnie, MD, which was named Bill and Billie's, so I took Keith there, hoping he'd get played. With the advent of the Internet, cell phones, and communications technology in general, the entire action pool-playing population of Maryland was well aware of Keith's presence before we even stepped foot in the door.
I remember Danny Green walked up to Keith and mentioned that he, too, was in the book "Playing Off the Rail," as if it was some kind of bond the two of them shared. :grin:
Then Danny pulled me off to the side, alone, and gave me a gentle warning about Keith McCready, as he knew Las Vegas Keith, the one who had a different lady on each arm every time Danny saw him. Scotty Boggs, before he moved to Vegas, also advised me to be careful with Keith McCready, a man who gambled high stakes. These were just friends looking out for me, and I am fortunate that the Keith McCready I ended up with is a man with a good heart who has brought me much joy in my life.:smiling-heart:
My, how times have changed for pool. Yes, there's still action, but these action-by-appointment challenge matches just don't seem to have the same excitement, at least for me. Pool rooms like Jack and Jill's in Arlington, VA and Glen Burnie, MD are now mere memories, good memories. Thanks for the thread.