Have you played Pool......in a foreign country?

I heard when you pocket a ball in Australia, it spins the opposite direction!!!
 
I have played in:
England
St Maarten (Dutch and French)
Belgium
Netherlands
France
Germany
Curacao


How was it?

Well the closer you are to the equater the stranger the balls roll because of the rotational velocity of the Earth...other than that, it was pool.


I did play in a Snooker club in England fairly regularly for almost a year. I used my Joss primarily. They thought that was funny, but I earned their respect on the table....




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I played pool in Panama City, Panama, in about 1967, at the YMCA in Balboa, a district of Panama City, where the American civilians who worked at the Canal lived. Balboa, a city within a city, was a beautiful place in those days because of the infusion of American dollars to the economy. They had the best of everything.
Since the US has given the Canal back to the Panamanians, Balboa has pretty much dissolved back into Panama City. :)
 
I've played pool in several countries...

I've played pool in Singapore, Hong Kong, Qatar, and Australia. It was fine in all places.

Jaden
 
336Robin said:
Have you played Pool in a foreign country? Where AND How was it?
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In the early 2000s I took a business trip to Sweden. Me and a few co-workers from a German office went out for dinner and I found a pool hall. There was a woman practicing there with a very fancy McDermott and a guy in a wheelchair that did an exhibition for some business types. I asked to see the cue and she said it belonged to the "world champion".

A week later I see this guy on TV, turns out he was the world champion for wheelchair pool LOL Don't remember much about the girl that was using the fancy cue, she was pretty but never got her name.

I don't remember much about the place aside from the fact I had to sign up as a member and that it was pretty crowded. Tables were good from my memory, Gold Crowns or close knock-offs. I also tried to find a place in England to play but seems pool halls are harder to find in London, a few people I asked just knew about private snooker clubs.
 
336Robin said:
Have you played Pool in a foreign country? Where AND How was it?
Click to expand...


Spain
Italy
Germany
Greece
Mexico

Well, actually in Greece it was billiards at a little seaside bar on the island of Paros. Took a few games to get used to the table but eventually I represented against the local champ. That one went well.

On the island of Majorca I walked into a no kidding snooker hall and started batting them around when the guy behind the counter asked if I wanted to play a few frames. I said sure and just a couple of shots after the break he starts rocketing balls in and running 70's and 80's. Turns out he was the former Irish national amateur champ. That one did not go so well.

Lou Figueroa
 
oh yeah...

I had forgotten about Italy and Mexico, I guess I didn't think about Mexico because I lived there for a year...

Jaden
 
336Robin said:
Have you played Pool in a foreign country? Where AND How was it?
Click to expand...

Pool in several areas in Germany and Switzerland
Billiards in Strasbourg, France
Snooker in Manchester, England

Playing any cue sport in any country is always going to be amazing.


Pool

One particular time in Germany (in the Black Forest) my work colleagues and I were walking in a small village when I heard the unmistakened sound of balls being broken. We walked into a bar, a small bar barely big enough to actually walk into it let alone stand. We asked about the billiard hall sounds, and the patrons pointed to a small door next to the bar. We walked through the door and found a huge room filled with 9' Balley tables and two 12' snooker tables. Almost every table was in use. Stepping into this pool hall was like stepping into some kind of portal. Tables played well, albeit with entirely too wide pockets.


Billiard

I was driving in Strasbourg when I spotted a teeny sign that said "billiard." I found the billiard hall in the middle of a farming village, and I went in to play. I speak limited French, and was able to rent a table. As with all billiard clubs, it was actually private, but they seemed to be okay with me playing.

With everyone watching me on the heated tables, I setup the break shot and promptly ran a four. That's right, a four. I got total respect from the patrons, and I stayed for hours. My final bill was 28 francs, at the time about $4 USD. I never ran two after that initial four.


Snooker

I was staying at palace-turned-Marriot in Manchester. Huge place, obviously, filled with medieval armor, drapes, and probably their own chain-slinging Hogwarts ghost. Just sort of searching the place out, with all its nooks, crannies, dungeons, and moving stairs, I walked into a hidden billiard room that had three 12' snooker tables. Nobody was in there (nor do I think anyone in the "hotel" realized this room existed), so I had my way with the tables for several hours.

he tables were MUCH easier than any snooker table I played on in the U.S.A., but the pockets weren't big or anything.


Freddie
 
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I was on a base in Viet Nam during the war.maybe '68 or '69 don't remember.
they held a straight pool tournament that i won.
i am an international champion ;)
The 2 tables were terrible. the high humidity made them play weird.
the cues had flat tips.i used a knife to carve one close to a nickel shape.
but i did get a small trophy that i still have.
 
I used to work in Montreal Canada and played a lot of pool in the bars.
When I was winning and the conversation changed from English to French I would slide out when they quit talking. Easier than an azz beating.
 
336Robin said:
Have you played Pool in a foreign country? Where AND How was it?
Click to expand...

Spent 20 years in the Navy so...;

In the early 90's I played in Japan. Mostly 9b, a version called Naha (capital city) 9 ball, the money balls were 3,5,7 for 1 point, and the 9 was worth 2 points, the side pockets were worth the double. It was a fun ring game, and it changed your patterns a little because you were always trying to cash in on the double value of the side pockets. You placed the cash (usually coins) on the rail after each score.

I also played in Bahrain. Nice conditions, but I only played against other military persons.

Played in Phuket Thailand. It was fun, but mostly played against Aus/European ex-pats. I hear that the leagues have taken off, and there are more pool halls there now.

Played a in Cyprus a little, nothing against the locals.

Also Singapore in the mid 2000's. Nice big palors, but the best ones were "members only." Strong players, but I couldn't stay long.

I also did tours in Hawaii and Guam, although they're not foreign countries, it was a little different.

Hawaii in the late 90's was awesome. Lots of action and stiff competition. Must have been $100k just in cue values on the floor at Hawaiian Brian's on the weekends.

Guam in the mid 2000's was nice. Buddies Billiards and Brew had 1 tournaments a year, Thanksgiving weekend. Not much action, and they still used Camel cloth on GC's. Mostly played 14.1 against a player who refused to play 9b. Got a Predator sneaky pete after a guy was stuck to me for $200.
 
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Australia - snooker, black ball
The Netherlands - 8 ball
Thailand - 8 ball
Italy - weird table, super tight pockets, and the ball went down a chute
New Zealand - well run place in Auckland

all very enjoyable.
 
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Spent the winter in Vietnam 13 years. Played billiards, snooker, and a lot of 8 & 9 ball. For many years most pool tables had pockets like snooker pockets , made it a little more challenging. You rarely get to rack yourself, wherever you are there are rack girls. And they always want to rack the balls on the second diamond,took a while to retrain them.
Every bar I've been to, pool is free. Pool rooms are around $1 or $2 per hour.
 
Everytime I go to the Dominican Republic to visit my dad I make sure to go to the local pool club to shoot some.

I do remember the first time I went there. They mainly play 8 ball on that side of the island and literally have never heard of anything else. When me and my dad played 9 ball they were wondering what the hell it was we were playing and when they decided to take a shot at it they laughed it off and went back to 8 ball. No joke, some of them asked if it was a kids game and again they were surprised to know it was the championship game in many parts of the world.

Like some have said, pool is pool wherever you go, but sometimes it's amazing that some places have still got a lot of learning to do.
 
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