Name a pool hall you wish was still open today
- Thread starter fast&loose designs
- Start date
Six pockets in Decatur Alabama.
I know the thread is for closed rooms but, six pockets should qualify as a closed room since it is nowadays nothing more than a place to drink that happens to have pool tables.
Very sad.
When it first opened there was action for all, no matter what your name was, you could find a game.
Nowadays, you have to meet the following criteria to find action there:
Be no better than little above average..... around a 7 or so....
Be willing to play front-runners that quit if they lose the first set even for $20 sets.....
Be willing to play on toy tables only...... unless you give up nuts....still for cheap...
I've been there about a dozen times and have left "up" every single time but it was like pulling teeth to get a game.
I'm nothing more than a banger that is a wannabe player. Just imagine how hard it would be to get level action if I was a good or even great player.
Bumpers in Birmingham Alabama is just as bad.
I know, I know.... I should be glad their open in general but, to me.... it's no better than being closed.
Player's want to play.....rail birds want to watch. Well, neither can accomplish either one.
Sorry if this was to far off topic. Couldn't help myself. As a matter of fact, it was all I could do to not mention names and elaborate on situations.
Rake
I know the thread is for closed rooms but, six pockets should qualify as a closed room since it is nowadays nothing more than a place to drink that happens to have pool tables.
Very sad.
When it first opened there was action for all, no matter what your name was, you could find a game.
Nowadays, you have to meet the following criteria to find action there:
Be no better than little above average..... around a 7 or so....
Be willing to play front-runners that quit if they lose the first set even for $20 sets.....
Be willing to play on toy tables only...... unless you give up nuts....still for cheap...
I've been there about a dozen times and have left "up" every single time but it was like pulling teeth to get a game.
I'm nothing more than a banger that is a wannabe player. Just imagine how hard it would be to get level action if I was a good or even great player.
Bumpers in Birmingham Alabama is just as bad.
I know, I know.... I should be glad their open in general but, to me.... it's no better than being closed.
Player's want to play.....rail birds want to watch. Well, neither can accomplish either one.
Sorry if this was to far off topic. Couldn't help myself. As a matter of fact, it was all I could do to not mention names and elaborate on situations.
Rake
too many to name
In Baton Rouge, Shopper's Pool Hall. Maybe where Lambert started out. It was a rat hole even in the seventies but the managers and then the new owner made it great. Some snooker tables when the super eights got boring too.
Greenway, once a hub of the pool world. A young Keith came through there and Buddy Hall was a common sight. Parica was around too. Lambert put on some big tournaments here drawing the best in the US which meant the best in the world back then.
The Sports Palace and Racketeers in New Orleans/Metairie. The Sports Palace was legendary but I didn't know the score there, tiptoed in and out. Racketeers was almost dead when I went there but the sight of a couple acres of nine footers was awesome! They started a pool tournament for bangers every hour on the hour. Never knew how many tables were in there, Hump is still around to tell us.
An old pool hall in Port Allen, forgot the name. Ten footers and clay balls. The pool cues felt like the big end of a baseball bat in your hands and you needed them to move the balls around on the deep wet cloth. You had to know the balls to play your best so each table had it's own set of balls.
Tee-Negs on Bayou Lafouche, the longest street in the world. Last I knew a bar or pool hall was still there but Tee-Neg is long gone and the name changed, I didn't stop to see if there were any tables.
So many other places with not even the buildings left. Pass by and sometimes only a lonely sign in the weeds. I started to make a trip just photographing signs but it seemed too grim.
Hu
In Baton Rouge, Shopper's Pool Hall. Maybe where Lambert started out. It was a rat hole even in the seventies but the managers and then the new owner made it great. Some snooker tables when the super eights got boring too.
Greenway, once a hub of the pool world. A young Keith came through there and Buddy Hall was a common sight. Parica was around too. Lambert put on some big tournaments here drawing the best in the US which meant the best in the world back then.
The Sports Palace and Racketeers in New Orleans/Metairie. The Sports Palace was legendary but I didn't know the score there, tiptoed in and out. Racketeers was almost dead when I went there but the sight of a couple acres of nine footers was awesome! They started a pool tournament for bangers every hour on the hour. Never knew how many tables were in there, Hump is still around to tell us.
An old pool hall in Port Allen, forgot the name. Ten footers and clay balls. The pool cues felt like the big end of a baseball bat in your hands and you needed them to move the balls around on the deep wet cloth. You had to know the balls to play your best so each table had it's own set of balls.
Tee-Negs on Bayou Lafouche, the longest street in the world. Last I knew a bar or pool hall was still there but Tee-Neg is long gone and the name changed, I didn't stop to see if there were any tables.
So many other places with not even the buildings left. Pass by and sometimes only a lonely sign in the weeds. I started to make a trip just photographing signs but it seemed too grim.
Hu
I'm sure it's been mentioned before in this thread - Hi-Cue Billiards in Elizabeth, NJ. I saw Mizerak and Hopkins playing a multi session race to 1000 exhibition / challenge 14.1 match there over 40 years ago, in their exhibition room in the back. The main room had probably 20+ Gold Crown tables - always kept in excellent condition.
Three local to me:
Eric's from the good old days in Austin Texas....The Grand is ok but it is not the same.
Side Pocket in Austin Texas. It was kind of run down but I liked to play there some.
Slick Willie's on South Lamar in Austin Texas. The one on Burnet Road is ok but I always preferred the one on South Lamar best. I spent way to much time there as regular regular!
Eric's from the good old days in Austin Texas....The Grand is ok but it is not the same.
Side Pocket in Austin Texas. It was kind of run down but I liked to play there some.
Slick Willie's on South Lamar in Austin Texas. The one on Burnet Road is ok but I always preferred the one on South Lamar best. I spent way to much time there as regular regular!
I was at Bensingers in the mid 70’s. It was in a basement full of 5x10’s. I think this must been the hooker/junkie/pimp joint. The man in the cage stuck us in a back corner away from the serious old timers.
There were a bunch of old tables disassembled in the back. It was a musty place. I wish I had my camera back then.
That basement location WAS the east side of Broadway. Shortly after your visit (?) it moved across the street/upstairs. Before it had finally closed for good, most all the tables had badly torn cloth!
coalcracker
Registered
Campus Billiards -Scranton
Gip's Cue - Scranton
Gip's Cue - Scranton
knifemakermike
Registered
Golden Cue, Melbourne FL
I don't know if many people know about the Golden Cue in Melbourne but that is the quintessential classic pool hall. The guys that were behind the bar Al & Jimmy where the best dudes ever. I started going there when I was 13 and used my weekly allowance to play in the sunday night tournament. So many great memories..... Everytime I go back to Florida I end up driving by where it used to be and feeling very sad.
I don't know if many people know about the Golden Cue in Melbourne but that is the quintessential classic pool hall. The guys that were behind the bar Al & Jimmy where the best dudes ever. I started going there when I was 13 and used my weekly allowance to play in the sunday night tournament. So many great memories..... Everytime I go back to Florida I end up driving by where it used to be and feeling very sad.
CJs Billiards Dallas Texas enough said
knifemakermike
Registered
That place is gone? I used to live in SoCal and would always play there. Do you know what happened to Buddy? I still have my lifetime free pool card from Buddy lol.
Racky BallBoa
Registered
Cochrans in SF - first place I went to upon returning from Vietnam around 1971
McGirrs - NY - below street level - approached by guys wearing trench coats, fedora hats, and a toothpick dangling from the corner of their mouth
Guys and Dolls - NY - above street level, 2nd or 3rd floor I think, a guy there was persistent about playing for $100 a game.
Golden Cue - Queens - the place to go to watch skilled players
Hi Cue - Elizabeth, NJ - saw Ray Martin run 125 balls on the exhibition table there around 1970
Jimmys - Orlando, FL - saw a young, ambitious, Dennis Hatch, trying to get the "Miz" to play for money - early 1990s
McGirrs - NY - below street level - approached by guys wearing trench coats, fedora hats, and a toothpick dangling from the corner of their mouth
Guys and Dolls - NY - above street level, 2nd or 3rd floor I think, a guy there was persistent about playing for $100 a game.
Golden Cue - Queens - the place to go to watch skilled players
Hi Cue - Elizabeth, NJ - saw Ray Martin run 125 balls on the exhibition table there around 1970
Jimmys - Orlando, FL - saw a young, ambitious, Dennis Hatch, trying to get the "Miz" to play for money - early 1990s
tobermory2
Registered
Billy has stopped playing anywhere anyone I know has seen him play for many years now. Working, family, the lord, and a bit of golf to keep him in action.
Starchers Akron Ohio.
Agreed! loved going to that place, go check out Earl Strickland vs Jack HInes Ohio State Open 1988 on Youtube, Part 7....Jack is going to win his first major tournament, puts Earl in jail with the safety on the 7 ball and Jacks on the hill about to be left with ball in hand and a 3 ball out.
Not so fast....
Agreed! loved going to that place, go check out Earl Strickland vs Jack HInes Ohio State Open 1988 on Youtube, Part 7....Jack is going to win his first major tournament, puts Earl in jail with the safety on the 7 ball and Jacks on the hill about to be left with ball in hand and a 3 ball out.
Not so fast....
Pharo's ~ Bessemer, Alabama
