I'll be in Columbus next week, where is this action at? Just so I can avoid the better players LOL
Advice for road player
- Thread starter Catalin
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I'll be in Columbus next week, where is this action at? Just so I can avoid the better players LOL
Where is gypsysoul? He should be all over this. Jtompilot?
Didn’t mean to quote
Your right about Houston, more Pool Halls then another city in the country and you can always make a 3 hour trip north to Dallas. South to Corpus Christi, North West to San Antonio or Austin.., there was action at three of the four Pool Halls in Kileen TX near Austin or you can travel east to Louisiana and gamble every day. So if he makes it to Texas he wont be lonely.
This.
phreaticus
Well-known member
Funny, bars & poolhalls are actually the places I don’t feel any need to bother with ccw. In 99.9% of scenarios, one is much better off just being a friendly/fun/straightup gambler, buying a few rounds, and find someone to smoke a doob with, he’ll have great safe fun. I doubt he’ll be walking out of most places with more $$ than he walked in with anyway
Now that, is how it's doneFunny, bars & poolhalls are actually the places I don’t feel any need to bother with ccw. In 99.9% of scenarios, one is much better off just being a friendly/fun/straightup gambler, buying a few rounds, and find someone to smoke a doob with, he’ll have great safe fun. I doubt he’ll be walking out of most places with more $$ than he walked in with anyway
Hire a big Samoan to hold the money.A friend of mine from Europe is planning to travel in the US 3 months playing pool. He's a young guy who has improved a lot in the last 2-3 years and he's a decent money player but not a hustler.
Do you have any advice for him, best places, tactics etc.
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The gambling side of pool is ruthless. They will eat him alive.
I would add that something he should know, if he doesn't have a lot of one pocket experience as is often the case with Europeans, is that knowledge plays an over-sized role in one pocket compared to most other games. Knowledgeable one pocket players that he would crush in 9 ball will often be able to crush him in one pocket. It will be very easy for him to underestimate at first just how much better of a player (physical skills wise) he will have to be to come out on top playing one pocket with a knowledgeable player.
phreaticus
Well-known member
One other bit of pragmatic advice; an AZB forum search for "poolhall in" will turn up lots of threads with at least some basic steering info on good spots in various cities, etc. Sounds like so much fun, if I were a single dude, my dog and I would be in an RV doing the same!
Don’t let anyone take his picture. And “don’t miss”A friend of mine from Europe is planning to travel in the US 3 months playing pool. He's a young guy who has improved a lot in the last 2-3 years and he's a decent money player but not a hustler.
Do you have any advice for him, best places, tactics etc.
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That was the best advice ever back in the day.
Best of luck to him
Fatboy
Well, I don't know where you live now or where you are from originally. From what I see of so- called pool rooms down here in Fl. since I moved here is that most of them are bars, where selling booze, and lots of it, is the primary goal. Just look through a few Facebook pages of these "pool halls" in Fl. - all they advertise is the booze special of the night- how many 2 for 1 drinks you can get on a given night.Funny, bars & poolhalls are actually the places I don’t feel any need to bother with ccw. In 99.9% of scenarios, one is much better off just being a friendly/fun/straightup gambler, buying a few rounds, and find someone to smoke a doob with, he’ll have great safe fun. I doubt he’ll be walking out of most places with more $$ than he walked in with anyway
The combo of what heavy booze attracts and the thought of some guy with a British accent or whatever walking into one of these places to gamble at night is a recipe for disaster. The crews that I see in these so called pool rooms hardly represent a foreign visitor welcoming committee.
Just ask the relatives back in Europe of those slaughtered near the Miami airport area during the " bump the rental car" and rob scandals, or the naive and lost Germans who stopped to ask directions at night near some of our major airports and lost everything they came here with and more. Ask the woman who planned a NYC vacation herself from Europe and arrived in NYC at an " affordable" hotel- only to end up raped and robbed by a homeless guy lurking near her " affordable" HOTEL IN THE OUTSKIRTS OF mid town NYC.
I hope that he has a great pool visit here, but not being cautious is a recipe for disaster. The guy was asking for advice- smoking dope with strangers in bars where you are gambling hardly seems like sensible advice to me. It only takes one time- just one- remember that.
phreaticus
Well-known member
I'm originally from east coast as a kid, but have traveled/lived extensively in Asia/EU for decades and have resided most of my adult life in CA/WA. I've been traveling to FL for almost 25 years to cave dive and last few years, since playing pool again have been to several medium/small towns in central/north FL playing pool. Gambling & socially smoking dope with strangers in bars and poolhalls is IMO part of the USA pool experience and was a mighty fine way to navigate Covid lockdowns
BTW, no one is telling the dude to not be safe - and I'm all for CCW/2A, but true ninja skills are situational awareness & social skills, and maybe a small but powerful LED flashlight (most practical/preferred weapon for all locations/scenarios). I'm thinking that anyone adventurous and well heeled enough to bounce from EU to US to bum around & play pool is plenty switched on enough to sort it out without safety lectures. To me you sound like a bit of a nervous nellie who watches too much CNN/Fox, but given that you're posting from FL, I'm guessing it's a generational/right-coast thing. And all the accent is going to do is make him a chick magnet, well that might cause some conflicts, but also part of the game!
Oh yeah, we all forgot the best and mandatory advice. Playing Off the Rail is required reading, pre trip.
Peace and love
In the last year or so, just off the top of my head, Dennis Orcollo, Jeff DeLuna, Mika Immonen, Anthony Meglino, Justin Hall, and CJ Wiley have been through our “bar”.
Yup, they serve food and drink, because you can’t pay the bills on table time alone these days. But that’s what keeps good equipment maintained and that keeps good players coming back.
Plenty of action, big or little, for those who want it…
Correct-agree 100%- AND I see a lot of places here in Fl. where NOTHING, in terms of pool equipment is properly maintained and there is NO balance at all between pool and booze - I see THAT way more than I see what you describe.In the last year or so, just off the top of my head, Dennis Orcollo, Jeff DeLuna, Mika Immonen, Anthony Meglino, Justin Hall, and CJ Wiley have been through our “bar”.
Yup, they serve food and drink, because you can’t pay the bills on table time alone these days. But that’s what keeps good equipment maintained and that keeps good players coming back.
Plenty of action, big or little, for those who want it…
POtR was written over 20 years ago.
Since then a huge percentage of pool rooms in this country have gone bust and the scene is no longer the same. What’s left is unlikely to support a road trip and it’s not just the cost of gas. Eating and lodging costs nowadays will quickly whittle away your bankroll. Then there’s the issue of everyone having a camera and computer in their pocket and being able to ask friends in other cities if they recognize a player or do research on them. It’s difficult to be anonymous and keep your speed unknown.
Traveling around he needs to know how to handle himself to get games. Talent alone won’t get it and if it is easy to tell he’s a foreigner that will also make it tougher. He needs to take his time, start small, and try and work his way up the food chain in any city he lands. That’s the best advice I can offer.
Lou Figueroa
Since then a huge percentage of pool rooms in this country have gone bust and the scene is no longer the same. What’s left is unlikely to support a road trip and it’s not just the cost of gas. Eating and lodging costs nowadays will quickly whittle away your bankroll. Then there’s the issue of everyone having a camera and computer in their pocket and being able to ask friends in other cities if they recognize a player or do research on them. It’s difficult to be anonymous and keep your speed unknown.
Traveling around he needs to know how to handle himself to get games. Talent alone won’t get it and if it is easy to tell he’s a foreigner that will also make it tougher. He needs to take his time, start small, and try and work his way up the food chain in any city he lands. That’s the best advice I can offer.
Lou Figueroa
From just outside NYC, don't watch much CNN/Fox, maybe generational- I'm 68, Not nervous, just like being aware and not being stupid, not taking right or left political sides- basing everything on fact; not a safety lecture, just hopefully some caring advice that was asked for by the OP, so I think we are all on the same page here- HAVE FUN, ENJOY the experience, but seek out some trusted companionship , and heed the advice of those who have been there - stay aware and be prepared.I'm originally from east coast as a kid, but have traveled/lived extensively in Asia/EU for decades and have resided most of my adult life in CA/WA. I've been traveling to FL for almost 25 years to cave dive and last few years, since playing pool again have been to several medium/small towns in central/north FL playing pool. Gambling & socially smoking dope with strangers in bars and poolhalls is IMO part of the USA pool experience and was a mighty fine way to navigate Covid lockdowns
BTW, no one is telling the dude to not be safe - and I'm all for CCW/2A, but true ninja skills are situational awareness & social skills, and maybe a small but powerful LED flashlight (most practical/preferred weapon for all locations/scenarios). I'm thinking that anyone adventurous and well heeled enough to bounce from EU to US to bum around & play pool is plenty switched on enough to sort it out without safety lectures. To me you sound like a bit of a nervous nellie who watches too much CNN/Fox, but given that you're posting from FL, I'm guessing it's a generational/right-coast thing. And all the accent is going to do is make him a chick magnet, well that might cause some conflicts, but also part of the game!
Oh yeah, we all forgot the best and mandatory advice. Playing Off the Rail is required reading, pre trip.
Peace and love
i lived in miami during those times
the tourists made a wrong turn going to the airport and ended up where no one in their right mind would go without "protection"
just sayin
it was so obvious that they changed many signs around the airport so it was less confusing