Was pool better 50 years ago?

Taxi said:
Funny, you just mentioned one of my first sports heroes, Neil Johnston. Since Washington didn't then have an NBA team and my mom was from Philly, I attached myself to the Warriors in a year where they went something like 12 and 57. But IIRC Johnston still led the league in scoring.

One night a year or so later, the Warriors came to Washington for an exhibition game, and afterwards I nervously handed Neil Johnston a self-addressed postcard. A few days later, I got it returned to me with a note: "Good luck to you in sports, Andy. Neil Johnston." It was my first and most memorable sports autograph, in pool matched only by a BreatheRight nose bandage that I got for my wife from Buddy Hall right after he'd won the '98 U. S. Open. Some souvenirs are truly unforgettable. :cool:
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Nice post. I loved Neil...he was pure b-ball. We would take the elevated/subway to the games. We were safe then. Wilt was..still is my all time hero. The world and the sports world were different. And pool...from playing on tables in dusty burn to the local pool room for around $.50 an hour was the best of times. We stunk but had fun...still stink but having fun. My comment on 50years of pool...has been great before and after the 50 mark.
 
Fifty years ago was 1976, the World & USA are not the same.

We can not turn back hands of time, only study good & bad and move foreword.

Hoping to learn from real history, not rewritten history.
 
That's why I don't understand why everybody hates pool hall junkies - it was way more representative of poolrooms in my area growing up. Something always going on, guys jumping(playing) on anybody walking in the door looking for action, ring games, Kelly pool, 9 ball on a snooker table, nonstop full rack banks, etc. Even if it was just for the time, everybody was doing something
 
we called pill pool and kelly pool the same thing although maybe they were not. but were referred as such.

i still have an old pill pool bottle with the pills still. i dont know how old it is as it came with one of my tables.

we played it some in the poolrooms but it died out quickly as players found out guys teamed up and helped each other make their pill ball. or wouldnt make each others.
not as bad as those teaming up playing indian poker.
 
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jasonlaus said:
That's why I don't understand why everybody hates pool hall junkies - it was way more representative of poolrooms in my area growing up. Something always going on, guys jumping(playing) on anybody walking in the door looking for action, ring games, Kelly pool, 9 ball on a snooker table, nonstop full rack banks, etc. Even if it was just for the time, everybody was doing something
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agree 100%. One slowwwwwwwww day at the TulsaBilliardPalace this black bookie bet David Matlock how far he could throw a golf ball. the distance bet was set and Dave airmailed it by about 60ft. The bookie freaked and paid off. What the dude didn't know was Dave played hi-level baseball growin up AND he had a gaff: you only hold a golf ball with one finger instead of two like a baseball. Done that way you can sling the shit out of it.
 
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maha said:
we called pill pool and kelly pool the same thing although maybe they were not. but were referred as such.

i still have an old pill pool bottle with the pills still. i dont know how o it is as it came with one of my tables.

we played it some in the poolrooms but it died out quickly as players found out guys teamed up and helped each other make their pill ball. or wouldnt make each others.
not as bad as those teaming up playing indian poker.
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The way it was usually played in our old pool hall was that every player drew a set number of pills (usually 2 or 3) depending upon the number of players).

Then they played a ring game of 15-ball rotation.

If a shooter made a ball with another person's pill number, the person with that pill number had to pay the shooter a set amount of money (they usually played $0.25 a pill, but sometimes higher).

If a shooter made a ball with his own pill number, EVERYBODY in the game had to pay him the set amount of money.
 
maha said:
we called pill pool and kelly pool the same thing although maybe they were not. but were referred as such.

i still have an old pill pool bottle with the pills still. i dont know how old it is as it came with one of my tables.

we played it some in the poolrooms but it died out quickly as players found out guys teamed up and helped each other make their pill ball. or wouldnt make each others.
not as bad as those teaming up playing indian poker.
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Yep, the same
 
There was a time that pool was magical.

My belief is that most of us here are far too young to have experienced that in full bloom but some of us were still there at an age where you could catch a wafting scent of it on the breeze.

So many rooms, so many players, local and off the road, so much action.

Personally, I recall the big rooms in San Franciso like The Palace and Cochans, of which there were similar editions of all over the country. As well as the smaller rooms notable in their own way like The Billiard Palacade, Town & Country Billiards, Family Billiards, and Vans. The sport was thick with legendary players, match ups, and accomplishments. And when someone like Mosconi, or Caras, or Lassiter, or Balsis came to a room nearby it was something so special, and they made the game look so elegant, it made you swoon and a devotee for life.

Of course there were the scalawags too. And that was exciting too when someone like Ronnie Allen or Jack Cooney came to your town and set up camp, like a fisherman happy to wait for a bite on his line and the bobbin to sink and wiggle. Action always seemed available to anyone and everyone at any skill level. If it was your home room you could walk in at any time and be guaranteed a game of pool, or if the pool tables were full some 3C, or perhaps some gin, cribbage, tonk, or even chess along the rail.

Road players would come, be instantly recognized, hailed heartily, and would always find a way to get into action (and still usually win).

Pool was better. Before the boats, before FR, before a lot of other things.

Lou Figueroa
 
HawaiianEye said:
The way it was usually played in our old pool hall was that every player drew a set number of pills (usually 2 or 3) depending upon the number of players).

Then they played a ring game of 15-ball rotation.

If a shooter made a ball with another person's pill number, the person with that pill number had to pay the shooter a set amount of money (they usually played $0.25 a pill, but sometimes higher).

If a shooter made a ball with his own pill number, EVERYBODY in the game had to pay him the set amount of money.
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thats how we played.
and when your pills or pill was gone you were out that game.
 
matlock was really strong and athletic. but ervilino could throw a golf ball forever. lucky for matlock johnny didnt know he had that bet.
 
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Helluva thread, fun to read.

It’s not unlike the stance my father took WRT Major League Baseball. The pitchers were better. The hitters were better. Joe D was the best baseball player ever. It’s a debate no one can ever win because we’re opining based on nostalgia and our rose-colored time machine lenses. We can’t compare players nor the game in general because things change and evolve.

Conditions, technique, equipment, science, overall health, all influence performance, whether we’re talking about baseball, football, hockey, … or pool.

But here’s one thing pool has that (most of) the others don’t have: the baggage of the seedy side.

We decry pool’s image, yet celebrate it because it was interesting, or more fun, or less clinical.

Perhaps the characters were indeed considered characters BECAUSE pool and its environment were edgy, risky, or even dangerous.

Perhaps some of us dislike the game as it is perceived today because it has lost some of that seedy edge.

My own opinion, from someone who is and has been a relatively casual participant and observer (I am a classic “nit”, I will rarely if ever gamble for more than table time or a few adult beverages, or maybe a very small wager), is that pool players have gotten much, much better.

But is “pool” better? Highly subjective, depends on the lens through which we view it, whether we celebrate the technical skill, or the psychology of gambling, or the colorfulness of the characters, or the sharpness of the “edge.”

My $0.02. Carry on…
 
pool was never seedy. at least no more than the business culture or most any workplace that had many people.

pool rooms were places to hang out and gamble, with also having a social life. they weren't there just to come and shoot pool.

that's why most have gone broke because they lost those so called seedy people.
 
were barbie dolls better 50 years ago?
what about frisbees?
was wine better?
was beef bourguignon better?

was journalism better?
were preachers better?
what about film and tv?
was clothing better?
was music better?
 
markjames said:
were barbie dolls better 50 years ago?
what about frisbees?
was wine better?
was beef bourguignon better?

was journalism better?
were preachers better?
what about film and tv?
was clothing better?
was music better?
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Not sure, but 50 years ago I was nearly 16. I believe life was better but its not too shabby now.
 
markjames said:
were barbie dolls better 50 years ago?
what about frisbees?
was wine better?
was beef bourguignon better?

was journalism better?
were preachers better?
what about film and tv?
was clothing better?
was music better?
Click to expand...
Yeah but,

There's an objective metric to pool. At the most obvious level; defense. Reyes killed on that front. So now you gotta not sell out and hit the non selling out stuff like Filler and Gorst so as to not sell out, and win by not losing and other boring concepts.
 
wine was better
food was better home cooking and less processed food
news was not sensationalized to keep views but more factual
old movies better and tv worth watching
clothing made out of cotton instead of petroleum products
real rock and roll then but 60 years back
 
maha said:
wine was better
food was better home cooking and less processed food
news was not sensationalized to keep views but more factual
old movies better and tv worth watching
clothing made out of cotton instead of petroleum products
real rock and roll then but 60 years back
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Food was better when Mom was around to cook it.

Wine, didn't care. I bought the cheapest wine I could find at Walmart. Oak Leaf Pinot Grigio in a big ass bottle for around 10 bucks out the door. I figured it would make a good deglazer but washing was better if you didn't need sauce. Ended up splashing it into diet cola, powdered fruit juice, all three,... Wine and fruity coke is pretty good. Mmm. lol

Movies improved with technology. They learned to create a denser experience - Star Wars for instance - without the dragged out setups and cliche hits. Up to speed aesthetics IMO.
 
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skogstokig said:
the genie is out of the bottle when it comes to the break. doesn't matter if it's 9-ball or 10-ball. joe tucker (may be wrong) started this dissection, and if a pro today doesn't have a thorough knowledge about the break and practice hours logged, he or she is at a big disadvantage. it's like not having a jump cue. there's no going back to random power break, because it's disadvantageous. it's rational choice, not "copying" others.
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Okay, I understand. Still, very boring, to watch, though.
 
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