Recent content by L.S. Dennis

Lou, you described Tugboat to a tee! Tug gave me my first lesson in straight pool but unfortunately I was too young and stupid to pay proper attention to what he was trying to teach me! Maurice (he hated that name) was his first name but everyone knew him as ‘Tugboat’ which suited hem just fine!

I knew Dorothy well, my Father owned a liquor store directly across the street from Jimmy and Dorthys’ Sequoia Billiards in Redwood City in the early 60’s. I was just a kid maybe around 12 years old so. It wasn’t long before the clicking of the balls drew me in. The rest was history once began...

Yes I'm aware of that. Ownership of the building is crucial to be successful or somehow to nail down a cheap 50 year lease (slightly exaggerated) but you get the point!

I think Jay or Baby Huey could probably give the best information on this.

Really sorry to see what Hawaiian Brian's in Honolulu has become. Last year when I was over there it had turned mostly into a night club and few pool tables left. I think there's a $30.00 admission fee for the night club now.

Love this story!

Very good point, that is one very big difference in today's high end population market that wasn't there when many upscale rooms went out of business because of inadequate parking that was required for a room's survival

One of the things I forgot to mention about TGE was their offering a one hour of free pool coupon if you ate at their restaurant lunch or dinner. Now that's some good promotion some of these other upscale rooms should consider!

I doubt that you'll see bums in this place unless they can panhandle something like $300,000 a year! Like Manhattan it costs money to breath in SF

yes the smaller version TGE is still open in San Mateo

A similar place opened in SF during the early to mid 90's following the Color of Money boom called The Great Entertainer. It too had great food (a complete sit down restaurant a beautiful bar featuring all kinds of beers and spirits). This room was big with private rooms with pools tables and...

It seems to me that some of the greats from the last generation of pool were trying desperately to cash in on all this new money in pool today that they were denied in their time as players. Unfortunately for them reality is brutal.

Just heard about this place, anybody been there, thoughts?

Jay, agree totally about the way the game has changed over the years. Some for the good, and some for the bad. For the good is the tighter pockets and faster cloth, for the bad IMO is the greater reliance of the jump shot, the new break format that MR employed with the measured cut break and the...

Stu, maybe you can verify this story. I once heard that Johnny Irish was sleeping in one of the railbird seats in some pool room (I assume it was in NY) with his hat pulled down over his eyes when someone woke him up to tell him that Nixon had just won the presidency. It was at this point that...