What was your pool hall like Growing up ?

PoolBum

Ace in the side.
Silver Member
What was your pool hall like growing up ?

I don't know, my pool hall was already grown up by the time I got there.
 

Rimfirejunkie

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have not but would like to check it out. I have played a few times at the Cue Club in Lexington and really like it. It is a nice clean place and the food is good also. I play regular at my Cuzin's house and a Friends also but with the Virus everything is down. I plan to go back to the Cue Club as soon as it opens back up, My Repair guy who is also a Friend supplied most of the tables for it,


Cue club? Is that the place at Rupp?
 

PoolFan101

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Cue club? Is that the place at Rupp?

No , it is off Nicholasville Rd on Moore Drive. It is a really nice place full of Diamond Tables. The only complaint I have is that the price to play is $ 10 per hour per person which is way to much . But on Friday's it is $ 5 per hr per person and that is when we go. 10 bux per hr is to much to play pool. They need to figure out that to be successful you make your money from food and drinks not pool. If you charge $5 that Is enough and you will draw a larger crowd and the food sales will increase and that is were your profit lies . The one at Rupp I believe is Yesterday's Billiards. I have not been to it either.
 

ribdoner

SATISFACTION GUARANTEED
Silver Member
No , it is off Nicholasville Rd on Moore Drive. It is a really nice place full of Diamond Tables. The only complaint I have is that the price to play is $ 10 per hour per person which is way to much . But on Friday's it is $ 5 per hr per person and that is when we go. 10 bux per hr is to much to play pool. They need to figure out that to be successful you make your money from food and drinks not pool. If you charge $5 that Is enough and you will draw a larger crowd and the food sales will increase and that is were your profit lies . The one at Rupp I believe is Yesterday's Billiards. I have not been to it either.

having owned one of the largest pool rooms in this area i can tell you that food is the lowest profit margin item, games to include pool, darts and arcade are the cash cows.

our primary reason for having a full kitchen with excellent food was to keep the customers in house instead of them leaving to satisfy their cravings,or, in other words it was a hook and an anchor.

i also believed in offering the best value in rates on pool
 

Geosnooker

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Interesting to hear how much different the pool halls were in Canada than what I experienced here in the U.S. in the 60s and 70s. Pool was the poor man's game where I'm from, something for the farm hands to do on a rainy day, or the local kids to do when not shooting hoops, or playing sandlot ball. The good old days when kids went outside and played. My little town was right off Interstate 65 fairly close to Mammoth Cave National Park called Munfordville. If you guys are ever driving through stop in at Cave City and have a nice cold Ski and a Slaw burger with fries at one of the local restaurants. Good folks down there, after all this economy tanking they would be happy to see y'all. I think that will be my first trip after all this is over. Below is a taste of some of our music. WLOC was our local station and "Chitlin Time" was good time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svQOQ2DIDEU

Mumfordville. Coincidence. I have only been to Kentucky once in my life and that was around 1995 or so. I spent about 10 days in the state...staying in that town. I was collecting geology samples for some research I was doing. At first I stayed at some long motel...rooms both sides. Then I met a fellow called ‘Joe’ on Possum road or something with ‘Possum’’ in it. He was building a small dome house...not finished inside but we camped out in it.

I went to Bowling Green to a gym a couple times. Likely played pool at least once.

Nice area. More natural wilderness than I expected. I had driven down and had ‘Alberta’ plates on my car. Every one was really friendly and helped me get oriented. I don’t know if it was a sheriff or deputy but he drove a tractor. He gave me directions to a good fishing site. I mentioned that I didn’t have a license and expensive for a foreigner to get one just for one day. He said just to act dumb and mention his name.
 

jaime_lion

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Non-existant. Town I grew up in did not have a pool hall. There was one for like 6 months but it closed pretty fast. Me and my dad played pool by ourselves on pool tables at bars and also at student unions on college campuses. Not sure if there were leagues in that town.
 

HNTFSH

Birds, Bass & Bottoms
Silver Member
Here's the place I played when I was a teenager. It was owned by Pete Glenn (Denny Glenn's dad) and Pete's wife was the cook. It was clean and well kept and being that the Glenn Family had always been players, they knew what was necessary to run a player's room. Ronnie Allen and Danny Di Liberto stopped by often, as did many road players.

I was hustled for the first time there. One day I was hitting some balls and a kid that was slightly older than me was hitting some by himself a couple tables over. I watched him play and was pretty sure I could beat him. I actually challenged him to play (dollar on the five and two on the nine). He started out "slopping" in some balls. I thought the luck eventually would end. It didn't. As I paid Pete at the register with what little money I had left, he asked me if I had played the young guy in the corner. I said I had, and he asked me how bad I got beat. Then, he told me that was his son, Stevie. This was the same Stevie that later appeared in the two big one pocket books "Winning One Pocket and Shots, Moves and Strategies" by Eddie Robin.

The Golden Eight Ball was a great place and I think of it often to this day!

:lol::thumbup2::thumbup2: ...and great pic!!
 

HNTFSH

Birds, Bass & Bottoms
Silver Member
having owned one of the largest pool rooms in this area i can tell you that food is the lowest profit margin item, games to include pool, darts and arcade are the cash cows.

our primary reason for having a full kitchen with excellent food was to keep the customers in house instead of them leaving to satisfy their cravings,or, in other words it was a hook and an anchor.

i also believed in offering the best value in rates on pool

Haven't owned a hall but I totally agree on profit margins. Food would be break-even I'd think. The local place I've been playing does not have a liquor license, just beer and wine. No food. They clearly make their money on leagues and bar box tourney's.

I wish they'd raise their table time on their (2) 9 footers (what we play on), it's just too cheap. I've played 5 hours (with the BIL) and the total table time is less than what I stuck in the digital juke box. We don't drink, and there's no food, so table time (aside from juke box) is the only $$. Two guys, twenty bucks @ 5 hours seems too cheap, I want them to survive.
 

Lawnboy77

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Mumfordville. Coincidence. I have only been to Kentucky once in my life and that was around 1995 or so. I spent about 10 days in the state...staying in that town. I was collecting geology samples for some research I was doing. At first I stayed at some long motel...rooms both sides. Then I met a fellow called ‘Joe’ on Possum road or something with ‘Possum’’ in it. He was building a small dome house...not finished inside but we camped out in it.

I went to Bowling Green to a gym a couple times. Likely played pool at least once.

Nice area. More natural wilderness than I expected. I had driven down and had ‘Alberta’ plates on my car. Every one was really friendly and helped me get oriented. I don’t know if it was a sheriff or deputy but he drove a tractor. He gave me directions to a good fishing site. I mentioned that I didn’t have a license and expensive for a foreigner to get one just for one day. He said just to act dumb and mention his name.

Wow! One heck of a coincidence that you visited my home town. I left to join the military in 1981 and only got back there every year or so to visit my parents, so not aware of anyone building a domed house in the mid 90s.

I think the pool hall in town was probably closed by the time the mid 90s rolled around, or at least a shell of what it once was. Bowling Green was a big hang out for us, but I don't recall playing any pool there. It's funny you talked about going to the gym while visiting there, I used to drive to either Ft. Knox, or Glasgow just to get a work out in while I was on leave.

The comment about the fishing license is funny to me because I don't recall ever getting a license either.
 

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Place i started at was a true classic, Boulder Billiards in Tulsa,Ok. It was a walk-down basement joint next to the newspaper office. Old B'wick tables(place opened in late 30's-early 40's) and furniture. When i was going in the guy leasing it was Tulsa legend Fat Randy Wallace. He added a lunch counter, a couple bar-boxes, foosball table and a few pin-ball machines. The atmosphere was truly magical. Golf game on the snooker table everyday and good pool action in all price ranges from cheap to high. The day crowd was a lot of business types but the night crowd was where it was at. Cab drivers, musicians(the famous Cain's Ballroom was close by) hustlers, chiselers, even a working girl or two might bounce in. Its where i met Buddy, Matlock and a host of other players, backers, and sweaters. The newspaper needed space for new presses and they took over the space. I miss it everyday.
 

Island Drive

Otto/Dads College Roommate/Cleveland Browns
Silver Member
Lawnboy 77 I am From Ky 2 , small world . Our Pool room did not have the blood stains as there was no roughness . We have a pretty nice town , someone who just got beat might mouth off a little but knew better to go to far as the owner would put them out on the street, Our's did not have the pickled Bologna but the gas stations did and I ate that 2 growing up. I have lived in ky all my life and never had a ski. Pepsi was the drink of choice around here. I will have to try one sometime.

Stompin' grounds. You guyz are takin' me back. Went to SIU Carbondale 67-71 and frequented the surrounding area and the ladies and the lakes and Janscos.

Buddy Hall country, Cape Girardeau, Duquoin, Paducah, Mt. Vernon etc. Tough playing in those wet/damp conditions, but being a kid, every day was another rack of balls. :)
 

DaveK

Still crazy after all these years
Silver Member
I started playing when I was 14 years old in 1969. In Canada most billiards was played in Legions, army navy clubs, community centers, etc. In small towns it was usually the local hotel which was also a bar, restaurant. More of a community get together location. Rarely dark and sleazy.

In Canada nearly all ‘fathers’ were military veterans and I think this had influence on billiards not having the same negative image as in the United States. It’s not that there weren’t some of this image in cities but it certainly didn’t dominate. Snooker had the civilizing iinflurnce even on play at the table in the bar.

Anyways, I played in legions, army navy clubs, etc and there was an expected level of dress and behaviour.

What part of our great country are you in my friend ? We too had/have snooker tables in the legions, and certainly the local watering hole (often a hotel bar as you say) had a table. But the most of the pool halls around here (I live in Saskatoon) were small affairs often behind the barber shop. Here is a site with pictures of a renovated barber-shop/pool-hall in Alberta:

https://www.davidmurrayarchitect.ca/vilna-pool-hall-and-barber-shop/

Another example:

https://eyestoheart.me/2012/09/03/shave-and-a-haircut-southern-alberta/

Dave
 

ElKabong

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
80s for me, but this place was unchanged for decades I think.
Big bowling alley with 10 grimy Gold Crown 8 ft tables in a separate room, one table up front was kept better and reserved for the gamblers.

You had local legends, road agents, short stops, scufflers, drug dealers...the whole cast of characters.

In the late 80's, early 90s you couldn't get a table on Fri or Sat night unless you got there early.

In the 70's, early 80s it was open 24hrs on Friday/Saturday.

Grill with good grub, draft beer in plastic cups, what more could you ask for.

Always cheap, to not so cheap action to be had.
 

cubswin

Just call me Joe...
Silver Member
Hard to get a table before midnight on a weekend. All bar tables, with a lot of gambling going on. Usually a dice or card game going on, sometimes flipping quarters for 20-100 a flip.

Drugs weren't uncommon, fights now and then. About 5 am on a saturday morning people sleeping under a table or two. Sometimes a sex act or two in the front room. The occasional death threat.

Was in there one day, two people come flying in, toss a duffel bag under a table and go out the front door. Cops come in chasing them, turns out to be two fully loaded mac 10's in the bag.
 

BC21

https://www.playpoolbetter.com
Gold Member
Silver Member
I had a set of pool balls in a black pleather bag. They were given to me by the owner of dance club that had burned down. I was 18 or 19 then, and he used to let me in the place to play pool.

After the fire I started breaking into a college dorm to play pool. It was called Maclin Hall. There was a large civil war era cannon in the front courtyard, and to the right of the cannon there was one window that had a piece of plastic/plexiglas in place of the original glass. On the other side of this window was the rec room with its one nice Brunswick Goldcrown table and a no name smaller table, pure junk. All I had to do was push in on that plastic window and it would pop loose enough to unlock it from outside.

I'd go there late, after the rec room was closed up and all the lights were out. I'd climb through the window with my little black satchel and my cheap Mali cue. I'd turn the light on that only lit the far corner of the room where the Goldcrown table sat. I loved those nights, alone, just me and that old table. That was my poolhall, my first poolhall.
 
Last edited:

noMoreSchon

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The Golden Cue.

On Menual in Albuquerque NM. 20+ Gold Crown, 6 valleys. Two foosball tables and

assorted arcade games. Now this is a place that is tailored to the young. Full most

nights. Lots of drugs, murder and mayhem any night of the week. And some pool.

It had its fun times though, like holidays, where the other joints would shut down, and

locals like Louie Roybal, Wilfred Mayestas, and the late Kyle Tafoya would come on

down and play ring games with us youngsters. I was fortunate enough to befriend Kyle

and he was always teaching me something. Through him I met Hal Mix, one of the best

coaches of late years. It was a few years later, I was 16 or 17 and was fortunate

enough that I was able to start playing at a few other local spots, and met and played

whenever I had a chance, Cowboy Jimmie Moore.

It is gone now, and old gas station/service shop is now a vintage furniture shop...
 

Island Drive

Otto/Dads College Roommate/Cleveland Browns
Silver Member
The Golden Cue.

On Menual in Albuquerque NM. 20+ Gold Crown, 6 valleys. Two foosball tables and

assorted arcade games. Now this is a place that is tailored to the young. Full most

nights. Lots of drugs, murder and mayhem any night of the week. And some pool.

It had its fun times though, like holidays, where the other joints would shut down, and

locals like Louie Roybal, Wilfred Mayestas, and the late Kyle Tafoya would come on

down and play ring games with us youngsters. I was fortunate enough to befriend Kyle

and he was always teaching me something. Through him I met Hal Mix, one of the best

coaches of late years. It was a few years later, I was 16 or 17 and was fortunate

enough that I was able to start playing at a few other local spots, and met and played

whenever I had a chance, Cowboy Jimmie Moore.

It is gone now, and old gas station/service shop is now a vintage furniture shop...

They also had a Corner Pocket, like in CO they opened at least half dozen during the same era. Frank McGowan heyday.
 

Lawnboy77

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Stompin' grounds. You guyz are takin' me back. Went to SIU Carbondale 67-71 and frequented the surrounding area and the ladies and the lakes and Janscos.

Buddy Hall country, Cape Girardeau, Duquoin, Paducah, Mt. Vernon etc. Tough playing in those wet/damp conditions, but being a kid, every day was another rack of balls. :)

I used to drive through that area on my way to/from Kentucky and Colorado when I was stationed in Denver, CO.

Do you know what professional player opened up a hall in Bowling Green in the mid to late 80's? Was it Nick Varner? It seems like I remember it was called "Cue Time".
 

measureman

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
It was the early 60's in N.J.
Park Billiards Academy but was known as "Pokes" after the owner Sam "One Poke" Fauver.
The room had 8 Anniversary tables with cigarette burn marks on the rails.
Clay balls
Hardwood floors
Faded gray painted walls that were peeling here and there.
An old wooden phone booth with a hand held earpiece.
One pin ball machine.
One bath room.
Soda and snacks only.
No jukebox
No air conditioning
Now that I think back it was like walking into the 1940's.
I loved that place.
 
Last edited:

CocoboloCowboy

Cowboys are my hero's
Silver Member
Think the first real Pool Room I ever went to was North Hollywood Billiard in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles.

It was close to were Ernie build the Gina Cue. Bert Schreder, use to also hang out their. He had a small building where he was building Cue at the time. It was on Ventura Boulvard on the Northsite of the street, behind an old "FIX-IT"Shop. mostly Schreger was repurposing Sneaky Pete. Studio City CA.

North Hollywood Billards was on Magnolia Blvd, just East of Lankershim. It was a huge room, with two room, 4.5' X 9.0', not sure of the brand of tables. Plus maybe 4 or 5, 5"' X 10" The C Tables.

The thing I recall most about North Hollywood Billard were the Road Players who would come at night, when eith Hollywood Park, or Santa Anita had horse racing. These guys would gamble for big bucks, it was fun watching money change hands, and the amount of money at risked, and was like a months pay for me at the time.

Did not serve Beer, or Wine, just Coffee, and Sota Pop in Glass Bottles. Gormet food like Bags Chip, Fretos, and Hot Dogs that were heated in Silver Box with Heat Lamp. Hot Dog was horrible.

Place closed after 40 years. Like many old pool rooms.

https://patch.com/california/northhollywood/north-hollywood-billiards-closes-after-42-years
 
Last edited:
Top