where to play in Long Beach California

RSCA HOOLIGAN said:

Hi all ,

this Belgian player will be in Long Beach California next year from April the 16th untill the 21st .
Can somebody recommend some good pool halls over there ?
Maybe some places that have tournaments or some good players to play against ?

thanks for the info .

Christoph

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You must go to Hard Times, an institution of Calif. pool. https://www.facebook.com/HardTimesBellflower Take $$, you'll get action.

garczar said:

You must go to Hard Times, an institution of Calif. pool. https://www.facebook.com/HardTimesBellflower Take $$, you'll get action.

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Good news that they're still open. Have they resolved their lease issues?

pj
chgo

Patrick Johnson said:

Good news that they're still open. Have they resolved their lease issues?

pj
chgo

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For the time being. Long term? Who knows. I have a couple friends who live there and are regulars at HT. From what they say its safe for another year.

garczar said:

For the time being. Long term? Who knows. I have a couple friends who live there and are regulars at HT. From what they say its safe for another year.

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Yeah, Eddie negotiated the lease for a year...
make sure you bring some shorts, the A/C
ain’t cutting it :thumbup:

RSCA HOOLIGAN said:

Hi all ,

this Belgian player will be in Long Beach California next year from April the 16th untill the 21st .
Can somebody recommend some good pool halls over there ?
Maybe some places that have tournaments or some good players to play against ?

thanks for the info .

Christoph

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Life long LBC player here. Pool halls: ok... Since I have to mention it, I would first talk about Joe Josts, its a daytime spot for older guys. They have cold beer, good food, but crappy equipment. Everybody takes a big step back from me, so theres no action. It's one of those places you go to say you went (as a staple of Long Beach culture.)
But Long Beach's true de facto pool hall is another legendary spot, Hard Times down the street in Bellflower. Their weekly Sunday tournament is packed with quality players. The 1st Sunday of the month has guys like Chris Robinson and Vilmos Foldes coming through playing jam up on 4 inch flat pockets.
Everything else of note has closed.
I like playing on Diamond bar boxes and there is a place called Campus Billiards in Cypress that has some, and that place is nice.
If you wanted to venture out to Orange County, they have pool halls, but mostly what I call "Rec" tables (not suitable for me). Any questions or comments and I will help as best I can.

If Hard Times ends up being too warm for your liking,
Lakewood Family Billiards is near by.
Mr. Lucky's in Torrance is a nice place as well.
If you're looking for high caliber competition,
you might want to venture over to House of Billiards in Santa Monica.

Joe Jost's isn't really a pool destination. Used to be a long running Golf game there until they brought in the peanut roaster. It is a great stop for a Joe's Special, a pickled egg and a schooner of beer.

Not much action Family billiards but a nice place for leagues.

Hard Times is 12 miles from Long Beach. I lived in Belmont Shore a section of Lng Bch for over 70 years. Hard Times is really where you need to go even though it is just a shadow of what it was in the 90's and early 2000's.

Mr Lucky's is 20+ miles away.

House of Billiards is 30+miles away and is the home of 1 Hole in So. Calif. It is, at least when I was last there, the best room. Drinks and nice atmosphere.

Hard Times is where you really need to go. Very close to the junction of the 605 & 91 Freeways.

Too bad Yankee Doodles closed. It was a Sports Lounge with a bunch of Gold Crowns and was very convenient. But it is a memory. A city of almost 500,000 and not a real pool room to be found.

Hope that this helps.

GaryB said:

Joe Jost's isn't really a pool destination. Used to be a long running Golf game there until they brought in the peanut roaster. It is a great stop for a Joe's Special, a pickled egg and a schooner of beer.

Not much action Family billiards but a nice place for leagues.

Hard Times is 12 miles from Long Beach. I lived in Belmont Shore a section of Lng Bch for over 70 years. Hard Times is really where you need to go even though it is just a shadow of what it was in the 90's and early 2000's.

Mr Lucky's is 20+ miles away.

House of Billiards is 30+miles away and is the home of 1 Hole in So. Calif. It is, at least when I was last there, the best room. Drinks and nice atmosphere.

Hard Times is where you really need to go. Very close to the junction of the 605 & 91 Freeways.

Too bad Yankee Doodles closed. It was a Sports Lounge with a bunch of Gold Crowns and was very convenient. But it is a memory. A city of almost 500,000 and not a real pool room to be found.

Hope that this helps.

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12 miles from Belmont Shores, 6 miles from El Dorado Park. Yeah Joe's isn't much of a pool hall, again more of a "Yeah I went there" type of thing. Mr. Lucky's! I used to spend a lot of time in Torrance, great little pool hall. For Yankee's...well I don't know, Drink specials and Karaoke can't keep a massive building by the water afloat.
Screw it man, maybe I'll try to set something up at my house, play on my Diamond. A little AZ party So Cal style...I'd invite Jay for sure....lets open some Coronas and get it crackin.

Franky4Eyes said:

If Hard Times ends up being too warm for your liking,
Lakewood Family Billiards is near by.
Mr. Lucky's in Torrance is a nice place as well.
If you're looking for high caliber competition,
you might want to venture over to House of Billiards in Santa Monica.

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Santa Monica House of Billiards you will really only be able to find one pocket action for the most part, so if you play one-pocket you'll love it. You can get a fair game at any skill level up to pro caliber. 9-ball not so much. There are only like 2-3 guys that play 9-ball there, and most of them are in there pretty infrequently. If I'm there I will play 9-ball, but I'm not there very often these days either. Hard Times is another, closer option. And Jerry's Family Billiards in Pasadena has a couple good players as well.

GaryB said:

Joe Jost's isn't really a pool destination. Used to be a long running Golf game there until they brought in the peanut roaster. It is a great stop for a Joe's Special, a pickled egg and a schooner of beer.

Not much action Family billiards but a nice place for leagues.

Hard Times is 12 miles from Long Beach. I lived in Belmont Shore a section of Lng Bch for over 70 years. Hard Times is really where you need to go even though it is just a shadow of what it was in the 90's and early 2000's.

Mr Lucky's is 20+ miles away.

House of Billiards is 30+miles away and is the home of 1 Hole in So. Calif. It is, at least when I was last there, the best room. Drinks and nice atmosphere.

Hard Times is where you really need to go. Very close to the junction of the 605 & 91 Freeways.

Too bad Yankee Doodles closed. It was a Sports Lounge with a bunch of Gold Crowns and was very convenient. But it is a memory. A city of almost 500,000 and not a real pool room to be found.

Hope that this helps.

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I would add Danny K's in Orange.

ghost ball said:

I would add Danny K's in Orange.

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They have a super sweet bar. Danny is a good guy and the place is well maintained. But the rec/furniture tables aren't for hardcore shooters (but sometimes they show up to play.)