Are there any books about the "Life" in a pool room or about one of the great "Action" pool Rooms?

B

brunswick1901

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
I have seen articles and books about, how to play, where to play, the history, and about players but I would like to more about the rooms that had the most pool action.

I had just started to play pool when I went to the Vern Peterson's Billiard place in the late 1960s. I do not remember the names but I was told the best players in the world were there. What I clearly remember there was gambling on EVERY table.

I would like to know more about the Rack in Detroit, Red's in Houston, Lambert's in Baton Rouge and any other rooms from the past.
 
No books that I know of that focus on that. But there have been some very good newspaper/magazine articles that profiled eithe a local room or local player (with a lot of room context). I’d have to dig! But I’m thinking for example the Detroit Times had a real good feature on ‘Cornbread Red’. That’s the kind I am talking about.
 
brunswick1901 said:
I have seen articles and books about, how to play, where to play, the history, and about players but I would like to more about the rooms that had the most pool action.

I had just started to play pool when I went to the Vern Peterson's Billiard place in the late 1960s. I do not remember the names but I was told the best players in the world were there. What I clearly remember there was gambling on EVERY table.

I would like to know more about the Rack in Detroit, Red's in Houston, Lambert's in Baton Rouge and any other rooms from the past.
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If memory serves, Fat's book, "The Bank Shot," has some colorful room tales, albeit from a slanted viewpoint.

"Rag to Rifleman" Buddy's book also has some good stuff. Then there are the SI articles, I believe mostly written by Tom Fox, that you can probably find in their archive that are worth a look. They may not address the specific rooms you speak of but are in the same vein.

Lou Figueroa
 
brunswick1901 said:
I have seen articles and books about, how to play, where to play, the history, and about players but I would like to more about the rooms that had the most pool action.

I had just started to play pool when I went to the Vern Peterson's Billiard place in the late 1960s. I do not remember the names but I was told the best players in the world were there. What I clearly remember there was gambling on EVERY table.

I would like to know more about the Rack in Detroit, Red's in Houston, Lambert's in Baton Rouge and any other rooms from the past.
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Read the thread about the rack in Detroit.

Thread started by fsutton or something like that
 
Go to OnePocket.org for info on The Rack.
brunswick1901 said:
I have seen articles and books about, how to play, where to play, the history, and about players but I would like to more about the rooms that had the most pool action.

I had just started to play pool when I went to the Vern Peterson's Billiard place in the late 1960s. I do not remember the names but I was told the best players in the world were there. What I clearly remember there was gambling on EVERY table.

I would like to know more about the Rack in Detroit, Red's in Houston, Lambert's in Baton Rouge and any other rooms from the past.
Click to expand...
 
Not super old but the Tulsa Billiard Palace at 12th&Harvard was THE action spot in Oklahoma from about '84-'91. Buddy, Matlock, CJ, Dick Lane, Fat Randy, Park Bench Charlie Ford, Dave Gomez, Gerry Watson, Frank Janek, Goose Conway, Bill Stroud, Canuk Joe Lawrence, hell the list is endless. All tried to get the biscuits at The Palace. It was a 24hr/7day non-stop gambling den. If those walls could talk it would be one hell of a story.
 
Thank you for the replies and everything I have read only mentioned the highlights. I think the stories on AzBilliards are better than anything I have seen in print.
 
Steve Booth's reply mentions that local coverage about a place or individual will offer more detail than a book. I was 19 when I first saw the action the Billiard Palace and because I just started playing pool I didn't realize I was seeing something very special.

I saw the action a Lambert's and I remember a Saturday when the room was standing room only and action on almost every table.
 
garczar said:
Not super old but the Tulsa Billiard Palace at 12th&Harvard was THE action spot in Oklahoma from about '84-'91. Buddy, Matlock, CJ, Dick Lane, Fat Randy, Park Bench Charlie Ford, Dave Gomez, Gerry Watson, Frank Janek, Goose Conway, Bill Stroud, Canuk Joe Lawrence, hell the list is endless. All tried to get the biscuits at The Palace. It was a 24hr/7day non-stop gambling den. If those walls could talk it would be one hell of a story.
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I was there on work for a few weeks, and went in TBP. Told them my speed and they put me on the Walden's.
Rotten, rotten.
 
That sounds exactly what life in the pool room is like.

In the late 1960's the talk in the pool room was that "Tracy Joe Salazar" was the best bar table player with the big cue ball. The oil boom was big then and Joe said he won $50,000 playing in Oklahoma and Texas.
 
This is one of the story I heard from Arnie Satin, one of the owners of the original Hollywood Billiards when it was in the basement of a Art Deco building on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood California.

Please remember it wasn't unusual for Ronnie to be involved in a dispute during a game.

During the first pool tournament in 1968 at the now gone Stardust Casino in Las Vegas they had to call over the Tournament Director, Conrad Burkman, who was also the editor of the National Billiard News.

As Conrad approached the table he could see who was involved and everyone at the same time started to explain their side of the story. Conrad waves his hands to quiet everyone down and said, "Ronnie Allen is wrong!", then turns around and walks away.
 
alphadog said:
McGoorty. Damn fine writing.
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It is the best literature pool will ever see. McGoory talking to Robert Byrne who polishes it up. My memory will be close enough:

“I woke at noon with a terrific hangover and looked at the stained ceiling of the flophouse. My aunts had kicked me out, like my mother had before them. I couldn’t keep a job and I drank too much. I thought to myself ‘McGoorty, what you’ve become is a drunken two-bit pool hustler.’ Hey listen: I was glad to have a trade."
 
djoverboard said:
Playing off the rail was a good read.
I had a book about old time greats that was borrowed and never returned. It was a good book.
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I'll echo the McCumber book as one that does provide some insight into local scenes.

I won't pass the opportunity to state there are inaccuracies in the VA/ Baltimore portion, but it is a book on a topic we love written by a real pro writer.
 
"Hustlers, Beats, and Others" by Ned Polsky is an interesting look at fringe people from the point of view of a sociologist. If you get it, the second edition has an update of the changes in the pool world. It is not a rip-roaring stories book, though.
 
Grisham's book about billiards has a funny story about the challenge table in a small town bar.
 
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