Bar Box pool; Is it "real" pool?

Gregg

Gregg

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have seen a bunch of times where people like to belittle or bash the bar box players (3 1/2X7' table), when, in fact, they make up the vast majority of todays pool scene.

IMO bar boxes present many challenges that a big table do not. To name a few, small side pockets, many clusters, rail shots, shooting over balls becomes more common, caroms and billiards are more frequent, as well are banks.
 
iv been playing regularly for about a year now and all i play on is a bar box. not by choice tho, its the closest place around at 20 minutes. try playing 14.1 on a bar box...its tough, then again 14.1 is tough on any table...
Jay
 
9-ball on a barbox is an absoloute joke. I hang around with a player out here in here in the west coast who is a well known Filipino shortstop, but he is barely below the pro level, (except for when he's in dead punch, he can beat anyone at that time) we go to barbox tournaments all the time, some are 8-ball, some are 9-ball. I drive him around, he wins the tournaments, pays my entry, and tips me a good percentage of what he wins. For the first time in a long time we played a barbox 9-ball tournament. The format was race to 5 alternate breaks. I had the toughest draw in the tournament- one former top pro player who still plays great on a barbox, and a bunch of shortstops. I made it to the semi-finals, only to get beat by my road partner. So here I was, beating these former champions in what I call 'joke pool'. Whoever makes a ball on the break wins most of the time. They couldn't beat me if they never got a shot after the break and I did- all the time. What resulted in was me running alot of tables, that I'm sure I wouldn't have run on a 9-footer. The corner pockets on bartables are so massive, that you can pretty much do anything you want.

8-ball is a totally different story. I happen to know a barbox 8-ball player out here, whom I recently just met, but he plays by far the best barbox 8-ball I have EVER seen. And in Las Vegas, I saw some of the top barbox specialists in the world. But this guy that I met, the way he moved the cueball, his shot selection, his strategy, his incredibly ridiculous cueball control, kicking control, I mean he was the total package. To be honest, after watching this guy play barbox 8-ball a few times for a decent sum against some other good player, I really think the masters of the barbox like Bowman and Matlock would be hard pressed to beat him. This guy plays so good it's disgusting. No I am not exaggerating, this guy is absoloutely incredible. Don't ask me for his name, because there is no way in hell I'm gonna give it out lol ;)
 
cuetechasaurus said:
9-ball on a barbox is an absoloute joke. I hang around with a player out here in here in the west coast who is a well known Filipino shortstop, but he is barely below the pro level, (except for when he's in dead punch, he can beat anyone at that time) we go to barbox tournaments all the time, some are 8-ball, some are 9-ball. I drive him around, he wins the tournaments, pays my entry, and tips me a good percentage of what he wins. For the first time in a long time we played a barbox 9-ball tournament. The format was race to 5 alternate breaks. I had the toughest draw in the tournament- one former top pro player who still plays great on a barbox, and a bunch of shortstops. I made it to the semi-finals, only to get beat by my road partner. So here I was, beating these former champions in what I call 'joke pool'. Whoever makes a ball on the break wins most of the time. They couldn't beat me if they never got a shot after the break and I did- all the time. What resulted in was me running alot of tables, that I'm sure I wouldn't have run on a 9-footer. The corner pockets on bartables are so massive, that you can pretty much do anything you want.

8-ball is a totally different story. I happen to know a barbox 8-ball player out here, whom I recently just met, but he plays by far the best barbox 8-ball I have EVER seen. And in Las Vegas, I saw some of the top barbox specialists in the world. But this guy that I met, the way he moved the cueball, his shot selection, his strategy, his incredibly ridiculous cueball control, kicking control, I mean he was the total package. To be honest, after watching this guy play barbox 8-ball a few times for a decent sum against some other good player, I really think the masters of the barbox like Bowman and Matlock would be hard pressed to beat him. This guy plays so good it's disgusting. No I am not exaggerating, this guy is absoloutely incredible. Don't ask me for his name, because there is no way in hell I'm gonna give it out lol ;)
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9-ball on a 7' pro-cut Diamond Smart Table is NO JOKE. Our league plays on 7' Diamonds every week, your rail shots and speed have to be perfect. There is a BIG difference between running-out on a Valley and running-out on a Diamond.

Sorry Cuetechasaurus, but if all tables were the same, I would have no problem agreeing with you but they're not, so I can't.
 
Most assume..

In my opinion, I think the bad thing about playing on a bar box is the clusters. You almost always have one, where on a big table it seems to be more of an exception.

Then we you actually do bust up the cluster they freakin cluster again! Most of the "experts" say that it is important to play all games, but I think it is important to play both bar boxes and full size.

I tell you what, if I know a guy spends all of his time on a bar box I avoid playing him there, and if he is a big table player, I try to get him ON a bar box.

Ken
 
cardsfan said:
Sorry Cuetechasaurus, but if all tables were the same, I would have no problem agreeing with you but there not, so I can't.
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Just guessing this might possibly be regional thing perhaps, or otherwise, I personally can't imagine a serious 9-Ball money game on a 7' table.(Leagues don't count) I'm sorta with the cueman on this one.
 
Imagine it....

Da Poet said:
Just guessing this might possibly be regional thing perhaps, or otherwise, I personally can't imagine a serious 9-Ball money game on a 7' table.(Leagues don't count) I'm sorta with the cueman on this one.
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Keith McCready, Dave Matlock, are 2 that come to mind and trust me, serious money was involve on bar boxes.

LOL

Ken
 
if bar box play isnt pool than AFL or the CFL cant be football, only room for the NFL, right?
 
What wasn't mentioned ...

Is the fact that it is MUCH EASIER to play safe on a big table.
 
Ken_4fun said:
....trust me, serious money was involve on bar boxes.

LOL

Ken
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No, no, no! Say it isn't so!

Okay, Really?

Why?

I think bar boxes and I picture drunk 20 somethings. Am I wrong? Are these geezers you talkin about hustlin' punks?

I'm almost a geezer. :o
 
Da Poet said:
Just guessing this might possibly be regional thing perhaps, or otherwise, I personally can't imagine a serious 9-Ball money game on a 7' table.(Leagues don't count) I'm sorta with the cueman on this one.
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"Serious 9-ball money", no-way, never! But Cuetechasaurus was commenting on how 9-ball on a barbox "is a joke" and it's easy to run-out because of the pocket size. My disagreement lies in the "ease" of running-out on a 7' pro-cut Diamond barboxes compared to your typical Valley barbox. Two different challenges.

But serious money on a 7 footer, no way! Bigger the bet, bigger the table!
 
cardsfan said:
"Serious 9-ball money", no-way, never! But Cuetechasaurus was commenting on how 9-ball on a barbox "is a joke" and it's easy to run-out because of the pocket size. My disagreement lies in the "ease" of running-out on a 7' pro-cut Diamond barboxes compared to your typical Valley barbox. Two different challenges.

But serious money on a 7 footer, no way! Bigger the bet, bigger the table!
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Sure, smaller pockets can be found on both 9' and 7's alike. Not to mention slow nap cloth.

But again my point is that some are quick to dismiss the 7's, no matter what the conditions.
 
cardsfan said:
"Serious 9-ball money", no-way, never! But Cuetechasaurus was commenting on how 9-ball on a barbox "is a joke" and it's easy to run-out because of the pocket size. My disagreement lies in the "ease" of running-out on a 7' pro-cut Diamond barboxes compared to your typical Valley barbox. Two different challenges.

But serious money on a 7 footer, no way! Bigger the bet, bigger the table!
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Hello all.I have to tell you if you come to Ohio you will see some big bets on a bar box(like a race to 7 for 5 hundred).I play bar box and on 9 footers.
 
cardsfan said:
"Serious 9-ball money", no-way, never! But Cuetechasaurus was commenting on how 9-ball on a barbox "is a joke" and it's easy to run-out because of the pocket size. My disagreement lies in the "ease" of running-out on a 7' pro-cut Diamond barboxes compared to your typical Valley barbox. Two different challenges.

But serious money on a 7 footer, no way! Bigger the bet, bigger the table!
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9 ball on a smaller table, all the shots are shorter. How can anyone say it's more difficult to run out? It's like a golfer moving a putt closer to the hole!
 
Da Poet said:
I think bar boxes and I picture drunk 20 somethings. Am I wrong? Are these geezers you talkin about hustlin' punks?

I'm almost a geezer. :o
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and

cardsfan said:
But serious money on a 7 footer, no way! Bigger the bet, bigger the table!
Click to expand...
Big money is gambled on bar boxes from Ohio to Florida and everywhere in between. At Valley Forge during the SuperBilliardsExpo, there is some serious bar box action anywhere from a sawbuck to several dimes. SEVERAL DIMES.

When I lived in Tennessee, every pool hall I went to had more bar boxes than bigger tables. And there was action all day.

And South west Ohio (Cincy to Dayton). Bar box capital, baby. And Ohio has no shortage of high action.

If it's a regional thing, it's a pretty big region.

Fred
 
Cornerman said:
and


Big money is gambled on bar boxes from Ohio to Florida and everywhere in between. At Valley Forge during the SuperBilliardsExpo, there is some serious bar box action anywhere from a sawbuck to several dimes. SEVERAL DIMES.

When I lived in Tennessee, every pool hall I went to had more bar boxes than bigger tables. And there was action all day.

And South west Ohio (Cincy to Dayton). Bar box capital, baby. And Ohio has no shortage of high action.

If it's a regional thing, it's a pretty big region.

Fred
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That's the point of my post. I don't think bar boxes are regional at all, and make up as much (even more IMO) of today's pool scene. I'll venture to say that far and away more games of eight ball on a bar box are played accross the county than any other game, in fact, the majority have never played nine ball or know even what 14.1 or one pocket are.

I think it's a mistake to discount the majority of the population who play these games.
 
I think with most people, their first encounter with pool will be with a pool table at the local bar.

Then some of these people will "get hooked" and go on to become serious players.

And without all those bar boxes everywhere, I think there would be a whole lot less interest in pool and a whole lot less sales of billiards products. (Which would mean few or no sponsors for the pros.)

So I think that "pool table" at the local bar is the "golden goose" for the industry. It is a good thing!
 
The extra 2x1 feet on a 9-footer make little difference. It's the inconsistency of bar boxes' quality that makes them more challenging overall. Bring me any player who is used to Simonis on a Gold Crown, let me choose the bar box, and we'll see who the joke is upon.
 
I've seen $2000 sets on a bar box. I've played races to three for $100. Thats like playing for $500 a hr. People bet ANYTHING ON ANYTHING IF they think they have the nuts! (think) People have bet $1000000 on the size of a rock. I've seen people bet $1000 on a coin flip. More money is bet on the bar box than you can dream of. Thanks!
 
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