Benefits/Drawback of bar games

hang-the-9

hang-the-9

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have stayed away from smaller tables and bad equipment forever, yet many of the people I play with go to the bars to play APA players and make some cash with it. I hate playing on sub-par equipment, and even though it would be easy to play and make money in the bars I have never tried. Are thare any benefits aside from easy $5 a game bets to playing? I mean it's not like playing a D player will train your focus for the big tournament, especially if you use a mis-matched set of balls on a torn rug of a cloth. What's the big deal with bar tournaments, is it only because nothing else is available?
 
hang-the-9 said:
I have stayed away from smaller tables and bad equipment forever, yet many of the people I play with go to the bars to play APA players and make some cash with it. I hate playing on sub-par equipment, and even though it would be easy to play and make money in the bars I have never tried. Are thare any benefits aside from easy $5 a game bets to playing? I mean it's not like playing a D player will train your focus for the big tournament, especially if you use a mis-matched set of balls on a torn rug of a cloth. What's the big deal with bar tournaments, is it only because nothing else is available?
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even when I was broke it still never made sence to me , the BS of bar pool aint worth the easy $$$, I said that when I was a c+ with $40 in my pocket in 1986, after beating a guy for $20 and moving good enough and losing enough $$ back that When I was $20 ahead he quit-didnt pay me and told me if I wanted the $$ to come and get it. Man the door seemed far away, I did get out ok.

3 years ago when my back was just starting to get bad I hadnt picked up a cue in 2-3 months, I went to a place was going all the time on Sunset Strip in LA, I was living in LA full time then, its a resteraunt outside, club inside, I didnt know they had a box, We would park the Lambos 4-6 us every night in the front of the valet and jump the rail and sit at our table and just hang out, it was great spot, so one night I walked in and saw a box the securit guard who I awalys tipped $100/night to or more was playing some short guy-but I could tell he was a tough guy, I asked for the next game, as a joke I flipped a c-note out on the table when I was racking the balls-with no intention of action, out of no where his came, I let the bouncer hold them, I pushed balls around forever giving him his $$$'s worth he could play a little. when the time wass right I ran the last 3 off the table, missed the 8 by 1/8" he scratched on the 8 so I win. perfect so I thought....That guy would have killed me had Justin the bouncer not been sitting there-I gave him what I won, I made sure he was when the guy made the bet because of my prior experiences in bars. Wow that guy wanted a piece of me, I cant get into a fight because when you have $$$ everyone wants $100,000 for a broken nose, so I have bodyguards, but I do miss mixing it up sometimes.


bar pool for fun is ok, for $$$$-no thanks. Its better to play people pool for $$$ that are people who play for $$$, they know how to win and lose.
 
hang-the-9 said:
Are thare any benefits aside from easy $5 a game bets to playing?
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Free booze! Hard to argue with that. I used to spend a lot of nights in NYC bar hopping and playing lots of people for beers. Rather than spend the usual $70 for a night out in NYC, I drank for free!
 
it's easy to be selective about equipment when you have choices. the only tournaments within 100+ miles are on barboxes. the only 9' tables in town are at the university which means parking in a garage and walking far to get off univ. property for a smoke. the nearest poolhalls are in chicago or indy (maybe not indy anymore, i heard airport closed).

enjoy your freedom of choice, you're lucky to have it. plus, don't underestimate barbox play, just ask Keith, Kirkwood, etc.

one thing i like about playing on a barbox is, it's so easy on the surface but presents many little challenges that y'all 9' snobs aren't ready for. all that swerve deflection and such can be dealt with differently, cause the balls don't travel nearly as far. in many cases, you can 'muscle' the ball into doing what you want, if you know how.

that was a little long-winded for me. if you made it this far, thanks.

-s
 
it's cool if you're playing for beers! but as soon as cash gets involved the same guy that just spent 50 bucks on your drinks loses 50 in cash to you everything changes.

goofing around is fun but i like steak too much to loose teeth in a bar fight over 20bones
 
Sadly few rooms with great 4.5 x 9.0 equipment are around any longer in the Phoenix Metro Area. You can count the real Pool rooms on one hand and have finger or two left over. The majority of Pool is played in Bars. Having a real poor room, and keeping it open in today's challenging economy is a tough nut IMHO.
 
Guarantee you make more on the barbox than you can playing on the big table. Unless you're a champion and match up for very large cash. Think about it. You might never run up on a great player. If you do, you'll know it instantly. Go into a poolroom and ask to play some for $10 a game. They'll want your resume' and credentials, rankings, where you're from, etc. In a bar, it's almost expected to play for something. A lot of people will donate $50-100 to you. Try to win that daily from town to town in a poolroom. You'll end up trying to outrun the nuts. Try doing it in one town with only two or three poolrooms. After one week, you'll have everyone clocked, and they'll have you clocked.
 
Sure the free booze is always good if your beating some drunk washed up chump, but what about locla bar pool tournements, I live in the tampa bay florida area and there are always crap bars with crap pool tables that throw mini tournements once a week, and might I mention crap players, the payout isnt the best if you win, where I play 1st place is usually a hundred or more depending on how many people show up, and as long I dont drink too much I usually wind up winnin the pot. The only downside to playing in little crap tournements like this is you usually have to buy your own drinks, if you win the tournement and take a hundred bucks, bar tab is 50, u're reaLLy just winning free drinks and a little bit of money.

A lot of these bars down here in Fla that throw these weekly crap tournements wont let you play if you are an 'A' player, they dont like pros coming in and completely destroying the old washed up drunks, luckily I am nowhere near pro so I can try my hardest and maybe win :)
 
Bars

Bars are just trying to get business.
Tournaments are business for Pool players, pleasure for everyone else.
When you mix the 2, sh*t happens.

Money made in bars is mainly because of Ignorance, and is a lot like going to a carnival.
 
I can't remember the last time I played on a small table in the 45+ yrs I've been playing.

Wait a minute ... I can't remember anything anymore. :)

For me it wouldn't be so much a dislike for the small tables, I think it would be more the dislike for where they put them.... in bars, with all the attached smoke, noise, loud music and horseshit, that equates to the opposite of playing pool IMO.
 
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