Best and worst pool cities

[StevenPWaldon]

Too bad Santa Monica has toned down. Back when I frequented there, the minimum a game was usually $40. Danny Shades was always involved in $40 - $100 games, and sometimes more.

NYC seems to be pretty decent for $20 - $500. I see guys matching up a lot for one-pocket and 9-ball. Of course lately there's a lot of big action with the 14.1s in town (i.e., the Orcullo, Kiamco stories as of late). But like any place else, that's the exception to the rule. But with guys like Frankie, Shin-Young Park, and Chavez in this area it's always possible for big action to take place if any high-roller walks into town. They're not afraid to bet it up.

LA is either hit or miss too. Of course you got the action hounds like Morro and a couple others that will step up and bet it up. Right now the action is at Hardtimes. Very tough to find a game really anywhere else. One pocket maybe in Santa Monica, but I doubt theres anything more than 50-100/game

 

[Fatboy]

Sacramento is my favorite pool city, i lived for a year and for many years in stockton, i have travelled all over the USA and i like Sac the best

Vegas blows, too many lock artists beca, usethe casino's keep them busted so they go to the pool room looking for easy money, however its a great 1P city, but no good action-i have lived there for years on/off

 

[smashmouth]

the fact is there is no mecca, no pool capital of the USA, no tucked away small town where everyone and their mother shoots 100 and the streets are lined with proper rooms holding proper equipment and brimming with action

the best rooms in the country are no longer rooms per se, they're juke box filled bars and taverns that favour video games, poker machines, leagues over tournaments, ladie's nights, chicken wings and nachos, ppv wrestling, and much more non pool related crap

that is the ugly truth

these places are money makers, the more profitable ones hire staff with business degress and/or Hotel/Restaurant training, now the franchises are starting to really take over the scene

things change, evolve I guess and you gotta give the market what they want, such is life

 

[Cuephoric]

It used to be alot easier than it is now to find the good action out there.
I agree that Raleigh was a helluva hotspot with the big dogs always around. But so was New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, and a lot of little towns most people have never heard of. Dallas and Denver are sporadic as ever, just depending upon where you look. Albuqurque used to be great for a while. OKC has some good places, but mostly you already know who to look for when you get there. ( And you guys know who I'm talking about)
The last year or two I've found alot more between The Salt Lake area and Cheyenne. And in the high country there's not much else to do inside during the winter. But the west coast just doesn't seem to be as much a mecca spot as the East coast. Sure eventually everyone comes through here, but not as often as they do on the other coast.....
I'm ready to go for another road trip, but I'll probably shoot north this time just for the simple fact that I haven't been that way in a couple of years.
And it's TOO DAMN HOT TO GO SOUTH!!!!LOL
Although I've been hearing about a new kid playing out of Slim's in Amarillo....and since it's close to a fair amount of decent towns......

Even if it's not as much of a hotspot most of the time, at least there are some really damn good shooters out here, and there's always a game waiting.
After all, it's not called Hardtimes for nothing!


By the way Crawfish, I think I know who you are.... PM me when you get the chance. It's been a while!

 

[kevin s]

Tampa Bay

I lived in Tampa Bay area for over a year. There are alot of pool rooms there. If you invest the time you can find some regular cheap action and a pretty decent tournament almost every night of the week. In my area here , Cookeville,Tn. has some action but mainly on a bar table. Everything is quite right now. After all it is summertime!! My vote for the best action city is......LOUISVILLE , KY ....... IN JANUARY

 

[DEACON]

Red Shoes in Alsip Illinois. Always a lot of good games going on. All one pocket and banks but on most occasions, there are several several hundred and some thousands of dollar sets going on. Lots of action, unfortunately a lot of the same players day in and day out. New blood needed but a lot of game available. Deacon

 

[1 Pocket Ghost]

Correction

Chicago is hit or miss. Sometimes there is tons of action. Other times, you can't even get a game for a drink. Plus, the players have different game preferences. Up north, it seems to be 9 ball, on the south side, it is one pocket or banks.

Sorry susie, but I have to correct your mis-information.....Chicago's pool action is not hit-or-miss - it's static...the same players and the same action, everyday, at Chris's, Red Shoes, and Quentin Corners....with an out of town player popping up every once in awhile at Chris's or Red Shoes.........

.........And you then said > "Up north, it seems to be 9 ball, on the south side, it is one pocket or banks"......Duh, Chris's is the action room on the far north side of Chicago and it's a ONE POCKET room : 14 out of every 15 gambling sessions that take place there are One Pocket...And 9 ball is not even the second most gambled game at Chris's - the second most gambled game at Chris's is 3 cushion billiards............Sorry if I sound harsh, but I hate mis-information.

 

[Snapshot9]

Action

Wichita is a AAA city in Pool, and has been for a long time. We have many good players, and others improving, for it's size. Road players used to always hit Wichita on their swing up from Oklahoma City and Tulsa, or bounce back and forth for months on end, like Danny Basovich did for about 6 months.

But most of the best players are starting to get older now, and don't have the money nor near the inclination to gamble like they used to, and backers have dried up considerably since Papa Burke died.

$20 1 Pocket is equivalent to $5 Challenge 9 ball, and I would say, not much gamble at all. I would say that if you don't play $50 1 pocket, and $20 Challenge 9 ball, that you don't really have any gamble to you.

Getting a $50 or $100 a set matchup isn't that hard here, but if you go higher anymore, it can be more difficult, depending on who you know here.

A road player comes through now and then, but few and far between from the old days. Gabe comes back sometimes, and James Walden does too.
Most of the road players that swing through are from Oklahoma or Texas trying to find new ground. You can find the larger game here with some hunting. I have a good friend of mine, Mark Rogers, that played a road player awhile back for $2,500 and $4,000 sets.

Much of our current action is based around Terry Young, owner of Rumors billiards, a 3 time National champion, and Paul Wiegand, owner of Shooters billiards here. Both are very good players. Their places are the 'action' spots in Wichita since Papa Burke died. And their places are on the same street, just 3/4 mile apart.

The Midwest 9 ball tournament comes through here, but other than that, no good tours do. Lots of league action here though.

 

[poolplayer2093]

For all you road dogs! What are the best and worst places to play the game? I live in Sacramento and feel that this is a good place but I am curious where it ranks.

deleted by me

 

[Flex]

Sorry susie, but I have to correct your mis-information.....Chicago's pool action is not hit-or-miss - it's static...the same players and the same action, everyday, at Chris's, Red Shoes, and Quentin Corners....with an out of town player popping up every once in awhile at Chris's or Red Shoes.........

.........And you then said > "Up north, it seems to be 9 ball, on the south side, it is one pocket or banks"......Duh, Chris's is the action room on the far north side of Chicago and it's a ONE POCKET room : 14 out of every 15 gambling sessions that take place there are One Pocket...And 9 ball is not even the second most gambled game at Chris's - the second most gambled game at Chris's is 3 cushion billiards............Sorry if I sound harsh, but I hate mis-information.

Actually, there is some 9 ball action at Chris's from time to time, usually cheap. Looking for big action, not usually 9 ball, but the action is there. Ask me how I know? LOL

Flex

 

[1 Pocket Ghost]

Actually, there is some 9 ball action at Chris's from time to time

Flex

I never said there wasn't SOME 9 ball played at Chris's.

 

[thebigdog]

San Francisco is a horrible pool city. Too many lock artists and expensive cost of living really hurt the action there. There are some players, but nobody matches up.

 

[dukeboy1977]

horrible

The pool play in Erie,PA is no good either. We have some decent players, don't get me wrong, but finding someone who actually wants to play for something leaves ALOT to be desired. We have a ton of "woofers" here that like to talk trash, but the second you agree to play them, they have some excuse and have to leave. I know there are much better players in other places because nobody wants to help ANYONE in this city...and why should they, its not benefitting the better player in any way because even after helping someone here, the lesser player will NEVER want to play the guy that just showed him something that he maybe would have never learned on his own. This city is horrible for finding someone to play, as I just proved to myself again tonight. I was asked to play in a ring game, and when I said "sure, but I only have 1 hour", I got told something about one of the players having to go clean his car, or do something else car-related. WTF?!?!?! Its getting dark outside here, he'd have to do it tomorrow anyways! What a joke!

 

[tpdtom]

In my humble opinion, Detroit is and always was the mecca for pool action in the USA. In the Great Depression we had Detroit Recreation, a 13 floor bowling and billiards center with entire floors of different sized tables. Later in that century, in addition to a neighborhood poolroom on every main street, Detroit Rec had given way to The Basement Poolroom "The Hole", where Alton "Babyface" Whitlow, Harry "Pucci" Sexton, and Detroit Whitey called home when Billy "Cornbread Red" Burge arrived in Detroit. In the 1970s and 80s, The Capital Social Club in Oak Park, Mi , known the world over for action on a daily basis with the entire cast of greats as main characters became known as "The Rack" and was the greatest gambling room of all time. Every world class action player visited to get in on the action !

Today we have Hall of Fame Billiards in Warren, Mi as a destination for road players across the country. Anyone can get played there, with handicaps going up and down and the backers being well heeled and ready for business. Big matches take place almost on a daily basis. There are also a couple lesser action rooms on the other side of town, frequented by "bums and derelicts" looking for $1 hot dogs, as reported by Steve Lomako, where we from the East Side put the bite on the unsuspecting inhabitants when we visit . Just my .02...Tom

 

[mikepage]

For all you road dogs! What are the best and worst places to play the game? I live in Sacramento and feel that this is a good place but I am curious where it ranks.

Here are places I've either gambled at pool or played in a local tournament over the last ten years. IMO The place that's best for, say, Tony Chohan action is not necessarily the place that's the most friendly to and the best for cheap B-player action.

 

[nfty9er]

There is a glaring omission

Here are places I've either gambled at pool or played in a local tournament over the last ten years. IMO The place that's best for, say, Tony Chohan action is not necessarily the place that's the most friendly to and the best for cheap B-player action.

That is Louisville Ky. Why? Home of the DCC the greatest action since Johnson City.

 

[PIRANHA]

That is Louisville Ky. Why? Home of the DCC the greatest action since Johnson City.

I'LL VOTE ON LOUISVILE,DC AND YOU CAN FIND ACTION AT SHOOTERS IN OLATHE,KS.

 

[Craig Fales]

O.K. Let's see someone top this for bad.

There USED to be halfway decent bar action around here. A few years ago I finally gave up when some guy asked me to gamble. I was hitting them good that nite, knew this guy had NO chance, so I told him "How about a dollar a game?" He then told me he didn't want to bet that much!! It cost 75¢ to play a game!

That's like around Battle Creek...they get all limp for $5.00 a game...