Best Area in Florida for Pool

Scott Lee said:
JAM...I also live near Clearwater, and there are literally 10 pool halls (not pool bars) within 5-20 minutes of me, on this side of the bay. Great weather...the beach is just a few minutes away, and as Joe mentioned, not much hurricane activity, although it can rain hard. :thumbup:

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
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jam as you know scott has devoted his life to pool
the tampa /clearwater area is a beautiful area of florida
 
I couldn't ask for a better response from my AzBilliards family. In the end, whether we're a social shooter, a league player, a teacher, a pool cue mechanic, a pool cuemaker, a pro player, an author, or a railbird like me, we are all members of the Tribe of Pocket Billiards.

Thank you to all for taking the time to write in this thread. I really appreciate it very much.
 

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JAM said:
I couldn't ask for a better response from my AzBilliards family. In the end, whether we're a social shooter, a league player, a teacher, a pool cue mechanic, a pool cuemaker, a pro player, an author, or a railbird like me, we are all members of the Tribe of Pocket Billiards.

Thank you to all for taking the time to write in this thread. I really appreciate it very much.
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I have to say this. You should focus on what you want?

Keith has not hit a ball in like 10 years. He does not give lessons. I could see him doing commentary with billy sometimes.

He would never be allowed in any league. His hustlin personas got killed by the color of money. Only thing left is tournaments and those battles non of them are in or near Florida. No one from his era except earl and efren play in the major events and earl was a no show at derby.

From what I heard major pool action is limited to new Orleans / Atlanta / Texas

You can go hunting Justin hall, but that might not be wise? But, what do I know???

Kd

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
 
Clearwater has some of the nicest weather in the U.S. but road traffic can be awful (as it can be in South Florida). Action in South Florida on both coasts is highly room-specific. There are some places where it's great.
 
IUTrader said:
My recommendation is to move to Pinellas County (Clearwater area). You'll be on the coast, and you can follow rt. 19 up or down and find the following pool halls:

Strokers - Palm Harbor: Strokers has an in house Straight Pool league, APA Masters, regular APA, and a Sunday night 10 ball tournament ($5 entry) where the house doubles the pot. Great food, too. This was my favorite place to play.

Also along route 19:

The Crooked Cue


Hammer Heads

Stix - Palm Harbor runs one or two tournaments a week, hosts leagues, and has good food. All 9 foot tables.


Also in the area:
Family Billiards - No website. Good one pocket action, small bar, no kitchen, sells chips & candy bars. Smokey.

Side-Pocket Billiards has beer & wine only, limited menu. 10 9' tables.

Stix - Dunedin has 9 or 10 9' Gold Crowns, hosts weekly tournaments. Full bar, no kitchen.

Jesse's Bar/CM's Place in Seminole

Corner Pocket in Largo, FL. They host leagues, including a handicapped straight pool, and I believe they are trying to start a one-pocket league. Also hosts tournaments.

Capone's up in Spring Hill (not Pinellas County, but not too far) has 11 diamond bar boxes and 8 9' tables (not sure of the make.) They have regular weekly tournies, leagues, and are a regular host of Tony Crosby's Florida Pool Tour.

Across the bay in the north part of Tampa, you have Fatso's (You'll find Jeannette Lee here w/her APA franchise), which runs regular weekly tournaments (8 & 9 ball), and there is almost ALWAYS one pocket action to be found. Fatso's is also NON-SMOKING, which I think is a big plus.

Finally, there is a great facebook group Pool Players of Pinellas where you will find postings for local tournaments (a number of bars in the area host bar table tournaments frequently), buy/sell cues, and most importantly, lots of barking for action (occasionally results in actual games being played!)

There are plenty of other reasons to choose this area, but as this is a pool forum, I will limit the response to pool-related info.

*Paid for by the Pinellas County Tourism Management Bureau.
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I think this post pretty much says it all. I travelled the country for two and a half years looking for a place with a healthy pool community. I wound up in Palm Harbor (Pinellas county) for all of the reasons that the above poster and others have indicated.
 
Does anyone remember a bar/pool hall that was above a restaurant in St. Pete Beach FL? It was right across the street from a nice resort / Hotel (I forget the name of it, but it was on the beach). I was there in the late 90's (for around a month), and I really liked the place. It was the only pool hall in St. Pete Beach (I think). I see that it is no longer there, and just wondering if any of you guys ever visited the place? The owner was really nice. There was usually a good ring game going every night of the week, and I think they had a few tournaments a week (race to 1 8 ball, double elimination, which was a really tough tournament to win, due to all of the strong players in the field). I miss that area. It was really nice.
 
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justinb386 said:
Does anyone remember a bar/pool hall that was above a restaurant in St. Pete Beach FL? It was right across the street from a nice resort / Hotel (I forget the name of it, but it was on the beach). I was there in the late 90's (for around a month), and I really liked the place. It was the only pool hall in St. Pete Beach (I think). I see that it is no longer there, and just wondering if any of you guys ever visited the place? The owner was really nice. There was usually a good ring game going every night of the week, and I think they had a few tournaments a week (race to 1 8 ball, double elimination, which was a really tough tournament to win, due to all of the strong players in the field). I miss that area. It was really nice.
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I was in st.pete beach 2 years ago and there wasnt much iirc. I ended up going to side pockets and played the owner (pete)? Some one pocket.

It was fun, you could smoke, and they had a diamond or 2.

There was no action and just seemed like a low key joint, the owner was very nice and obliged me with a few games.
 
Justin386, The Pool Hall you are talking about is/WAS

STIX on the beach, on St. Pete Beach.

This poolhall was located above Silas Steak House.

This poolhall closed about 5 years ago.

mike 'acedonkeyace' kennedy
 
Jam….

Tampa/St Pete/Clearwater most places to play and beautiful area to live. I live in Daytona on the other side, not much action here unless I go north to Jax or south/west a few hours.

I lived in ft lauderdale while in school, and there are places to play but not the depth of players or action you will find around Tampa. Good luck in your search! Come down and visit in july/august. Guaranteed you will lose 10lbs walking around in the heat/sun! It truly is 10 deg hotter in south fl vs central fl……… Scott
 
Just to resurrect this thread a little bit with current information. The pool room Livingston's in Bradenton has new owners. I believe the place is a much better visit then in the past. Nice tournament on Wednesday and Friday evenings and very nice equipment.
 
dogginda9 said:
Just to resurrect this thread a little bit with current information. The pool room Livingston's in Bradenton has new owners. I believe the place is a much better visit then in the past. Nice tournament on Wednesday and Friday evenings and very nice equipment.
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Thanks for the update. I am in Pinellas and visited there once in 2014. The tables were old and it didn't seem a players' room. Do you know if it still has a non-smoking section? And are the tables new?
 
Florida has some great areas to retire, it is very Cigar friendly, the only negative is too many New Yorkers, and wild seniors.
 
I moved to Florida a little over 3 years ago from MD, I live in St Augustine/Jacksonville area and there is a strong pool presence here but it’s different.

APA is the common league, so decent sized pool halls with lots of tables. Some allow smoking so if you like that, there are plenty. If you like non smoking pool halls there are a few. League nights are very late here, up north in a BCA league we would play on two tables so the night finished pretty early.

I work in Miami and travel the state so I get to see most areas of the state and country. We are very happy with the move to Florida.
 
axejunkie said:
Thanks for the update. I am in Pinellas and visited there once in 2014. The tables were old and it didn't seem a players' room. Do you know if it still has a non-smoking section? And are the tables new?
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Yes . There is a non-smoking section there.
 
most rooms are smoking and have no action. around tampa there are no smoking rooms with action. stuart also. and miami area. but terrible traffic and people.

north part of the state is below the trade winds and is colder in the winter defeating the purpose. inland is more humid and more bugs. you want to be on the coast.

the villages is a golf community with 100,000 people. no action as its a senior place with activities. most people like it there but it is inland .

summers are hot 90 degrees and very humid. most leave if they can afford to.
 
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