Bring Your Own Pool Balls - BYOPB?

cueball2010

cueball2010

Active member
At what point should we bring our own pool balls to a pool hall?

I do see the point I think... You want to make sure there are no balls with divots and dirt causing cling? At least I think that is the point. But is there a certain skill/fargo/speed level we should get to before even thinking about BYOPB?
 
Bring your own balls if you want to play with your own balls. No gatekeeping on that decision.

I bring my own if I'm playing with intent (practice or matching up with someone) at an otherwise grimy pool hall. So not often, but once or twice a year on average.
 
If a poolhall does not keep up with their equipement i don't bother going. This is what you are paying for.

A local poolhall i use to go didn't bother cleaning the tables, after about a dozen times going. I just stopped and have not been their since. When i was a kid i worked in a pool hall that was bigger then that and i got the place cleaned in a hour
 
cueball2010 said:
At what point should we bring our own pool balls to a pool hall?
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1. When the worn balls at the pool hall won't create a tight rack.
2. When you like the looks of your balls better, and you would enjoy playing with them more than the ball set the pool hall provides.

Prerequisites:
1. The pool hall has wood or carpeted floors.
2. You put your hands in the pockets and feel around, and there are no tacks or nails sticking out.
 
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7stud said:
1. When the worn balls at the pool hall won't create a tight rack.
2. When you like the looks of your balls better.

Prerequisites:
1. The pool hall has wood or carpeted floors.
2. You put your hands in the pockets and feel around, and there are no tacks or nails sticking out.
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You prereq is solid. This is a must.
 
I bring my own pool balls, as the hall I play at has cheap ball sets and they are badly maintained. I've been carrying my own set for years, and they have the scars to show it due to old tables with ball return systems (now they have newer tables with drop pockets), balls flying off the table, etc. They are still better than the club's balls; I have a new set waiting for the old one to get to a state that I'll have to retire them.
They have at the club two sets of Black Aramith, but you need to pay extra to rent them, and they are not that clean, so I prefer to bring my own.

If it's just a night out at the pool hall, I probably won't bring my set of balls.

I also won't bring them to a league or a tournament, as I think that everybody should use the same type of balls, and I don't want to deal with moving the balls from table to table between matches.

At another place that I visited just last week for the first time for a tournament, they have sets of Aramith black for all the tables, and everything is maintained nicely, but it is more expensive to play there, and I prefer my usual club atmosphere better.
 
skor said:
I bring my own pool balls, as the hall I play at has cheap ball sets and they are badly maintained. I've been carrying my own set for years, and they have the scars to show it due to old tables with ball return systems (now they have newer tables with drop pockets), balls flying off the table, etc. They are still better than the club's balls; I have a new set waiting for the old one to get to a state that I'll have to retire them.
They have at the club two sets of Black Aramith, but you need to pay extra to rent them, and they are not that clean, so I prefer to bring my own.

If it's just a night out at the pool hall, I probably won't bring my set of balls.

I also won't bring them to a league or a tournament, as I think that everybody should use the same type of balls, and I don't want to deal with moving the balls from table to table between matches.

At another place that I visited just last week for the first time for a tournament, they have sets of Aramith black for all the tables, and everything is maintained nicely, but it is more expensive to play there, and I prefer my usual club atmosphere better.
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I'm looking for a personal set but we have the ball return system tables. My buddy brought his from home. After a few matches they got super dirty and he vowed not to take it out again. LOL

You don't know what's down the ball returns.

Casual players view it was a trash can and will throw wrappers in them or whatever they can fit in there.
 
Why if the Pool Balls at Pool Room are quality?


If the Pool Room’s are chipped, out of round, why even go to a place that has marginal equipment?
 
billiards_watch said:
I'm looking for a personal set but we have the ball return system tables. My buddy brought his from home. After a few matches they got super dirty and he vowed not to take it out of the house again. LOL
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Dirt can be cleaned
The old tables at my pool hall were badly maintained they caused scratches and tiny dings to the balls.
They are still playable and I don't feel the need to replace them.
A good set of balls cost a lot of money these days, The Aramith Pro TV cup used to go for around $250
 
billiards_watch said:
I'm looking for a personal set but we have the ball return system tables. My buddy brought his from home. After a few matches they got super dirty and he vowed not to take it out of the house again. LOL
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CocoboloCowboy said:
Why if the Pool Balls at Pool Room are quality?


If the Pool Room’s are chipped, out of round, why even go to a place that has marginal equipment?
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Sometimes there are no other options for a better place
 
skor said:
Sometimes there are no other options for a better place
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Ditto. Phoenix West Side places 🤮

Largest Room on West Side is right in middle of homeless area.

Will I find my Car like I left?

Places needs security, but that cost money.
 
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At what point should you......

If their dirty.
If their out of round or really old.
If they never get polished.

At first I started bringing my own cue ball, then I started bringing my brand new set.

I don't think there is a certain speed you need to be, just as nobody needs to be a certain speed to enjoy an expensive custom cue.
 
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25 years ago I was probably seen upon as a pool snob or elitist because I brought my own set of Centennial pool balls
to use at the pool halls I frequented. Nowadays, I just blend in because I see several sets being carried into the pool hall. At Sierra Billiards, where I have an annual membership, their pool balls get polished every day and for members, I can get my set of pool balls polished at no charge whenever I want. I know polished balls have less cling and it does affect cut shots so I only polish my travel set of Centennials weekly but I own a few sets of Centennials. Since I started doing this decades ago, I’ve never griped about the condition or appearance of pool balls I play with at any pool hall.
 

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I take a set of my own to the PR.

That way I know:
They are minty fresh out of the polisher
The CB is matched to the OBs and not some pygmy ball with 100,000 miles on it and
The surface of the CB hasn’t been gnawed to death by phenolic break cue tips

Lou Figueroa
 
I have brought my own set before. The 4 tables at the bar I was playing league at had filthy, unmatched sets. I would bring my own set of Cyclop balls and always gave my opponent the choice of whether or not to use them. Everyone always opted to switch the bar's set out for my clean, matched set.

On my table at home I play with either Aramith Tournaments, Aramith Black or Centenniels so the chance of ever rotating in the Cyclop set that came with my Diamond is non existent.
 
I was playing at the best pool hall in town, a good sized city actually. I had bought a thirty dollar set of balls to cut up for a project I never got around to. I took the junk balls to the hall one day, they were new and matched however. Those thirty dollar balls played so much better than the balls in the hall it was an eye opener!

If I were to play a serious money match a new set of balls would be one of the requirements. New quality balls are worth one to two balls for my game, which is mostly talking about how bad my game is!(grin)

There is another thread running right now, what does a perfect stroke feel like. You will feel it a lot more often with perfect balls.

Hu
 
I feel at a pool hall I shouldn’t have to. The reason people are there is to play pool so the equipment should all be in good condition .

Now bar pool on the other hand I’ve seen plenty of teams bring their own balls. Hell I’ve seen bars keep a set of nice balls just for the leagues to use because honestly most bars around here don’t care about pool. It’s just something to keep the people occupied so they stay longer and buy more beer. The place we just played at this week I was glad we brought a cue ball because the one was some knock off that hand no wax on it left so between that and the terrible humid conditions you can stroke the piss out of it and maybe get it to draw back 3 or 4 diamonds lol
 
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