The ownership has never been the same group. The original owners of the champs in Laurel, used to also own the Arlington VA, Frederick and Rockville MD locations, but have since each one has been sold to different people. Although one of the managers, Gary I believe owns the one in Frederick, which is a beautiful room and another long time patron, Wai Cho now owns Arlington, where I played for years. He too is a great guy and loves the game.
The Champs near Annapolis has always been owned by a completely different and independent person.
I've been there a few times and it wasn't so bad - has something happened to the room? There are many great old pool rooms in the area. I did hear Jack and Jills shut down, now that always reminded me of an old speakeasy in a way...I always wanted to knock on the door and whisper "Joe sent me". Another great old room was USA Billiards also in Laurel. It was a great one pocket room and hope it still is