Dirty Valley

[dquarasr]

I just played a few “last pocket” 8-ball with some youngsters on a decrepit Valley 7-ft coin op.

On an easily hit ball, it rolled off 4-5 inches lengthwise. Ok, I figured that out. But I wasn’t prepared for the condition of the balls.

The CB had a hole in it in about 4-5mm. The balls probably hadn’t been cleaned for years.

The amount of cling was incredible. Extreme outside or really good pace was required to compensate. My first few shots were off by more than a diamond on some cuts, especially with side spin (which I probably shouldn’t have tried given I’ve played over a year now with an LD CF shaft.)

And forget about trying to quickly figure out cut induced spin off cushions on bank shots. I never did in three racks, although I dd manage to guess on a two-rail lengthways bank to pocket the 8 in the “last” pocket.

And I was playing with the best of the cues, all featuring overlay replacement tips, you know, the kind you slip on over the ferrule.

I played my three games as planned and left (lost the last trying to bank into last pocket, a corner, missed by a ton and the 8 ran around to a side pocket.)

But it gives me additional respect for roaders walking into a place cold and playing against people with “home” advantage.

 

[KUKABUKA]

Did you have fun?

 

[MitchAlsup]

When I see a table like that, I allow the opponent to get used to the table, and then I ask him if he would mind if I cleaned the balls.

PRESTO he can't make anything.....

 

[bbb]

I just played a few “last pocket” 8-ball with some youngsters on a decrepit Valley 7-ft coin op.

On an easily hit ball, it rolled off 4-5 inches lengthwise. Ok, I figured that out. But I wasn’t prepared for the condition of the balls.

But it gives me additional respect for roaders walking into a place cold and playing against people with “home” advantage.

its amazing how fast those guys can adjust

 

[tim913]

Yep came up through the leagues in central Illinois playing a lot of different bars, all valley tables, most were dirty and sticky covered in powder. No such thing as pocket speed but we had a great time

 

[Flakeandrun]

The valley at my local dive had some vultures eating McDonald's fries off the cloth last Friday. It's one of my favorite pieces of shit in the universe.

 

[Texas3cushion]

Dirty valley bar box 8 ball is one of my favorite games. The balls act so much different that it just becomes a fun experience for me. Many things you can do that you couldn't do under normal/average conditions.

 

[maha]

that separates the skilled from the not. being able to adjust to whatever conditions you face.
ive run into things like that all over. but they have to play on them as well.

once on a rainy winter evening 1969 or so headed into a bar on cape cod. and found a bunch of players playing 20 or so a rack put your quarter
up. with some betting on the side.

bad everything including. cuts in the cloth, rolloffs, dirt, and no chalk at all for anyone there. i didnt have any in my car so i had to improvise. i knew i couldnt put sand or something as they would probably get mad and the tips were like glass. so i went outside on the walk way concrete and scuffed the tip up. that worked fine as i didnt want to use hardly any english because everyone played so badly and not wanting to get run out. had to do it after every two games or so but i cleaned out the bar.
got by with pouring out my drinks as well.

 

[maha]

hustling in bars you never hit many shots very hard. the locals hit soft and the balls roll wherever they want. play like they do.

plus by hitting soft you can miss all you want and block pockets for later. run out more than three and you can kiss all the action goodby.
then you get to be the best player and go home with 100 bucks or less.

 

[Jedco]

Having traveled quite a bit for work, I've played on a lot of crappy valley bar tables. Adjusting to rough conditions is part of the game, but sometimes it plays a bigger role than others. I was just in Kentucky at a place called Otter Creek Tavern, which had among the worst tables I've seen in a long time. It took me a couple of days to figure out how to play, but after awhile I actually felt like I could run some racks. By far the worst conditions I've experienced were when I spent several months working in Australia. I played in every dive bar and pool hall I could find, and while the Asian run halls were wonderful, the local places generally had astonishingly bad equipment. Even good sized pool rooms tended to have severely damaged cloth, gouged balls, and zero maintenance. The house cues there were so bad, I bought a cue and traveled with it, which was a huge pain in the ass working on ships, where space is at a premium.

 

[dquarasr]

Did you have fun?

Yup