Fights in a pool room

I dunno if my experience is really unusual but I've seen exactly one fight in pool hall.
Not even a serious one. They were shoving and shouting right on the other side of my table.
I tried to play it cool, not even glance up, and just cut a tough shot into the side pocket.
Fail, rolled it straight into the rail.

I also got shoved once but that's it.
Some guys got mad because I reported them for (wtf??) putting a chair up on the table.

I get the feeling it was something that used to happen more often,
back when you could hustle pool for good money and stay unknown.

I hear guys talk about how their local room is so tough and you'll get broken limbs or
murdered if you knock someone's action or stiff someone on a bet.

All I can say is... well, have fun with that lifestyle, but count me out.
 
CreeDo said:
I dunno if my experience is really unusual but I've seen exactly one fight in pool hall.
Not even a serious one. They were shoving and shouting right on the other side of my table.
I tried to play it cool, not even glance up, and just cut a tough shot into the side pocket.
Fail, rolled it straight into the rail.

I also got shoved once but that's it.
Some guys got mad because I reported them for (wtf??) putting a chair up on the table.

I get the feeling it was something that used to happen more often,
back when you could hustle pool for good money and stay unknown.

I hear guys talk about how their local room is so tough and you'll get broken limbs or
murdered if you knock someone's action or stiff someone on a bet.

All I can say is... well, have fun with that lifestyle, but count me out.
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You just dodged it in your area by about 15yr. There were a couple guys who threw down pretty damn regulrly.

Played pretty damn well too. Took a good player to beat either, and a rough MFer to leave with it. Tough action.:smash:
 
couple of times

Once, I was playing where a ruckus started across the room and it involved some guy walking past a girl shooting and made some kind of comment that the boyfriend didn't like; next thing you see is pool balls flying and the guy's head is bleeding and the cops are called ........

Another time I was playing partners with a filipino guy against 2 Samoan brothers.......we started out playing friendly (5 bucks a man) ....after we won the first couple, my partner and one of the brothers wanted to jack it up; me and the other brother kept it friendly but they kept going higher and the Samoan guy ended up owing my partner a couple hundred bucks, but he said he didn't have the money to pay.....well, my partner said he had seen him earlier with money in his pocket, and kept badgering him for the money....
It got to the point where the filipino guy broke a cue stick over the Samoan guy's forehead, and the Samoan guy had the filipino guy on the floor choking him, all the while with blood streaming down his face.... Being that I considered them both friends of mine, I got in between them and separated them but looking back on it, maybe it was not so smart on my part, since it wasn't my business........
 
Saw a guy get punched onto a table and then when tried to get off the table to fight back another guy broke the butt of a house cue on his head and that was it... goodnight...
 
This one wasn't even a fight but it was pretty funny. I beat some drunk out of his taco bell money. He was lit but insisted on gambling. After we were done playing I sat at a square coctail table with my buddy. The drunk followed me back to the table yapping about what could, shoulda, woulda been. I was keeping one eye on him because he was bent out of shape. I saw him lunge, so I turned quick. Oops, he wasn't lunging. He was passing out standing up. His mouth hit the corner of our table flush. His teeth were everywhere. They looked like popcorn all over the floor. Good times.
 
A bar I use to go to after skydiving had a pool table and me and my jumper buddies would play. The one weekend I went home instead after jumping, a guy in that same bar was shot to death over a quarter on the table. Stupid way to die.

The only time I witnessed a fight over a pool game, I was in it. I was shooting again a Dutch skydiver I knew. He was a serious backgammon player and hustler. It seems he hustled everyone who would play him. I don't play backgammon so he never got me.

Well that year I invented a new game for skydivers and he wanted to play me at my own game that I invented...In fifteen minutes I took $60 bucks off of him and everyone on the drop zone cheered. Finally somebody took money off of Jerry Van.

So back to the pool game. It was his table and I put my quarters down. He was still pissed at me and said, we're playing for $5. I said fine, no big deal. Well I ran the table and made the 8 ball in the designated pocket. Everyone saw it and he said he wasn't going to pay up because the 8 ball rattled both side of the pocket before it dropped.

I said eff it. Keep you five dollars if you need it that bad, but don't ever play me pool again. Well I'm on the table now and playing an opponent that was shooting. I was sitting on a bar stool when out of my ear I hear the sore loser mumble something at me. I looked in in the eye and said what did you say???

He called me a few choice names and I looked him right in the face and said, "I thought that's what you said." Before he even knew it, I hit him with one shot and he went down. He started to come back and I went down on him hard. Took six guys to get me off him. Well everyone there knew me and knew what went down. He was thrown out of the bar and told never to come back. Everyone kept buying me drinks all night and that was the end of it.

But, that was twenty years ago. I don't condone getting into fights and don't even like fighting but this guy just pushed the wrong button that night. Plus today you would end up in jail and get sued for everything you own.

Not worth it.
 
Socopool79 said:
Ever been involved or seen one. One time I was t mother's in Charlotte some guys came in and started chucking pool balls across the room then ran out and I heard gun shots. I took cover behind a pool table. Another time at college played a kid for some dough, beat him, and got kneed in the stomach for it. Another time beat some drunk guy at a bar for a few hundred and he wanted to go outside. Told home leave me the f@&k alone and he ends up waiting in the parking lot for me in his car. Got lucky and a cop does a turn around in the parking lot and the guy takes off. Any stories?
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Seen the guns come out inside the pool room back in the cocaine days, a few times.

Timmy Quong got shot in the leg thru the door one night (I wasnt there) at great American in Sacramento-he was ok. good guy i'm sure i misspelled his name. He was playing on the back table and outside they were playing around with a gun and the bullet went thru the back door & hit Timmy in the leg, brutal. He is the nicest guy you can imagine, it was a accident.



they shot Ted Ito's car full of holes at the Joint around that time too, Ted's car was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ted was not the target. thats all i got to say about that one.


As far as fights go seen plenty, saw a guy clock a guy upside the head with a HEAVY beer mug, one guy went out the back door the other on a stretcher-it was bad.

Saw a guy walk a lap around the pool room telling everyone "I'm gonna go outside and kick this guys ass" there was 200 people there that night 50,60,75 made it out side. There was a line at the door to come in so there was over 100 people outside, when was teh last time you saw a line at the door of a pool room?The other guy didnt seem to mind all the advertising of the up coming event in the parking lot, I should have bet on it., so the 50,60,75? people go outside and the guy not saying much looked like he couldnt win(looks mean nothing)-I had a feeling he was going to win because he didnt seem worried. the guy running his mouth, got kicked in the nuts, he bent over the little guy grabbed his head and kneed him in the face to stand him up and dropped him with a punch(a uppercut) it was a 3 move sequence that looked like he practiced it 1000 times, no different than SVB breaking the balls good, that easy., the loud mouth guy got up same move 3 seconds and he was laying on the ground KO. Man this guy was like Chuck Liddell, the loud guy had as much chance as i do playing SVB with one hand. I knew that guy had the best of it, he didnt break a sweat, went back inside and started banging balls, like nothing happened, it was so busy the security guys didnt see who got in a fight except the guy on the ground outside.

Just before the fight I had asked him to gamble, he said "no" and was cool, the guy who got his ass kicked asked him to play 5 minutes after me and started making fun of him for being scared to bet on a pool game. I just backed off when he said "no" the other guy didn't.He couldn't play pool at all and was with 2 or 3 girls and guys, I almost didnt ask him., i could see why sucked at pool, he was at the gym learning to be Bruce Lee all day while we played pool, LOL. I'm real glad he didnt say "yes" when i asked him to bet $20, LOL that was the standard opener for a game at this room, race to 5 for $20. I got off cheap, i never insulted anyone for being scared to play, it never ends good.
 
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Ive told this story before on az. but heres a rerun

there is a guy down here in south florida named rodney. Hes a roofer by trade. About 5-7 and 300+. Ears that go straight down into traps. Use to be an all state wrestler and is a gifted natural athlete. Plays jamup pool and even better at fighting. Anyways, Rodney has a daughter who was a national level softball player and he use to take her to tournaments around the country. At night, Rodney would go to the pool rooms and get matched up.

So he is at this pool room and he is playing for a decent amt of money. Unfriendly rooms dont really faze Rodney and this room starts getting hostile. At one point the backer of his opponent says F*Ck this guy hes not getting paid! Rodney sidles over to his opponent and grabs ahold of him and says....Oh im getting paid alright or we can just go ahead and fight for the money right now! All of you! Then he grabs his opponent even harder and says to him... And when the sh*t gets started, you and me are going to be in the bottom of the pile...and im going to gouge out your eye!" <turning to the hostile crowd> Well, whats it going to be?

Rodney got paid.
 
I went over to see my friend Billy Teeter one night back in 90-91 in Vallejo at a pool room, could have been 89, yeah 89. Billy was playing around with building cues and we would go over to see him, hang out, play pool at a local joint there-he ended up buying a few years later.


anyways one night we go there and we have one table, the guy behind the counter was brutal, the worst most negative person i ever saw in my life, ever. Billys house at the time was 3 miles away and he went there all the time, the guy could see we were all together with Billy 3 of us, me Mike Mitchell and Billy. the room was empty it was 1am, cold, week night and the biz was run into the ground, this guy was probably the reason why. I asked for another set of balls, he wanted my ID. I aint ever once gave up my ID for a set of balls in a pool room i my life-still to this day. I didnt have it anyways, i said very nicely "were all here together, Billys got it", guy told me to go F* myself, Wow!!! After a negoation i got the balls, it didn't end there. anything anyone asked for this guy just mother F8cked for no reason.


I took the high road, not sure why but I did and was just nice as could be to him, i started calling him "Smiley" right to his face, all night. when we left at 2:15, I told Billy to keep calling him "Smiley", he thought that was funny and did. I asked him a week later on the phone if he was stil busting that guys balls, Billy was-good Job. I said "that guy i gonna get it some day being the way he is".


so 3-4 weeks later we go back to that room with Billy after hanging out at Billys house for a while. When we walked in there was someone new there, i was a bit disappointed, i wanted to bust Smilies balls. I asked Billy " Hey man where is Smiley, is he off tonight?", Billy said "He s dead, i forgot to tell you". "Bullshit", "No, he was down in a bar in Santa Cruz last week and hit on this girl and her boyfriend didnt like him too much, shanked him right there in the bar infront of everyone" WOW.....The story is the boyfriend tilted out and stabbed Smiley and got caught right on the spot, he must have been pissed to do that, of course Smiley had that effect on people, I knew that guy was gonna get it. Thats probably why I didnt Tee off on him, I have never seen a more miserable person in my life. So I told Billy "Good couldn't have happened to a better guy". We laughed for a second and havent talked about it since.
 
In my younger days (11, 12, 13), I spent a lot of summer times hitchhiking around the upper midwest - North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin.

Late afternoons, I find the local pool hall and played pickup games for a quarter a game or so to get supper money.

Started playing this freckled kid (about 12) and got him for the table time and about $4.00 (all in hand). He leaves and I bang balls for about 1/2 hour. When I went outside to look for a cafe, suddenly I'm surrounded by this guy and his buddies. They shove me up against a wall, demanding the money back. After a few punches, I went down. Just as they were digging into my pockets, a cop car came down the street. Suddenly the kids disappear. The cop got out and checked me over for damage. He warned me that these guys would be looking for me if I stayed in town.

He gave me a ride to a nearby state highway after a little clean up at the station. To this day (50 years later), the first thing I scan for on entering a new pool hall is possible hoodlums. Bad experiences have long memories.
 
My brother and I were involved in one in which we Clearly stated we were playing by league rules with some kids, they hit a jump shot to win the game. However he scooped it instead of doing a legal jump, we called a foul which resulted in them losing the game and money. They then denied that was a rule so my brother grabbed the rule hand book and showed the guy. His woman then hit the rules out of my brothers hand and all hell broke lose my brother with a bloody nose, me attempting to fly over a table and hit someone and somehow ending up in a head lock lol

p.s. the guys girl was not involved in any actual fighting lol
 
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I have posted this before on this forum but here it goes anyway. I just got out of the active duty Navy the same day and a buddy of mine took me out bar hopping. The last bar was a dive I never had frequented before but it had pool tables which was fine by me.

Now at that time I wasn't that good of a player and I was buzzed to boot. Me and my buddy are the only ones playing on the back table when a drunk enters the room talking about gambling. My buddy plays him for $2 and losses. I play for the same amount and I get beat. Then my buddy again.

This guys mouth is shooting off and he's really talking down to us. My buddies flat broke now and the drunk says, "You want your money back? I'll play you the $2 against your flip flops your wearing!"

My buddy agrees then losses. He turns to me and says, "You want to get your buddies flip flops back for a $2 bet?" I agree to the bet and I win. We play again...I win. Again...I win. Again...I win.

Now this drunks speech was slurred and he says something about breaking and flipping for it. I tell him that, "I won it's my break." He starts to walk away then turns around with a quarter and says, "Call it." Like an involuntary reaction I say, "Heads." It comes up tails. He says, "You lose give me my $2."

I studder and stammer and say, "I thought we were flipping for the break."
He's pissed but laughs and walks off towards the bar.

I sit down as another player wants to play me for $2. Now as he's racking my vision of the table becomes obscured by the drunk. He squares off in front of me and swings just grazing my head. I'm helpless in a sitting position sort of against the wall. So I do the only thing I can do and that's grab him and pull him close. Now hes trying to beat my ribs but hits the chair repeatedly because I have him bent over at the waist. Again I saw only one choice, I reach around with my right hand gouging his left eye and yanking his head back with all I could muster. My left arm will not let him go.

It the words of my buddy he said, "I never thought a big guy like that could scream like a little girl!"

He tried gouging back but his position wouldn't allow it.

Now I was scarred to death. He out weighted me by close to 75-100 lbs! An eternity passes and finally 5-6 guys separate us. They pull him to the other side of the room and he goes out the back door. Then once the ruse is set he comes back in and grabs a pool cue and starts across the room at me.

I'm standing at the rack with 15 balls in it. I start fast balling and he starts dodging ineffectively. Out of about 8-9 balls half of them hit and my buddies yelling, "Go to the car!"

He finally gets too close and chases me from behind the table. He falls to the floor trying to negotiate the turn as I make it to the door. I run and jump in the backseat of my buddies GTO convertible for a clean getaway.

That was my one and only pool playing close call...
 
I had 3 cue sticks broken on my head

I'm almost 68 now so if there is another one it will probably kill me but on three different occasions over the past 50 years I had someone break a cue stick across my skull from behind, but of course I fought back and done considerably more damage to my attackers !
 
I spent most of the early part of my life working in pool rooms, so I have seen a fight or two but one stands out in my mind. I was working in a room that was in a rough neighborhood when I was in college when a fight broke out between two of my "sketchy" regulars. I get in the middle and break it up along w/ a couple of my other regulars help and throw both guys out....disaster avoided...for the time being. About an hr later one of the guys comes back in to see one of his buddies and naturally he is hoped up on something. So after an exchange of some pleasantries he takes a poke at me on the landing at the top of the stairs.....you know, like kind in the COM when they go upstairs to the pool room turned furniture storage. So at the point I realize that this not going to remedy itself I pop this guy and he goes all the way down the stairs and smashes out the glass door at the bottom of the stairs. I honestly thought the guy was dead...and 1/2 hoping he was too as I wasn't too keen on the idea of being shot in the parking lot. I grab his friend (who I always got along with) and ask him to take him home and let this lie. He tells me that we are cool but he can't speak for the rest of this guys friends and that I might want to call it a night and beat feet. I call the owner and tell him what happened and let him know that he has exactly 5 minutes to get down here and that I quit.

Fast forward a month I am at my other job working at a Detox center (also in the same neighborhood as the pool room) and who am I doing the intake for....you guessed it, the guy I knocked down the stairs. We didn't have an issue and he apologized but I walked w/ eyes in the back of my head for a while.
 
Socopool79 said:
Ever been involved or seen one. One time I was t mother's in Charlotte some guys came in and started chucking pool balls across the room then ran out and I heard gun shots. I took cover behind a pool table. Another time at college played a kid for some dough, beat him, and got kneed in the stomach for it. Another time beat some drunk guy at a bar for a few hundred and he wanted to go outside. Told home leave me the f@&k alone and he ends up waiting in the parking lot for me in his car. Got lucky and a cop does a turn around in the parking lot and the guy takes off. Any stories?
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It's so sad. Mother's was a nice place to shoot back in the 80's (until it got sold and went downhill). Went there somewhere around 1988 or 89 to shoot in National Regionals (9 ball I think it was). I still have a Mother's Billiards embroidered sport shirt in my closet. Sad to see it turn into a dump.

On your thread... I used to operate a gameroom and between there and other places that I've played I've seen more fights than I can count... and I've had to break up way too many as well. When there's money on the table people get testy. The worst that I ever saw was a big money game and a spectator kept talking trash during the match. I knew both the heckler and the shooter. It wasn't in my place so I sat back and told my friend "that loud mouth is fixing to get his head bashed in any second now". I knew that because the guy who was shooting was banned from my place for fighting and was a real badazz when he got mad.
I no sooner got the words out of my mouth when the shooter dropped his cue, leaped over a 3' railing and started punching the hecklers face at will. He then took the guy and slammed his face into a video game, breaking the glass and leaving his victim laying bloody and unconscious on the floor (if he was even still alive).
The irony of all of this... I had told my buddy that I wanted to go someplace where we could just shoot and not have to deal with fights or flying beer bottles. Oops... wrong choice there eh? :eek:
 
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