Golden Fleece Billiards, Kenmore, WA: Exemplary!

Measle Ball

Measle Ball

King of the .99-ball run.
Silver Member
Today I drove about 100 miles south and paid a visit to my brother and afterwards decided to stop in at Golden Fleece Billiards in Kenmore, Washington. Since I'm considering the possibility of purchasing a Diamond nine-footer for my house I thought it would be worthwhile to check 'em out there.

Indeed.

The table I snagged played very true and tight, requiring- and rewarding- precision shotmaking. And the rates were very cheap- almost unbelievably so. And to top it off, I mentioned that I made a 100-mile drive and the guy discounted the already-near-de minimis rate! It is clear the owner(s) truly care about the customer experience and greed is not in their vocabulary.

In sum, Golden Fleece in my opinion sets a platinum standard for a pool hall- not a mere gold one. I will *NEVER* forget how well they treated me there. Ever.
 
Golden Fleece - exemplary

What he said.

Ten nice Diamonds in a cathedral-like atmosphere. The Fleece is a POOL hall. Seating for casual sweators, barely audible blues/jazz, proper seating for those awaiting their turn at the table, a muted big screen (not visible from the playing area) for viewing the Mariners' Follies, beer by the bottle, wine by the glass.

Frequently on view: Messrs Atwell, Louie, Platis and others.

It's an excursion for both of us, you more than me, to get down there. But the trip is worth it.

pete
occasional flashes of B
too often in the slough of D
 
I would love to see them open a second location up north, somewhere around Bellingham or even the Burlington/Mount Vernon area would be great. There just isn't anything decent that I know of north of Golden Fleece...

Reckon I'll just have to drive south more often.
 
Golden Fleece - Exemplary

OB: Bellingham/Mt Vernon/Burlington - Dave Goodenbauer's (RIP) tables have been seeking a home for the last six months, not finding the right combo of zoning, rent and sq footage.

For those seeking alternatives to the Seattle area gridlock madness, both Monroe and Snohomish suggest themselves in the persons of:

Robins Billiards-six well maintained GCs and friendly operators
http://robinsbilliards.com/

and

Kornerpocket Billiardz-two nine footers and six eight footers
http://kornerpocketbilliardz.com/home

pete
 
nice!

Good poolhall owners deserve recognition. I'd like to commend the ones that survive without all the nonsense. I think it is the beginning of bringing back all the respect this sport deserves. We should start a complaint list.

1. Jukebox.

2. Leaving table time running unnecessarily. During the day, when a pool player finishes racking the last ball, turn the light off.

3. Take all the energy drinks out the cooler. Stop selling this crap....there are dozens of alternatives.

ahhhh, i give.
 
[SNIP] dld--misses the 211 every day. [/SNIP]
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That is one pool hall I really wish I could have experienced but for some reason I never tended to go downtown too much. IIRC it got its name from the address, 211 Union (?)

I do recall the Ball-n-Rack (never played there- too expensive for me at the time) and Bill's Billiards up near 185th and Aurora (usually played pinball there)... man, am I getting OLD, or what? (just less young!:))

Sorry to hear you ran into players who appeared to have an attitude, from what I hear that is the exception to the rule at the 'Fleece...
 
What is the address for the Golden Fleece ?
I will be there next week and would like to
play
 
7804 Northeast Bothell Way, Kenmore, WA 98028-3553 (206) 941-7531*

* I Googled this; I do question the number as it should be a 425 area code there...

If you know where Kenmore Lanes is, turn at the new signal which takes you to the bowling alley. There's a sorta strip mall about 200 feet east of the bowling alley; Golden Fleece is way near the back. The soccer association (which is the northernmost business in the sorta strip mall) is immediately north of the pool hall, if you find that you should be homed in.
 
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DoubleD said:
Man, I have to disagree with every point in this post.

I'd love to have a decent pool hall that had a jukebox (that was loud enough to hear, but you could still converse over). Every place that I have been playing has garbage music chosen by the idiots who work there. I. CANNOT. LISTEN. TO. ANYMORE. BLACK-EYED PEAS!!!

If it takes you more than 2min to walk the balls up to the counter, that is on you and the time should keep running or double in price (if there is a waiting list).

Energy drinks offer a pretty decent profit margin, you might as well ask the hall to go out of business and nobody is making you drink them. As for alternatives, I'd rather see my opponent chugging redbull than using meth, coke or speed--which are all to present at many pool halls.

As for the OP, I have only been in Golden Fleece once. The owner, Dave, was super nice--he asked me if there was something wrong when I left after playing alone for an hour and a half. The tables were immaculate. The atmosphere was all pool hall.

The only problem I had is that in the 1.5 hrs I was there two fat regulars put their obese asses in my face multiple times when I was already down for a shot. I cannot hold that against the place, but it makes me not want to return, which is sad since it is the closest hall to my house.

dld--misses the 211 every day.[/QUOTE

Bad comment caught myself being hypicitical. Got your point tho, energy drinks are a good alternative for bad habits. peace dude.

.
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Measle Ball said:
Today I drove about 100 miles south and paid a visit to my brother and afterwards decided to stop in at Golden Fleece Billiards in Kenmore, Washington. Since I'm considering the possibility of purchasing a Diamond nine-footer for my house I thought it would be worthwhile to check 'em out there.

Indeed.

The table I snagged played very true and tight, requiring- and rewarding- precision shotmaking. And the rates were very cheap- almost unbelievably so. And to top it off, I mentioned that I made a 100-mile drive and the guy discounted the already-near-de minimis rate! It is clear the owner(s) truly care about the customer experience and greed is not in their vocabulary.

In sum, Golden Fleece in my opinion sets a platinum standard for a pool hall- not a mere gold one. I will *NEVER* forget how well they treated me there. Ever.
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We played a team from Golden Fleece in Vegas at the BCA. They were all class, had a guy named Glenn on there team that could really play!
 
Dave is some of the best people around period...

Measle Ball said:
Today I drove about 100 miles south and paid a visit to my brother and afterwards decided to stop in at Golden Fleece Billiards in Kenmore, Washington. Since I'm considering the possibility of purchasing a Diamond nine-footer for my house I thought it would be worthwhile to check 'em out there.

Indeed.

The table I snagged played very true and tight, requiring- and rewarding- precision shotmaking. And the rates were very cheap- almost unbelievably so. And to top it off, I mentioned that I made a 100-mile drive and the guy discounted the already-near-de minimis rate! It is clear the owner(s) truly care about the customer experience and greed is not in their vocabulary.

In sum, Golden Fleece in my opinion sets a platinum standard for a pool hall- not a mere gold one. I will *NEVER* forget how well they treated me there. Ever.
Click to expand...

Dave is a best friend to pool players... I wish every town had someone like him...

It makes me want to make more trips up to washington state...

Jaden
 
As stated earlier great room owners and rooms deserve exposure and credit where it's due.

You are lucky to have decent room near you, we have none, nota zilch zero :)
The rooms up this way are filled with junk tables with cheap nasty cloth and worn out rubbers, the people that run them have no business in the service industry. I suspect they don't even like people as you feel like you are from mars when you grace their doorways.

In one room the noise from a few regulars is so bad I built my own room at home so I could play in peace, the owners comment on allowing these fools to disrupt the other patrons is that they are good spenders. I guess he does not take into account all the customers he lost on account of 2 or 3 "good spenders"
 
look for the bowling alley.

Measle Ball said:
7804 Northeast Bothell Way, Kenmore, WA 98028-3553 (206) 941-7531*

* I Googled this; I do question the number as it should be a 425 area code there...

If you know where Kenmore Lanes is, turn at the new signal which takes you to the bowling alley. There's a sorta strip mall about 200 feet east of the bowling alley; Golden Fleece is way near the back. The soccer association (which is the northernmost business in the sorta strip mall) is immediately north of the pool hall, if you find that you should be homed in.
Click to expand...

If you find the bowling alley then it's almost straight across the parking lot. there's also a great mexican food resturant and a thai place that has good duck curry in the same shopping center...

Jaden
 
In the short time I spent in Washington I went there as much as possible. I was job hunting at the time so that wasn't a whole lot.

My first time there I didn't realize it was cash only. I had no cash! I had played for about 4-5 hours at that point and Dave just said not to worry about it. I went to the nearby gas station's ATM, came back, and paid ASAP. He could charge twice the amount and I would happily pay.

Sadly I had to move back to where the jobs were. I will count myself one lucky bastard if I ever live near a place with an owner like that again.
 
Philthepockets said:
As stated earlier great room owners and rooms deserve exposure and credit where it's due.

You are lucky to have decent room near you, we have none, nota zilch zero :)
The rooms up this way are filled with junk tables with cheap nasty cloth and worn out rubbers, the people that run them have no business in the service industry. I suspect they don't even like people as you feel like you are from mars when you grace their doorways.

In one room the noise from a few regulars is so bad I built my own room at home so I could play in peace, the owners comment on allowing these fools to disrupt the other patrons is that they are good spenders. I guess he does not take into account all the customers he lost on account of 2 or 3 "good spenders"
Click to expand...

damn str8. what they fail to realize is that pool players would rather have a pleasant time than to be around nonsense. I would travel to avoid people involved in the industry.

I think we should have a standard for pool players and poolhalls. make a list of what we want of poolroom owners. circulate it. have an A list of poolrooms all over the country. post it here and other pool related sites.
then we frequent these places so that the money stays with the good guys.
 
Dave and Oscar are first class. I have worked with both of them on other ventures and you could not find 2 nicer or more ethical gentlemen.

I shared Dave's vision and enthusiasm for his room when it was in the planning stages. They always said they wanted to be a room that woudn't gouge the players. They have other businesses that support them so they can give the players a break.

They are universally loved and respected in the NW. I try to get up there every time I am in Seattle.
 
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