Haven't seen any red cloth in Freezers. Actually, its been more like a real pool room as of late, lots of tournaments and action. For that matter, all 3 Tempe/Mesa pool rooms have action most nights. Guys are posting up facebook messages looking to match up.
Hard Times Bellflower
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- Start date
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Glad the lease has been handled..
hashtag: MakeBellflowerGreatAgain
Bring back Fritz?
I think It's Fritz went away some time ago, there's an
IN & Out going up on that site.
We used to go to Fritz for a drink after playing.. good times!
What nights are the tournaments held? I looked on their website and couldn't find any info.
MalibuMike
Banned
Diamond Billiards Closed in Brea, They had the best Membership around!
They closed Diamond Billiards Closed in Brea, just like Hollywood Billiards its now a sports bar. And the had Simonis 860HR on their tables, Calvin Coker had them get rid of the red cloth a year or 2 ago, such a shame. I little know hide out... $50 a month, all the pool you could play all hours of their operation 4pm to 2am.
They had the best Membership around!
With Golden Cue gone, Scratch Billiards is becoming more attractive, they have new Imperial cloth and clean balls 6 gold crowns and 6 unknowns...
85 a month all hours unless they get overfilled, which happens only on Sat night between 10 pm and 12 am. Also they are 14.1 ball friendly!
Also They have lots of Cuties!!!!!!!!!!!
They closed Diamond Billiards Closed in Brea, just like Hollywood Billiards its now a sports bar. And the had Simonis 860HR on their tables, Calvin Coker had them get rid of the red cloth a year or 2 ago, such a shame. I little know hide out... $50 a month, all the pool you could play all hours of their operation 4pm to 2am.
They had the best Membership around!
With Golden Cue gone, Scratch Billiards is becoming more attractive, they have new Imperial cloth and clean balls 6 gold crowns and 6 unknowns...
85 a month all hours unless they get overfilled, which happens only on Sat night between 10 pm and 12 am. Also they are 14.1 ball friendly!
Also They have lots of Cuties!!!!!!!!!!!
Attachments
Hard times hasn't looked like the Hard Times of the 90's & early 2000's in years. Actually since Kenny sold it, Kenny mad the effort to maintain the room.
The current owner ran off almost all of the Mexican players who used to bring in action. They now play at a room in South Gate. Consequently, the constant Golf game that went on Big Bertha is pretty much history. King Kong says it is easier for him to get a game for 200 in SG than for 50 at HT.
The days that you could walk into the tournament room and see stacks of money over every light are long gone. It was like the wild, wild West. Players coming in with backers who had body guards. Constant electricity of course having a backer like Mark Betar around brought in "roadies" from everywhere..
Hopefully Eddie will find a new location. Hopefully out of Bellflower as the chances of getting any type of liquor license there is virtually impossible.
How many rooms will be left in LA, without going out to the SF Valley, if HT closes?
The current owner ran off almost all of the Mexican players who used to bring in action. They now play at a room in South Gate. Consequently, the constant Golf game that went on Big Bertha is pretty much history. King Kong says it is easier for him to get a game for 200 in SG than for 50 at HT.
The days that you could walk into the tournament room and see stacks of money over every light are long gone. It was like the wild, wild West. Players coming in with backers who had body guards. Constant electricity of course having a backer like Mark Betar around brought in "roadies" from everywhere..
Hopefully Eddie will find a new location. Hopefully out of Bellflower as the chances of getting any type of liquor license there is virtually impossible.
How many rooms will be left in LA, without going out to the SF Valley, if HT closes?
Is the place in S.Gate the joint that looks kinda like a air-raid shelter inside? Arched roof, concrete walls?
When I was a bartender there, we hosted the Michigan Alumni for their annual Michigan/Ohio College Football game; I think it was 2009. There were almost 700 people there; the bar was 8 deep with customers for over 10 hours. When someone ordered a drink, for example a bloody mary, I'd yell, "BLOODY MARY! BLOODY MARY! Who else wants a BLOODY MARY?" Suddenly, I was making 9 Bloody Mary's for everyone who raised their hands.
One of the guys I was working with said, "Now that's how you handle a bar with customers 8 deep!"
I also remember selling 6 packs of Corona for $48 and getting $20 tips just for handling them quickly. Corona at $8 a bottle in that place x 6: You do the math. We had 26 taps of draft beer with almost 3 kegs backup for every tap and, by night's end we only had 5 taps running.
That day, I made $800 in tips.
That was Hollywood Billiards on a good day...
Rumor was that, Jeff Bey regretted ever turning that place into a clubby nite-spot for pool and wished for several years that he could have turned back the clock. He cashed in though, when he sold the property which, is only now (9 years later) beginning to develop into medium density housing.
One of the guys I was working with said, "Now that's how you handle a bar with customers 8 deep!"
I also remember selling 6 packs of Corona for $48 and getting $20 tips just for handling them quickly. Corona at $8 a bottle in that place x 6: You do the math. We had 26 taps of draft beer with almost 3 kegs backup for every tap and, by night's end we only had 5 taps running.
That day, I made $800 in tips.
That was Hollywood Billiards on a good day...
Rumor was that, Jeff Bey regretted ever turning that place into a clubby nite-spot for pool and wished for several years that he could have turned back the clock. He cashed in though, when he sold the property which, is only now (9 years later) beginning to develop into medium density housing.
Yeah, they really killed Hollywood Billiards when they started doing
the private VIP parties... you'd go to play and there's the sign saying
"closed for private event".. when the italian food went away, that was
the beginning of the end.
I hope Eddie can do a few select improvements to Hard Times..
we're coming up on summer, just fixing the A/C (or running it?)
would be nice.
BTW, ran into Bernardo (King Kong).. he has eye problems, not
playing anymore.. and heard Morro's really not doing well.
the private VIP parties... you'd go to play and there's the sign saying
"closed for private event".. when the italian food went away, that was
the beginning of the end.
I hope Eddie can do a few select improvements to Hard Times..
we're coming up on summer, just fixing the A/C (or running it?)
would be nice.
BTW, ran into Bernardo (King Kong).. he has eye problems, not
playing anymore.. and heard Morro's really not doing well.
I miss the HardTimes of the late 80's early 90's.
I also miss everything about Southern California.
Kevin
I also miss everything about Southern California.
Kevin
Shhh... some of the greatest matches in history are being played there, right now, as we covid.
Hah!.. Efren's in there playing Filler full rack rotation!.. if only!
Latest word is to check back on the 15th.. stay tuned.
I was playing in action on the ground floor while the Michigan alumni were watching their game and stomping on the second story floor.
It was so loud, I put on my ear muffs that I use for shooting. The dude I was playing was getting sharked by all the noise and he fell apart. The music was blaring and mixing with the sounds of the game and then the foot stomping. It was like white noise, just horrible.
I think I won five out of six sets of nine ball. Then he pulled up.
Where do people play in So Cal then?
Looks like I won't be going to play pool there.
Looks like I won't be going to play pool there.
There’s Danny k’s in Orange which is decent and has tournaments.
Santa Monica house of billiards has gambling action- particularly for 1 pocket.
Mr lucky’s in Torrance is a nice room too
However, hard times will be sorely missed if it truly is going out of business- hopefully they can find another location
I was told the same thing early this morning.
Family Billiards in Lakewood along with the above mentioned. That is all in about 250 square miles with 8+ million people. Really sad.
Great memories of 30+ years of action and a million stories. For half of those years road players galore came through knowing that getting a game for 10-15K+ from multiple players was no problem. Especially those years before the Internet and the casinos.
RIP
Hopefully to be resurrected as maybe a smaller room somewhere.
Family Billiards in Lakewood along with the above mentioned. That is all in about 250 square miles with 8+ million people. Really sad.
Great memories of 30+ years of action and a million stories. For half of those years road players galore came through knowing that getting a game for 10-15K+ from multiple players was no problem. Especially those years before the Internet and the casinos.
RIP
Hopefully to be resurrected as maybe a smaller room somewhere.
So sad to see these pool halls close.
The obstacles are going to be huge. I just was looking at the CAL OSHA industry guidance for restaurants and bars that serve food, which will be opening soon. They are recommending to discontinue or close off areas that include pool tables and arcade games.
The obstacles are going to be huge. I just was looking at the CAL OSHA industry guidance for restaurants and bars that serve food, which will be opening soon. They are recommending to discontinue or close off areas that include pool tables and arcade games.