Hardtimes Bellflower

[ThinSlice]

Well, I just heard that Hardtimes Bellflower had the padlock put on the doors. Word is that they were served and had 5 days to respond. They did not. So the locks have been changed and now all assets are under control of the landlord. Anyone that had hopes of buying table 1 or 6 are starting to dim. This is a shame. Hardtimes was already on its last legs. This I am pretty sure seals the deal.


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[TATE]

Well, I just heard that Hardtimes Bellflower had the padlock put on the doors. Word is that they were served and had 5 days to respond. They did not. So the locks have been changed and now all assets are under control of the landlord. Anyone that had hopes of buying table 1 or 6 are starting to dim. This is a shame. Hardtimes was already on its last legs. This I am pretty sure seals the deal.


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Sorry to hear and thank you for letting us know.

 

[9ball5032]

I am gonna miss Hard Times Bellflower. I got to see a lot of world class pool there in the 90s.

 

[GaryB]

A sad goodbye to an era. Goodbye to the daily railbirds & players. Calvin, Hawaiian Jimmy, Butch, Archie, Larry Bohn and all of the monthly regulars. All of the Golf players who had moved over to South Gate because of Eddie. There was a time that there was a Golf game going on Big Bertha 12 hours a day +. Can't forget LA Moe who would call me in the middle of the night when there was good action going down. This time in history is so hard on the game we all love. I envy Jay who has even more memories of the peak of the world of pool. I am not sure that we ever see the quality of pool & action that HT gave us for 30+ years. Heck at one time there were two other good action room within a mile or so of HT. Amazing they hung in there so long without a liquor permit or food.

I just read that Sal's closed in Moorpark. All of the rooms that have closed along with HT--Golden Cue, Stixx etc. Mr. Lucky's and House of billiards still open? Where in all of LA County can a pool room be found?

Goodbye to friends. Thanks for the memories.
Charlie B.

 

[westcoast]

A sad goodbye to an era. Goodbye to the daily railbirds & players. Calvin, Hawaiian Jimmy, Butch, Archie, Larry Bohn and all of the monthly regulars. All of the Golf players who had moved over to South Gate because of Eddie. There was a time that there was a Golf game going on Big Bertha 12 hours a day +. Can't forget LA Moe who would call me in the middle of the night when there was good action going down. This time in history is so hard on the game we all love. I envy Jay who has even more memories of the peak of the world of pool. I am not sure that we ever see the quality of pool & action that HT gave us for 30+ years. Heck at one time there were two other good action room within a mile or so of HT. Amazing they hung in there so long without a liquor permit or food.

I just read that Sal's closed in Moorpark. All of the rooms that have closed along with HT--Golden Cue, Stixx etc. Mr. Lucky's and House of billiards still open? Where in all of LA County can a pool room be found?

Goodbye to friends. Thanks for the memories.
Charlie B.

I've heard that Santa Monica House of Billiards sold

 

[straightline]

First I heard of Hard Times was in the 70s. It was a little place in Newport Beach. Hit some balls in there a couple times.

 

[Nine ... corner]

Well, I just heard that Hardtimes Bellflower had the padlock put on the doors. Word is that they were served and had 5 days to respond. They did not. So the locks have been changed and now all assets are under control of the landlord. Anyone that had hopes of buying table 1 or 6 are starting to dim. This is a shame. Hardtimes was already on its last legs. This I am pretty sure seals the deal.


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Does that make my two Hardtimes T-shirts collector items?

 

[ThinSlice]

Does that make my two Hardtimes T-shirts collector items?

Probably. I never purchased one. Don’t know why but never did.


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[Lucky John]

Best of luck to all the people who left sticks behind the counter.
Best of luck to the guy who purchased table 2; you got the shaft all right.

 

[ibuycues]

Damn, sorry to hear.
some real history there.

WP

 

[jay helfert]

Many of my best pool memories are from the years I spent at Hard Times. I can vividly remember the day back in 1988 when Chuck Markulis called me and asked me to join him at this empty building he wanted to rent in Bellflower. I went down there and it was just this huge empty space. Chuck was never one to waste time and was ready to sign a ten year lease. He and I spent the next few hours measuring the space and mapping out where everything would go. He needed my help because I knew how much room was needed for each pool table and the overall dimensions. We drew everything out on two blank sheets of paper and that became the floor plan that the poolroom was built from. Chuck tried to rent the space next door so we could put seating on both sides of the playing arena, but the lady who had the restaurant there would not give it up.

Chuck jumped into pool with both hands and wasn't afraid to spend money to bring the best players to Hard Times. He was probably the first poolroom owner to add $10,000 to an in-house tournament. And it worked, we had the elite of the pool world competing in there every tournament and the place was jam packed all day long and well into the night. He was the best partner I ever had in pool and we worked well together. I loved that man and it broke my heart when he passed away.

The modern era of pro pool in California was developed first by Terry Stonier in Sacramento and then Chuck at Hard Times. They are two of my heroes.

 

[ThinSlice]

Hard to believe that this is all the pool community has to say about this.


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[7stud]

Hard to believe that this is all the pool community has to say about this.


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It closed a long time ago, and that is when the stories got told.

 

[JoeyInCali]

Many of my best pool memories are from the years I spent at Hard Times. I can vividly remember the day back in 1988 when Chuck Markulis called me and asked me to join him at this empty building he wanted to rent in Bellflower. I went down there and it was just this huge empty space. Chuck was never one to waste time and was ready to sign a ten year lease. He and I spent the next few hours measuring the space and mapping out where everything would go. He needed my help because I knew how much room was needed for each pool table and the overall dimensions. We drew everything out on two blank sheets of paper and that became the floor plan that the poolroom was built from. Chuck tried to rent the space next door so we could put seating on both sides of the playing arena, but the lady who had the restaurant there would not give it up.

Chuck jumped into pool with both hands and wasn't afraid to spend money to bring the best players to Hard Times. He was probably the first poolroom owner to add $10,000 to an in-house tournament. And it worked, we had the elite of the pool world competing in there every tournament and the place was jam packed all day long and well into the night. He was the best partner I ever had in pool and we worked well together. I loved that man and it broke my heart when he passed away.

The modern era of pro pool in California was developed first by Terry Stonier in Sacramento and then Chuck at Hard Times. They are two of my heroes.

Great memories Jay. My dream is for Hard Times to become an international franchise . It would be awesome if that place is cloned and put up in China and the Philippines.

 

[pt109]

Does that make my two Hardtimes T-shirts collector items?

I still got one from the early 90s...unworn...But I still don’t know how the place lasted that long.
i played a tournament in the early 90s, the place was jumping, the tournament area and the tables near Big Bertha were going non stop.
....but it was a monster room....the majority of the tables weren’t being used...if it was a 15 table room, it would’ve been a success.

 

[GaryB]

Kenny Thomason told me that when he bought HT he had really been looking for a 10-12 table room. He got out at the right time but ran a great room while he had it.

 

[LC3]

My dream is for Hard Times to become an international franchise . It would be awesome if that place is cloned and put up in China and the Philippines.

There might be more chance of it happening in the opposite direction.

 

[jay helfert]

Great memories Jay. My dream is for Hard Times to become an international franchise . It would be awesome if that place is cloned and put up in China and the Philippines.

There is a Hard Times in the Philippines. It is in Quezon City (suburb of Manila) and is a thriving action room.