How is the pool scene in Jacksonville FL?

J

justinb386

Banned
I am curious how is the pool scene in Jacksonville FL?

Do they have good weekly tournaments, and many really strong local players?

Thanks for any info you can think of giving about the pool scene in the Jacksonville metro area.

Thinking about relocating there.

I am tired of these horrible cold and nasty winters.

Thanks
 
justinb386 said:
I am curious how is the pool scene in Jacksonville FL?

Do they have good weekly tournaments, and many really strong local players?

Thanks for any info you can think of giving about the pool scene in the Jacksonville metro area.

Thinking about relocating there.

I am tired of these horrible cold and nasty winters.

Thanks
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No idea about the pool scene but I do know a cop that just retired with 27 years serving Jacksonville and he says for the most part Jacksonville is a complete sheethole , with many many better cities in FLA to live. I know in general FLA has lots of good players, nice rooms, and good action. I'm sure someone will chime in with these spots.
 
justinb386 said:
I am curious how is the pool scene in Jacksonville FL?

Do they have good weekly tournaments, and many really strong local players?

Thanks for any info you can think of giving about the pool scene in the Jacksonville metro area.

Thinking about relocating there.

I am tired of these horrible cold and nasty winters.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Jacksonville is a very large metro area and there are definitely areas that have just been left behind.

I grew up here, went away to Chicago for 20, and then finally moved back a couple of years ago.

I seldom get out to the pool halls. There are no where near as many places as there used to be, but that is a trend everywhere. A lot of the old places like Little David's (David Howard), University Billiards, Harley's are all long gone.

Generally speaking, whenever the question comes up there are three main places: Bankshot and QBall right next to each other on Beach, and then the one down in Orange Park, Park Avenue Billiards.

People mention the couple of dinky tables inside the Billiard Factory store but I got to take a pass on that. Last time I was in there I asked the lady for the fun of it about Diamond tables and she had no idea what I was talking about. It is only open during the store's hours too. Not a real pool hall.

There are a handful of other bars and small places around town that have tables like Rigsy's, Pete's , one or two down at JAx Beach. Been meaning to go over and check out Perfect Rack but haven't had time. There is a bar by me, Safar, that has quite a few tables the last time I was in there (10+ years ago) that I drive by occasionally at night and the place is always packed. Maybe leagues. I was told they had fixed up their tables recently.
 
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I live in FL and lived in Jax for a little while.... Needless to say I did not like it all. Very blue collar town without a lot of industry or upward potential...

If your thinking about the Florida move, I would honestly look at somewhere down south like Ft. Lauderdale or any one of the multitude of SoFla towns....
 
Jax

I left Jax a couple years ago. I lived there for five years and chose to live in St. John's County which is nice but there is no pool halls there to speak of. Park Avenue Billiards in Orange Park has Sunday and Tuesday tournaments and the bigger events that come into town. It's all big table down there and the good tournaments draw some of the stronger players on Florida. Within a couple hours you can get to big events in Tallahassee and South Georgia and the Tampa area has some nice tournaments that are less than a four hour drive. One thing great about Jax is if you can get a good job, the cost of living is super low.
 
I moved to Jacksonville in 2001 to work for Predator (sales office still located in Jacksonville), it's a great pool town with many rooms that have excellent equipment and more than enough competitive players. Sure it's a blue collar town but they at least have a (not so hot) football team, beaches, pool rooms and is within driving distance of a TON of places to entertain yourself with.

About 5 years ago I moved away but still keep in touch with people through FB and whatnot, nothing major seems to have changed. Land value is reasonable and of course they have your good areas/bad areas, would I move there again? Yes, because I'm an avid player (or at least used to be) and you're within a 6 hour drive to probably 30 competitive rooms and 200 great players.


Neil
 
RichSchultz said:
Every day you seem to wanna move somewhere else. What happened to Marietta, GA?
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Yeah, I have been thinking about many places. One thing for sure is that I do not want to live in a very crime ridden place. Silly of me to consider Jacksonville, because it probably is very crime ridden. Have also been thinking about Austin TX. That seems like a nice area, with a good pool scene.
 
justinb386 said:
Yeah, I have been thinking about many places. One thing for sure is that I do not want to live in a very crime ridden place. Silly of me to consider Jacksonville, because it probably is very crime ridden. Have also been thinking about Austin TX. That seems like a nice area, with a good pool scene.
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Jax is not crime ridden on the south side by Mandarin, the intercoastal, or in St. John's County. Here is an idea...keep an eye out for the next big tournament at Park Avenue and fly in for a visit.
 
I work closely with many Sworn officers and I am pretty sure that if you dealt with what they deal with daily, everywhere is a shlthole.

Good to hear from you, joe.
 
There are very distinct areas that have high crime rates and there are "clean" areas also, in the 10 years that I lived there not one car was stolen nor was my condo ever broken into. Never got into a fight and never had reason to call the police, guess I got lucky.


Neil
 
I had a business in the Regency Square Mall over there....scary stuff to say the least...

Austin, TX is a great city, arguable one of the best cities in the country... Girls are top notch in that city.... I would bet the pool is probably fairly good as well....
 
justinb386 said:
I am curious how is the pool scene in Jacksonville FL?

Do they have good weekly tournaments, and many really strong local players?

Thanks for any info you can think of giving about the pool scene in the Jacksonville metro area.

Thinking about relocating there.

I am tired of these horrible cold and nasty winters.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Consider Tallahassee. It has some pretty good pool rooms and a nice living style.
https://www.facebook.com/Zingales-Billiard-Room-Sports-Bar-400608246675231/
I own a house there on 8 acres. You can get nice property just outside of town (for not a lot of money considering) that that is just a few minutes from everything. The best of both worlds. I hope to move there soon, can't wait.
 
I'm not saying that if you were to give Florida a enema Jacksonville is where you would stick the hose but it is pretty close.
 
JaguarXFR said:
I had a business in the Regency Square Mall over there....scary stuff to say the least...

Austin, TX is a great city, arguable one of the best cities in the country... Girls are top notch in that city.... I would bet the pool is probably fairly good as well....
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What did you have, a shoe store? :o Regency is a shell of its former self.
 
macguy said:
Consider Tallahassee. It has some pretty good pool rooms and a nice living style.
https://www.facebook.com/Zingales-Billiard-Room-Sports-Bar-400608246675231/
I own a house there on 8 acres. You can get nice property just outside of town (for not a lot of money considering) that that is just a few minutes from everything. The best of both worlds. I hope to move there soon, can't wait.
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I'm part owner of a nightclub right next to Zingales (needless to say I know Mike very well)...

What your saying about the property is true...my house is about 2 min from Zingales on about an acre of land, right around 5k sq ft, and I stole it for under $80 a sq ft....
 
Justin,

You are looking at this all wrong. First you should determine your career. Where is the locale for you to maximize your income and upward mobility in business. Unless you inherited a large fortune, where will you be able to best earn? After all, no matter what your interest, most of us have worked to fund our leisure activities.

Rand McNally publishes a places rated Almanac. Buy it. You will learn a lot as to what various places have to offer. It will also give you ideas where your skill set may best be maximized.

Jacksonville in terms of square miles is the largest city in the USA. There are good and bad areas. The city proper is rough, but that is not where people live. The city had 15 murders in January. The city is about 18 miles from the ocean. The beaches are great. the St. Johns River is nice. Mandarin, San Marco, Avondale, Atlantic Beach, and Ponte Vedra Beach are very nice... SouthSide, Orange Park or even St. Augustine.

The area is a meca for fishing (backwater and offshore), Golf, Tennis, Skeet, Trap, Sporting Clays, new Gun Ranges for rifles - pistols, and hunting. There are two poker rooms with off track betting. Unfortunately Jacksonville is still searching from a football team. :)

As for pool, IMO, it sucks. Park Ave in Orange Park has action and alot of tables. It smells like stale beer and old smoke. Walk in and your body feels like it needs to go through a car wash. BTW, I guess no one will mention the SHOOTING in the parking lot last year? When I was at Park Ave. I checked it out but had concern about my car as there were a couple "dealers" working the lot. It was so scumy I did no stay.

If I were 30 and single, Jacksonville would not be my choice because of the strong "redneck" presence both male and also female. However, there are really nice communities and it can be a great place to raise a family. I have to say the people here are the nicest I have met anywhere. However, when I moved here i was 48 and married with a family.

I hope this helps.

Phil
 
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