Who am i to judge??? I'll tell you.
Okay, I don't often butt heads with people on here, but Cdryden, let me give you this advice:
Do
not listen to a word
jbravo2984 said in your thread.
NOT a WORD!
Keep Chris' on your list of pool halls to visit. I don't know who exactly jbravo has a vendetta against at Chris', but don't let his grudge keep you from this stop. On top of the nostalgia of walking into a pool hall that seems to have been untouched by time, there are good tables to play on and good players to watch. Also, if you're into three-cushion and 12-foot snooker, they've got the tables for you. There's a reason this pool hall is frequently on the list of recommended stops for visitors to the city. Don't miss this opportunity!
I live in the near south suburbs of Chicago, and my vote for the best hall on the south side would be Red Shoes. If you meet up with Dennis, you'll have a good time shooting for sure. He's great people to know. City Pool Hall and Marie's Golden Cue would be well worth your time to visit as well. Also, if you drop me a line too, I'd be glad to come out and spend some time with a fellow AZer, provided my academic schedule allows such a trip
Okay, I don't often butt heads with people on here, but Cdryden, let me give you this advice:
Do
not listen to a word
jbravo2984 said in your thread.
NOT a WORD!
Keep Chris' on your list of pool halls to visit. I don't know who exactly jbravo has a vendetta against at Chris', but don't let his grudge keep you from this stop. On top of the nostalgia of walking into a pool hall that seems to have been untouched by time, there are good tables to play on and good players to watch. Also, if you're into three-cushion and 12-foot snooker, they've got the tables for you. There's a reason this pool hall is frequently on the list of recommended stops for visitors to the city. Don't miss this opportunity!
I live in the near south suburbs of Chicago, and my vote for the best hall on the south side would be Red Shoes. If you meet up with Dennis, you'll have a good time shooting for sure. He's great people to know. City Pool Hall and Marie's Golden Cue would be well worth your time to visit as well. Also, if you drop me a line too, I'd be glad to come out and spend some time with a fellow AZer, provided my academic schedule allows such a trip
No vendetta, just facts and experience. How about these fine examples of reasons not to get your hopes up about such "great place untouched by time"....
-I will give you this, the statewide smoking ban hasn't kept people from smoking there, so I guess the statement applies there...The reason... the staff is too fat and lazy to get out from behind the front desk and do something about it...
-Second, call up there on a sunday afternoon and ask for the tournament director. Ask him a couple questions about when does it start, entry fee, handicap etc... See how fast he turns into an inconsiderate *****... Once you thank him for the very little information you had to grind out of him with a mortar and pestol, he will hand up on you without another word so don't bother.
-The 2 main "action" tables (their "one-pocket tables" roll horribly) plan on banking them about a half ball too wide on the bottom left corner pocket if you play the game with one of the house NITS there.
-The biggest "action" that place sees on a weekly basis is $20 one pocket action. Most of the "action" is Paul grinding out $50-$100 from unsuspecting eggs (chicago-land term).
-The TOURNAMENT ROOM has 3 different kinds of tables with a variety of garbage felts from simonis with half dollar sized holes where the head ball racks and flies off the table when you break, to the oh-so delightful slow-nap cloth that belongs on a pool table at someones summer home out on the back porch.
-If you're looking for firewood, there is garbage piled up and broken chairs and pool cues/table parts in the northeast corner of the location.
-The tables with the best felt are still screwed.
-Don't expect to have a handicap BEFORE the tournament starts.
-You can expect the TD to not tell you correct rulings in accordance with the set of rules he claims to follow, and btw, figure out table assignments of the tournament on your own. From start to finish.
-In fact, by the time the tournament is and hour or two in, he won't be there and good luck finding his replacement. Its now become a group effort.
-There food selection is... well... non-existent.
-PARKING IS FUN TOO! TURN ON THE CAR ALARM
SHALL I CONTINUE?
DON'T LISTEN TO A WORD I SAY, BUT GO TO RED-SHOES... IT'S COOL...SO IS MARIES... HMMM I'M PRETTY SURE I SAID THOSE THINGS, BUT DON'T LISTEN TO ME SAY IT, LISTEN TO HIM SAY IT 'CAUSE I DON'T LET THE NOSTALGIA BLIND-FOLD ME FROM SEEING THE BULLSH*T THAT IS, THE HORRIBLE EQUIPMENT, THE WORSE STAFF IMAGINABLE AND A ROOM OWNER THAT HAS BOUGHT AND RUN MORE CHICAGO POOL ROOMS INTO THE GROUND THAN KEVIN TRUDEAU HAS ENEMIES! Hall of fame, cue-phoria, lee street billiards, the green pocket, just to name a few...
The only thing keeping this place afloat is the nostalgia...
The best thing that could happen to this place is... foreclosure or something, someone who would give a flip buys it, re-opens and does something with it! If only I had the money, chris' could be something even more than what it once was... and people accept it for what it is right now and WONDER WHY POOL IS WHAT IT IS RIGHT NOW IN CHICAGOLAND?! WHAT A JOKE! POSSIBLY THE MOST FAMOUS POOL HALL IN THE WORLD... AND ITS A DUMP! "OH THEY HAVE SOME NICE TABLES" LOL THEY SHOULD ALL BE NICE... IT'S CHRIS'S BILLIARDS-41 TABLES-COLOR OF MONEY-CHICAGO, MY KIND OF TOWN! CHRIS'S... unfortunately not my kind of pool hall... but don't listen to a word i say... not a word!
My name is Joe Durham. They call me ATM... Look me up if you're not familiar but I'm sure you've heard of me and I know what I'm talking about. I play at either orland park pro-tyme or q billiards on mondays now, I run tourneys at main st in algonquin on tuesdays, wednesday's at hammerheads used to be a tourney I ran but now I play elsewhere on wednesdays, thrusdays either the chicago billiard cafe or the carom room in beloit wisconsin, fridays at hammerheads or rudys in aurora, saturdays at red shoes for their bi-weekly or at main street for practice then rudys for the night tourney, sundays at pyramid club at 2pm for tourney then to chris's for the sunday night grind....
I'VE BEEN LIVING BREATHING SLEEPING AND EATING POOL IN CHICAGO FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT?!
I don't care who you are or how long you've been around, nobody has spent more time in as many pool rooms chicago wide, as I have, in the last 10 years. Period.
