Largest Pool Halls in the USA?

jbart65 said:
Five years ago, the city was quite safe. Safest it's been since I moved to Washington in the late 1990s. The good schools are also good schools. And it actually is a pretty, livable city in many parts. Lots of greenery, no big skyscrapers.

Then the pandemic happened, and George Floyd. The city has regressed mightily for all the reasons astute readers would expect.

Wework, of all places, killed off the biggest DC pool room, Buffalo Billiards, in 2019. BB got priced out after a 25-year run. Shame, too, because now there's lots of empty real estate.

I don't see much chance of a new and big pool room opening in DC.
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I was there only once, in the mid 1980s working security for a speaker at a big Right to Life rally there. I had a couple free days to explore. I generally avoid tourist areas when I'm in an unfamiliar city, opting for checking out the neighborhoods instead. In general I thought it was pretty much of a sh**hole. Not as bad as Gary, IN, but on a par with 1970s Jersey City or modern day Detroit. Maybe I just gravitate toward the wrong neighborhoods. 😬
 
My job sends me to our location in Shreveport occasionally. I was there in 2018, and again in 2020 during Covid.
There was a place called Side Pockets that had a room full of bar boxes, easily over 30 of them. They had a couple 9 footers that seemed to be one pocket games whenever I was there. I think they do a big 9-ball tournament a couple times each year that brings in some big names. Nice place, and friendly people, I felt very welcome there.
 
ChrisSjoblom said:
I don't know if it is still that way, but McGoo's in Tulsa had a live music stage adjacent to the pool room as well. A few years back I was spending some time checking out pool rooms between Texas and Wisconsin, and I spent a few pleasant days at McGoo's. As soon as the band opened up on Saturday night, though, I was out of there, and on my way to Wichita the next morning.

Miller Time Billiards in Davenport Iowa did live music in a separate area of the building many (35) years ago - maybe still do. Although you could hear it in the pool room it wasn't obtrusive or maybe I was still young enough to fade it. :)
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No more bands at Magoo's thank god. That area is full of pinball machines. Seems that pb has made a huge comeback. Tables:10 9'GC4's, 1 9'ProAm, 2 old 9' D'mond Pros, 10 D'mond bb's, 6 Valley bb's, 1 10' old B'wick golf table.
 
ChrisinNC said:
Chandley’s in Statesville, NC had 50+ tables. One huge rectangular room that looked like it used to be a supermarket, with no atmosphere at all. They were open for maybe 2-3 years before shutting down 6–7 years ago.
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Chandley’s was one strange place. It looked like it was setup to close from the beginning. To even consider a pool hall of that size in a town of 9000 people was nuts.

I used to go to the 24 hour coffee house everytime I went to Asheville. The folks in there knew it would never survive.

I looked in and it looked like you could shut it down and clean it out in a weekend. Nothing on the walls, fold up chairs and a small bar.

Honestly don’t think they were there two years but I could be wrong.,

Asheville with a much larger, wealthier population and UNCA used to have three pool rooms, now they might have one. Arden may still have Fat Cats but Chandley’s was a loser from the get go.
 
BreakTime_NC said:
As a pool hall owner myself, I am curious to find out the largest active pool halls across the USA. Everyone knows that Q-masters is the largest with 75 tables. But what about some others? Breaktime Billiards in Wilmington NC (My place) currently has 35 tables and honestly it's not enough so we're planning on adding 15 to 20 more in the very near future.

Reply to this thread with the largest in your area or if your aware of a large pool hall.

Thanks
Jim
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I love Breaktime! I shoot there everytime I come down to see friends (2-3 times per year). I hope you're planning to add some more 9 footers...:)
 
Diamonds in the Highlands in Louisville closed after Covid and re-opened under a new owner as The Railyard. They more than doubled the number of tables. It now has more than 30 Diamond bar boxes and maybe half a dozen 9 footers.
 
Quesports said:
Chandley’s was one strange place. It looked like it was setup to close from the beginning. To even consider a pool hall of that size in a town of 9000 people was nuts.

I used to go to the 24 hour coffee house everytime I went to Asheville. The folks in there knew it would never survive.

I looked in and it looked like you could shut it down and clean it out in a weekend. Nothing on the walls, fold up chairs and a small bar.

Honestly don’t think they were there two years but I could be wrong.,

Asheville with a much larger, wealthier population and UNCA used to have three pool rooms, now they might have one. Arden may still have Fat Cats but Chandley’s was a loser from the get go.
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It was still open when I first moved to Charlotte in late 2016. I wanted to check it out and play on their 10’er, but by the time I made plans to drive up there, it had closed.

I believe the guy who opened it was actually warned by people on here about its viability.
 
Buffalo's added a new nonsmoking room with eight 9' Diamonds and ten BB. That gives them about 19, 9'ers and 20 BB. I'll have to count them one day for an exact figure.
 
jtompilot said:
Buffalo's added a new nonsmoking room with eight 9' Diamonds and ten BB. That gives them about 19, 9'ers and 20 BB. I'll have to count them one day for an exact figure.
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Buff also bought Lacy's in Chalmette. He's now the godfather of N.O. pool.
 
BlueRaider said:
It was still open when I first moved to Charlotte in late 2016. I wanted to check it out and play on their 10’er, but by the time I made plans to drive up there, it had closed.

I believe the guy who opened it was actually warned by people on here about its viability.
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A pool hall of that size in a town with a population of 9000 made zero sense. Inside it even looked like it was set up to fail. There were gold up chairs and a tiny bar. My first impression was you could pack it all into trucks in two days and be gone.
 
Here's a related question: What's the biggest college campus pool room these days?

In the early to mid-70's I used to travel throughout the entire eastern half of the country showing bootleg 16mm films on college campuses, and during the week that gave me plenty of time to shoot pool. At that point I believe the student union at Purdue had the biggest pool room in the entire state of Indiana, and the student unions at IU, UNC / Chapel Hill, Illinois / Champaign-Urbana, Maryland / College Park, LSU and Kansas were also pretty sporty. Kansas even had a vintage Brunswick 5 x 10, and on it I beat a KU basketball player out of $100. That was one of the not so many highlights of my pool career. :cool:

Do any of these campus pool rooms still exist today? I tend to doubt it, but who knows?
 
Quesports said:
Chandley’s was one strange place. It looked like it was setup to close from the beginning. To even consider a pool hall of that size in a town of 9000 people was nuts.

I used to go to the 24 hour coffee house everytime I went to Asheville. The folks in there knew it would never survive.

I looked in and it looked like you could shut it down and clean it out in a weekend. Nothing on the walls, fold up chairs and a small bar.

Honestly don’t think they were there two years but I could be wrong.,

Asheville with a much larger, wealthier population and UNCA used to have three pool rooms, now they might have one. Arden may still have Fat Cats but Chandley’s was a loser from the get go.
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Pretty much sums it up. I think it could have made it, but with the owner it had, nothing would have made it.
He spent a ton of money on stuff he didn't have to which drove up the nut and he never worked an hour in the place and like you said the area had a low population. Statesville is a big APA league town, and it could have made it. Bad decisions did it in.
 
Quesports said:
A pool hall of that size in a town with a population of 9000 made zero sense. Inside it even looked like it was set up to fail. There were gold up chairs and a tiny bar. My first impression was you could pack it all into trucks in two days and be gone.
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Looks they were laundering dope $$ to me. No way that place was gonna make it.
 
few are set up for a fun time. which is the key to success.
you need a balance of hard core players with social players filling in the later hours.

too many have uncomfortable chairs for spectators and players not shooting.
drinks priced same as higher classed places
poor food choices and taste.
no gambling machines or social gaming machines
**minimum wage worker that doesnt give a shit about his job or the place.**
too loud of music. not everyone wants to have to hear someone else's selections
dirty tables and ripped carpet.
etc etc.
 
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