My introduction to straight pool

2

219Dave

Pool is my therapy
Silver Member
Fellow AZ'er Slach was kind enough to meet me out at a local pool hall (Jukebox Billiards in Munster, IN) and teach me how to play straight pool. Man, what a great game. I may be hooked.

Thanks, Slach! I promise to practice up and give you a better game next time.
 
219Dave said:
Fellow AZ'er Slach was kind enough to meet me out at a local pool hall (Jukebox Billiards in Munster, IN) and teach me how to play straight pool. Man, what a great game. I may be hooked.

Thanks, Slach! I promise to practice up and give you a better game next time.
Click to expand...

Good luck with it....it's a great game. Every now and then you'll catch a cluster gem that is dead pocket and it'll make you look like some sort of master to the unassuming eye.

I was introduced to it by an old master. He showed me the basic rules and then said he'd play/play me and give me 2:1. Needless to say he slaughtered me at probably a ratio of 2:1......shoulda gave me 4:1 to make it even lol.

I'll send you a pm on a good site to download some videos.
 
219Dave said:
Fellow AZ'er Slach was kind enough to meet me out at a local pool hall (Jukebox Billiards in Munster, IN) and teach me how to play straight pool. Man, what a great game. I may be hooked.

Thanks, Slach! I promise to practice up and give you a better game next time.
Click to expand...

There is an immeasurable amount of 14.1 experience and knowledge that you will find in the straight pool forum. There is currently over 10,000 posts over there - mostly all of them "on topic". If you want to learn about straight pool, that's the place to look.
 
Welcome to the wonderful world of straight pool, a game Irving Crane once said takes two lifetimes to master. No two racks are alike, and the number of problems you'll have to solve and choices you'll have to make, will provide a lifetime of fascination and joy.
 
Definitely the best pool game...imo. At least you can stay at the table the longest compared to any other game. Best test of offensive power.

...banks is a really close second. Too bad nobody really plays banks where I live.
 
I am constantly amazed when a member first learns about straight pool. I started to play pool in 1966 playing eight ball, and soon afterward learned to play straight pool. We were taught that nine ball is a slop game that was only played for money. There was no other pool game were you could slop in a ball with no intention of making it and continue your turn at the table. We played straight pool to determine who was the better player period. No slop allowed, no BS, you miss you sit down it was considered the real test of your ability on a pocket billiard table. I am not saying that nine ball does not require skill, and have it's place, just that this was the perception of pool at that time.
Glad to see another pool player learn about the greatest game in pocket billiards!
Dan
 
I wonder if the differences are regional, or are mostly based upon your age and when you started playing pool. When I was in high school and college in the 80s and 90s, all we played was 8 ball and maybe a little cutthroat. Granted, it wasn't a serious pool-playing crowd, just regular high school and college kids.

After a long time away, I just got a table two years ago. I'm constantly hounding friends and neighbors to play. I find that the average guy who only plays here or there only knows 8 ball. A smaller subset has played some 9 ball. Absolutely no one that I play with (with the exception of if I meet someone here, or in a pool hall) has ever even heard of straight pool. None of them have ever played bank pool or one pocket either.

Enough rambling by me. Here's a question: in the 40s, 50s, 60s, were the casual, here and there players playing straight pool, or was it always a game for the more serious players?

Follow up question: do you think the rise of coin-operated bar tables, bar leagues, and the decline of pool halls contributed to a drop in popularity of straight pool?
 
I started playing straight pool last year. It is a great game...if you have the time. I have worked a lot on my game in the last year and noticed that my straight pool game has gotten much better. I personally would rather play it than 8 or 9.
 
Straight pool is how I found this site. An older gentleman in the pool hall taught me the game late last year and I went searching for more info and found the AZ staight pool forums.
 
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