Name a pool hall you wish was still open today

The original Anchorage Billiard Palace, founded by Mark Griffin in 1988 in Anchorage, AK.
Current Alaskan-born US pros Sean Morgan (NY) and Jr Jueco (TX) cut their teeth there. Very classy place!
Mark sold the name in the early 2000's btw. The new place (location) is the state's biggest still, but it's pretty average.
Nice tables at least: About eight 7-foot Diamonds and six 9-foot Diamonds, if I remember correctly.
Earl Strickland will be there Sept 24-25 for some exhibition stuff, so that's pretty kewl:cool:
 
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Ames Billiards, NYC

Hall of Fame Billiards Club, Brooklyn, NY

Blue Fin Billiards & Diamond Billiards, Fresno, CA

Hard Times Billiards, Bellflower, CA
 
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Jamaica Joe's in OKC... That was one of my favorite pool halls in the country.

Jaden
 
This thread makes me miss old DC.

A room that was really hard to see close was Obelisk Billiards Club in Newport News VA. Located in a crappy strip mall in a, then, pretty rough part of a rough city, it was a clean room with a dress code. They had 15 nine footers and maybe 7 sevens, and at one point a snooker table up front. In the nineties it was like walking into the ESPN-era with those pleated khakis and print polos everywhere.

Some good players there too. Charlie Williams split time between OBC and Q Masters in Norfolk. Harry Crabtree played there in his later years before he passed. Great family (Tuckers, maybe) ran the place. They did a lot for the local scene with pro demos and tournaments.
 
There was place in Valley, Uncle Charlie’s American Grill, had 8 Gold Crowns 4 x 8’s. More of Bar n Restaurant then Pool Room.

Had weekly 9 Ball Tournament, place was clean, food good, drinks fair priced.

Place closed because it was home cooking, not mickeyD junk food.🤮
 
Fatboy said:
My all time favorite room ever.

Terry was a dear friend, I learned so much about life in that room, gambled, saw the guns come out one night, my best pool memories are in that room. I played there from 85 until the last time I went in was 2010 I’m guessing.

There isn’t a room that comes near this room for me. 2nd place is a million notches down the ladder for many reasons.

I get emotional just typing this, this is the place that set the course of my life-what I learned there defined my future as who I am & what I’ve done.

That is my ground zero

It don’t get any stronger for me, looking back at everything. My parents got me to where I was at in life to that point. But it was at the Joint I decided who I was going to become. And I have accomplished that. I learned what I needed to know there to achieve my accomplishments.

Fatboy<———-Thanks Terry rip🙏🏼🥲❤️
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Where was the pool hall? I remember "The Cue" in Las Vegas. Corner of Maryland Pky and Sahara. I played there in the middle 80's when my son was interested in pool when he was 13.
 
There will be a great one close in the near future. Salem, Oregon. Cue Ball. Jim has 24 9' tables. All Centennial and Anniversarys. But, he's getting about 80 now, owns the whole block and the state government has wanted to buy it all. Jim is there every day, it is his whole life. He told me no one could pay rent and keep the pool hall so when he goes, it will close down. Lots of Brunswicks classics will go on sale then.
 
jackpot said:
2 votes CBP

Cotton Bowling Palace, Dallas. Road players from all over came through
very few left with the money. San Jose Dick one of the few. Regulars
included. Jack Terry, Little Hand, U.J. Puckett, my buddies Billy Stroud
Alf Taylor. Many if not most of the road players that won got heisted
in the restroom by Charlie Boyd. Other regulars included some very
dangerous characters, R.D. Mathews, George McGann ( investigated
as possible shooter in Kennedy assassination ) Stanley the creeper
Cook ( Dixie Mafia Hitman suspected in over 50 murders) Jack Ruby,
house Tush Vernon Linton, big time book maker Bobby Chapman,
and the Grand Daddy of all big time gambler proposition men
Titanic Thompson who brought in champions of all sorts too try and
get some of the cash that filled the CBP. world class sprinters, schuffle
board champion Billy Mays and on and on. I know to all of the That's
why pool has such a bad reputation and that's what is holding it
back crowd this sounds like a terrible place. But if I could do it over
the only thing I would change is I would have slept in the big chairs
or under the tables and not missed a thing. I LOVED IT.
jack
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Times Square was fun , we used to come up from Ft Hood to play.
 
Bob Jewett said:
They were within a couple of blocks of each other when I knew them. They both had windows to Market Street, but Cochran's entrance was on Golden Gate.

Cochran's was taken over by Tony Annigoni and partners after they had taken over and then closed Palace Billiards. I believe Cochran's was rechristened "The Cue Club" and may have turned into Hollywood Billiards later. It now seems to have been turned into residential space, judging from Street View.
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Yes I think it was Cochrans the he was referring to. I remember going up the stairs to it on the Market Street side although it also had an entrance on the Golden Gate street side. Tony did re-open it as the Q-Club sometime during the 90’s (and it was a nice place) but by that time times had changed and the location that worked in the early 60’s was no longer appropriate for modern times, and The Great Entertainer was already open by that time.

If I remember correctly Palace had stairs as well




c
 
Bobkitty said:
Where was the pool hall? I remember "The Cue" in Las Vegas. Corner of Maryland Pky and Sahara. I played there in the middle 80's when my son was interested in pool when he was 13.
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I don’t remember that room, I moved to vegas 91/92 and never heard of it. There were a bunch of rooms that opened and closed the 20 years I spent in Vegas. Loads of them. I owned office buildings for 10 years on Maryland & Sahara 1050 E Sahara & 1040 E Sahara BL and 3025 W Sahara. The 3025building is on the other side of the 15. Lost millions on 1050 & 3025🤯🤯
 
The Hawks Nest in Pittsburgh, ran by Bernie Schwartz, I was there in the late 60’s and I just wondered in off the street. I didn’t know it was private and I was approached and told it was private. I started talking to Mr. Schwartz and he asked me where I was from I told him Dallas he was friends with Pucket so he invited me in to play. I know he passed away a few years ago but he made a impression on me he was really nice when he didn’t have to be.
 
fast&loose designs said:
Being from Southern California, there are lots that have closed down in the 15 or so years I've been playing. Golden Cue Billiards in El Monte CA is for sure the one I wished most was still open. What are yours?
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Washington Billiards. Located in Washington Missouri.

The Billiard Bullpen. Located in Collinsville Illinois.

Chesterfield Billiards. Located in Chesterfield Missouri.
 
Fatboy said:
I don’t remember that room, I moved to vegas 91/92 and never heard of it. There were a bunch of rooms that opened and closed the 20 years I spent in Vegas. Loads of them. I owned office buildings for 10 years on Maryland & Sahara 1050 E Sahara & 1040 E Sahara BL and 3025 W Sahara. The 3025building is on the other side of the 15. Lost millions on 1050 & 3025🤯🤯
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Guess it was called the Cue Club. I think it's still there.
 
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