New York City - 2024 - best place for tourists to play?

OverTheNut

OverTheNut

Member
Meeting a friend in NYC. Both from out of town and avid pool players. Neither of us will have our cues.

Manhattan/Brooklyn/Queens. Must have beer. Don't care about food menu.

Well aware of numerous places to play - but is a place seen as better for having the best house cues? Or a bar with an active winner-stay-on table?

Or - away from playing a few games - what is the best place watch some action games?
 
The best tables by far in Manhattan are at Society Billiards, Amsterdam Billiards is decent, but the tables have massive pockets. These are great spots to play at, but bear in mind it’s Manhattan, so won’t be cheap.
For active “winner stays on”, bars with decent players there are:-
Gramercy - Barfly and Paddy Maguires
East Village - Doc Hollidays
Midtown (near Grand Central) - Peter Dillions near Grand Central
Hells Kitchen - Blue Ruin

There are others, but these are the most fun bar table scenes, that I have frequented in the city.
 
A tourist is unlikely to be very concerned about table brand or pocket size, so if you want the nicest poolroom in New York City, it is Amsterdam Billiards. Most of the tables have loose pockets, but that's as it should be for recreational players. The bar is first rate, with beer, wine and spirits, a nice ambiance, and is very pleasant place to have a drink. If memory serves, the bar doesn't open until late afternoon. As Fast Manners noted, Manhattan is expensive, but Amsterdam is a premium product at a premium price. There are special rates on a weekday during the daytime. It is hard to get on a table on a weeknight, as they have some of the biggest leagues in the country. Food choices are very limited. The house cues are very good.

Skyline in Brooklyn, as Garczar noted, is an excellent room with a nice ambiance, too, and has several tougher tables meant for the serious player. It also has a full bar, a full food menu and good food. Can't offer any info about their house cues.

In Queens, Carom Cafe offers a full bar, snooker tables, three cushion billiard tables and pool tables. The room itself is beautiful and it has a full food menu and good food. Can't offer any info about their house cues.

Those would be my top three, but if you visit any of them at night, call first to make sure that league play won't obstruct you from getting a table.
 
I have been in a half dozen around Manhattan. Society Was great with nice tables. Cool that you had to go down stairs from street level. Both times I was there it was crazy loud with music. I literally had to yell, I normally yell anyway when I play pool but usually at myself. 🤓

The fist time I went to Amsterdam billiards, I walked in and started strolling through the room. A man followed me and let me know “that is not the way it works here”

It was Dan Barouty, I had never heard of him before. After talking to him for a while I bought my son a lesson from him.
 
Cuebuddy said:
I have been in a half dozen around Manhattan. Society Was great with nice tables. Cool that you had to go down stairs from street level. Both times I was there it was crazy loud with music. I literally had to yell, I normally yell anyway when I play pool but usually at myself. 🤓

The fist time I went to Amsterdam billiards, I walked in and started strolling through the room. A man followed me and let me know “that is not the way it works here”

It was Dan Barouty, I had never heard of him before. After talking to him for a while I bought my son a lesson from him.
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Yup, that's a big selling point at Amsterdam --- privacy. Players only in the playing area. No unwanted kibbitzers or hustlers trying to clock your play. There's plenty of room in the front who those who wish to drink and/or socialize, but the place is run to make life easy on those who are
paying to play there, and that's as it should be.

Danny Barouty was a treasure of NYC pool. It was a great loss when he moved to the west coast.
 
Thanks everyone for the replies. Exactly what I was looking for. Thread printed off - literally - old school!

Should have added that within reason - don't really care about the cost.

That penthouse club in Midtown East sounds great. 9 foot diamonds. Free bar. Topless barmaids. But at $500 per hour for 2 people - even at Manhattan drink prices - not sure we could justify it!
 
Carom Cafe. Three cushion tables in the pit and pool tables around the perimeter for common folk.
Great players, tournaments, good food, private parking, house cues.
Pool halls in the city? eh ok, dime a dozen. They had their day, now it's leagues and recreational.
AlthoughI haven't been in any of the rooms in the city for sometime now so I could be off base.
There may not be another room in the country like Carom. Flushing has phenomenal food.
Nice event coming up in a few weeks. If you don't play 3 cushion you may start after visiting Carom.

USBA Home

The USBA is the official governing body for three-cushion (carom) billiards in America. The United States Billiard Association - 3-cushion billiards in the USA.
usba-carom.org usba-carom.org
 
FastManners said:
Hells Kitchen - Blue Ruin
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Blue Ruin Bar, 538 9th Ave, New York, NY 10018 (9th Ave and W 40th St)

Can't thank you enough for this one!

An absolute oasis in the desert in the heart of Midtown Manhattan. Finished off there every night.

It's a small dive-bar with a pool table at the back. Table has a winner-stay on board (apart form a couple of nights when it was APA league night).

A CD jukebox with 15 plays for $5 played through great speakers. Beer was 'cheap' for the area. A mixture of locals and tourists. All very friendly.

It's about a block south of the west (9th Ave) entrance of Port Authority. If you are heading from Times Square subway you can use underground tunnels/walkways to get to Port Authority which makes it seem easier (same distance - just a bit quieter...).

Anyway - thanks again. It wouldn't be for everyone on here but for me it hit the spot.
 
I agree, Amsterdam Billiards would also be my top recommendation. The staff are very friendly, knowledgeable and cater to all spectrum of pool customers; from newbie to nits For those looking for quality instruction, they have Hall of Famers, those won US Open back to back or. Mika, Thorsten, Yednak, Alaska and others.

Carom have enough concentration of Snooker, Carom and pool tables to be able host nightly tournaments in each of those games. They're also home to some action matches

sjm said:
A tourist is unlikely to be very concerned about table brand or pocket size, so if you want the nicest poolroom in New York City, it is Amsterdam Billiards. Most of the tables have loose pockets, but that's as it should be for recreational players. The bar is first rate, with beer, wine and spirits, a nice ambiance, and is very pleasant place to have a drink. If memory serves, the bar doesn't open until late afternoon. As Fast Manners noted, Manhattan is expensive, but Amsterdam is a premium product at a premium price. There are special rates on a weekday during the daytime. It is hard to get on a table on a weeknight, as they have some of the biggest leagues in the country. Food choices are very limited. The house cues are very good.

Skyline in Brooklyn, as Garczar noted, is an excellent room with a nice ambiance, too, and has several tougher tables meant for the serious player. It also has a full bar, a full food menu and good food. Can't offer any info about their house cues.

In Queens, Carom Cafe offers a full bar, snooker tables, three cushion billiard tables and pool tables. The room itself is beautiful and it has a full food menu and good food. Can't offer any info about their house cues.

Those would be my top three, but if you visit any of them at night, call first to make sure that league play won't obstruct you from getting a table.
Click to expand...
 
Played at Amsterdam Billiards. Yeah - nice place.

Picked a strange day though because there was a TV crew there measuring it up etc. to be used for an episode in series 2 of 'Poker Face' (TV drama show).
The name 'Amsterdam' won't get shown. They will be replacing signs referencing it to fictitious ones. But if you happen to watch it - and think 'that looks like the Amsterdam' then you would be correct...
 
Every time I'm in NY for business I meet a retired pro at Amsterdam for a lesson. Always the place I send folks looking for a nice place to play, my only complaint is it gets hot in the summer...
 
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