Pool Halls in the Chicago area I visited.

Donovan

Donovan

Play it safe or go home.
Silver Member
Pool Halls and their Pictures

Pro-Tyme Classic Billiards.
15605 S. 94th Ave,
Orland Park, IL 60462.
1-708-403-0600
Sun-Thur 12pm to 1am & Fri-Sat 12pm to 2am

It was the nicest upscale place I've been too so far. In the top portion of the "Tables Pic" you can see the Pro Shop. There were many production cues, but there were also some beautiful Olivier and Nova Cues. I mean gorgeous cues! They have a super tight pocket table in the back and a couple of nice semi-private rooms. The equipment was perfect and the lighting was supreme! I went back and played here often. BTW, the coffee was fantastic. It will soon have an internet café inside there too. Many of the pictures of this place did not turn out...Sorry! CLASSY PLACE!
 

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Chris’ Cue-Phoria

Chris’ Cue-Phoria
8917 W. Grand Ave.
River Grove, IL 60170
1-708-452-9105

This is the newest edition to the Chris' Billiards fame. Variety of tables, 7', 9' Diamond tables along with a Gabriel heated 3-#cushion table. They have a massive Air System built in there. I could not smell even a hint of smoke. the lighting is fantastic. There was quite a few production cues, like Nick Varner, Scorpion, and others. Lots of places to sit, darts, and a beautiful bar. I did not get to play here that day, but it looks like it was a great place to play.
 

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Chris' Billiards II - "The Sequal"

1122 Lee St (Mannheim Rd)
Des Plaines, IL 60016
1-847-299-8801
Sun-Thur 10am to 1:30am & Fri-Sat 10am to 2am

This place's biggest draw for me were the cues they had for sale. I saw a Gilbert, Samsara, Jennson, Coker, and many others. They of course have a nice setup. One room looks like a classic pool room of days of old and the other half is a nicer upscale looking side with lots of tables. I used to live in Des Plaines and if this had been there back then, I would have never gotten to work. ;)
 

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Chris' Billiards

Chris' Billiards
4637 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60630-3631
1-773 286-4714
9:30am to 2am

This is where some of the filming of The Hustler and The Color of Money was done at. I hate to say this, but this will be very anti-climactic, due to the fact that almost none of the pictures turned out. I AM DEEPLY SORRY!This is as CLASSIC as pool halls get. There were 47 pool tables, (I think) 5 3-cushion tables and a 6x12 Snooker. You can feel the real power of an old time pool hall just standing at the bottom of the steps ready to walk up. Many great players and billiard authors frequent this establishment. It is worth every second of your time to make it here.
 

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I would just like to add that this was a great trip. I wish I had taken the pictures when I first started traveling for my job 11 years ago. If you have any great pictures of these places that you would like to add to this thread... PLEASE DO! Everyone treated us witht the best of service and made us feel like real regulars. Thank you to all of the establishments for their time and for allowing us a chance to take some photos. If you have pictures of any pool hall, please add them and tell us about the place.
 
Thanks for your Efforts Donovan.the pictures did not load for some reason
 
Ya, Donovan, pics are not loading for me either. I wrote about my trip to Chris' (the original) in the other thread about old vs new rooms. I would love to see your pics, whatever the condition.

And yes, its definitly worth the time to get there. Of course, I dont know much about the city, but it took over an hour for a cab to come get us when we wanted to leave. We were told it wasnt the nicest part of town.
 
Donovan said:
Chris' Billiards
4637 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60630-3631
1-773 286-4714
9:30am to 2am

This is where some of the filming of The Hustler and The Color of Money was done at.
Click to expand...

Donovan...Just a small correction. A very small part of The Color of Money was filmed at Chris's...NONE of the Hustler was filmed in Chicago.:D

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
 
Scott Lee said:
Donovan...Just a small correction. A very small part of The Color of Money was filmed at Chris's...NONE of the Hustler was filmed in Chicago.:D

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Click to expand...
I think some scenes were also filmed at the Chicago Billiard Cafe on Irving Park, another great, but smaller, Chicago pool hall.

Cory
 
Scott Lee said:
Donovan...Just a small correction. A very small part of The Color of Money was filmed at Chris's...NONE of the Hustler was filmed in Chicago.:D

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Click to expand...

I saw none of Chris' in The Hustler either. But I put that in there because it does say that on their business card. I can't disprove it, so I left it in there. Does anyone know what part of The Hustler was filmed at Chris'?

The entire intro to Grady Seasons (Keith) was at Chris'. BTW, I did say "some of the filming" in the original thread.

PS: I can see the pics just fine here, but I'll look at the code some more.
 
LOL, I guess my website did not want to handle that much bandwidth. So I hated to just post them this other way, but I did not have a choice. I am too lazy to go get one of those photo club site places, so I hope this is ok.
 
Nice pic of the stairs at Chris's. I have the same pic, but with me going up them! I have a few from inside though. Just the main room. Ill have to go back there.

And yes, I know for sure Keiths scene was filmed there. They had the production sheets up on the wall, saying what time the actors had to be on set at, and his name was on there.
 
Donovan that is correct about their business card saying scenes from TCOM AND the Hustler were filemd there.next time i play i'll ask someone about it.
 
This is the back tournament room of Chris' taken in 2000 by a good friend and teammate. From the front counter, take a right through the plastic meat locker curtain. The place looks the same... except no more cigarette smoke. Everyone pictured was a member of my APA team... WuClan. We finished tied for 33rd that year.

pool06.jpg
 
raemondo said:
I may sound stupid here, but did chicago ban smoking in such areas?
Click to expand...
Yes they have and it looks like the entire county of COOK...about 120 suburbs of Chicago are going to follow suit as well.
ruk
 
cuejoey said:
Donovan that is correct about their business card saying scenes from TCOM AND the Hustler were filemd there.next time i play i'll ask someone about it.
Click to expand...

CueJoey...Absolutely, positively NONE of the original Hustler movie was filmed at Chris's Billiards. :rolleyes: The original owner, Chris Crisman, didn't even open the room until 1973. :eek: The Hustler was made in 1960, and came out in '61, winning best picture. It's likely some ignorance on the part of the owners. The only thing that could relate to that, is that TCOM was marketed in Japan as The Huster II. There are 1000's of those old posters still around.:D

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
 
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rukiddingme said:
Yes they have and it looks like the entire county of COOK...about 120 suburbs of Chicago are going to follow suit as well.
ruk
Click to expand...


Wow I am 3 hours from Chicago and I am ~that ignorant.....do you have any idea what this entails? Well I know now they can't smoke in pool halls...but what about bars and clubs then? And I suppose smoking in public streets and downtown is still fine?
 
Chicago pool rooms

Donovan said:
Pro-Tyme Classic Billiards.
15605 S. 94th Ave,
Orland Park, IL 60462.
1-708-403-0600
Sun-Thur 12pm to 1am & Fri-Sat 12pm to 2am

It was the nicest upscale place I've been too so far. In the top portion of the "Tables Pic" you can see the Pro Shop. There were many production cues, but there were also some beautiful Olivier and Nova Cues. I mean gorgeous cues! They have a super tight pocket table in the back and a couple of nice semi-private rooms. The equipment was perfect and the lighting was supreme! I went back and played here often. BTW, the coffee was fantastic. It will soon have an internet café inside there too. Many of the pictures of this place did not turn out...Sorry! CLASSY PLACE!
Click to expand...

The next time you are in town, get a hold of me and I'll get you into the Illinois Billiards Club in Willow Springs, where Jim Parker has been running straight pool leagues for about 30 years. Small but interesting place with nice 9 foot anniversary tables with simonis 760, a 5 by 10 table and a 3 cushion table. Red Shoes in Alsip is a little rougher but has straight pool leagues and lots of one pocket and banks.

Pro-Tyme is a very nice room about 10 minutes from where I live.
 
dmgwalsh said:
The next time you are in town, get a hold of me and I'll get you into the Illinois Billiards Club in Willow Springs, where Jim Parker has been running straight pool leagues for about 30 years. Small but interesting place with nice 9 foot anniversary tables with simonis 760, a 5 by 10 table and a 3 cushion table. Red Shoes in Alsip is a little rougher but has straight pool leagues and lots of one pocket and banks.

Pro-Tyme is a very nice room about 10 minutes from where I live.
Click to expand...


I think I've seen the IBC's website before...I thought it was very interesting. How many 9 footers do they have though? It looks pretty small. How far is the IBC from say downtown chicago btw?
 
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