Shadiest Pool Hall

[Black-Balled]

LOL. Yep, Jack and Jill's in Glen Burnie is still rocking and rolling.

I can't remember when, but about 20 years ago, the now "Jack and Jill's" was called "Bill and Billie's,"... Bill and Billie's was on every road player's list of places to hit because there was NEVER a shortage of action. Witnessed an on-the-road Efren Reyes there once!
JAM

Now you are making me question my long-term memory. Don't make me give that up too! Maybe it was Bill&Billie's when I was there, but I haven't been playing for 20yrs, so I just don't know

I saw Efren there too. he played Freddie B, gave him 11-7, 12-7, IIRC. THink you were there that night? IIRC (again!) I beat the young Newport for a couple and didn't get to watch Efren's exhibition too much. I miss those days, action in the pool hall, no morgage

 

[ShootingArts]

Shopper's Pool Hall

OK, Shoppers was any thing but a shady place, the occasional shot fired was just an accidental discharge and things were pretty calm most of the time, enforced by all of the regulars!

However, Shoppers was surely the roughest place a long haired cousin of mine went into. None of us were in college but we were of that age and it was the early seventies. My hair was moderately long and I had a full beard, cousin Chris had short hair, cousin Little John, well he was little, baby faced, and had hair flowing down past his shoulders. He was also the only one of us that was from the rich side of town.

I was a regular at Shoppers and Chris wasn't a stranger. Little John's first trip, we might have slightly exaggerated how rough Shoppers was."Don't look at anybody, don't talk to anybody, and whatever you do don't look at a girl or say even hello to one!" It loses a lot in the telling but it was absolutely hilarious to watch somebody trying to shoot pool while watching over both shoulders! Paranoid doesn't begin to describe how Little John felt.

Hu

 

[Ken_4fun]

Does anybody remember Paddy's 711 (sp?) in Manhattan? I remember stopping in there one night around one a.m. and this fellow came up to be and asked if I would like to buy a diamond ring. I asked him to show it to me. He pointed to a gentleman standing several feet away and said, "See that guy? He's wearing it!"

I liked that one......


Ken

 

[Eric.]

I think alot of rooms have a certain crowd and umm, ambiance.

The old Chelsea Billiards in NYC and West End Billiards in Jersey come to mind.

Not THE shadiest places, but definately not a church going crowd.


Eric

 

[JAM]

The Sportsman in downtown Roanoke, Va. NEVER let women in. They ran their asses out of there fast too if they stuck their head in to see what was going on.

Of course that poolhall closed its doors about 20 years ago. I have the article written by Mike Ives, my favorite newspaper reporter of all time. Mike played a mean game of one pocket and was there every day at lunch. Maybe I will scan it and put it on AZ one day. I remember those good ole days when the players used to spit chew tobacco in the spittons, and getting a rack cost 10 cents. Not a rough place though, as far as pool halls go.

I'm not sure if I had been to The Sportsman in downtown Roanoke, but I did frequent a pool room in that town and met Roanoke Red, an action player of that era. I was en route back to D.C. after a road trip and stopped in. This place had the parking lot out front, and you had to walk up a small set of stairs to get in the joint. It was a sickly hospital green color inside, as I recall.

Gold star for who can remember Roanoke Red's real name because I can't.

JAM

 

[Brian in VA]

The other Arlington Pool Room

I only stepped foot in there one time in my life. I was a teenager, and a couple of girls and me got the nerve to go down those steps into a billiard parlor -- with no windows, as I recall.

Being a native Washingtonian, one can't help but remember that this Jack and Jill's in Arlington [Seven Corners actually] was owned by none other than Weenie Beanie, a legend in his own right. He used to have hot dog trolley cars in the Arlington area which sold an assortment of hot dog delights, and rumor has it that he made a bundle.

One-pocket was definitely in vogue. This action room was on every road player's map, late '60s/early '70s. Luther Lassiter, Cornbread Red, and even Willie Mosconi, they all stepped foot in there at one time or another.

I remember a pool room in Petersburg, Virginia, right on the main thoroughfare. We were "on the road" and happened to drive by and wanted to check it out. It was an old wooden structure with a front porch. There was a huge sign displayed on the window that said: "No Women Allowed." I couldn't believe it. This was in the mid '70s. If only I had had a camera!

JAM [Walked in, anyway, and nobody said a word! ]

That was a huge room that Weenie Beenie had, too. I remember 50 tables and each one named for a state. (Am I remembering that correctly? I came of age in the 70s so things get a little sketchy in there!)

There was another room on Glebe Road in Clarendon (now Ballston) that I used to frequent. Only about 12 tables and I want to say it was called the Cue and Chalk. Had a guy that ran the place who used to sing Big Band stuff out loud all the time, named Jack. And a day manager that used to play Kelly Pool and keep his pea in his ear hole! I remember he had ears big enough to hold a cue ball and I always wondered how he never lost the pea!

One night, when I was in high school, there were four of us playing there. We suddenly heard a commotion near the front of the room. Someone had done something to someone else and the offended party was standing over a guy out cold on the floor, brandishing his cue stick butt and screaming, "He was ****ing with me and I told him not to!" After looking around and seeing no one else threatening him, he calmly put his stick away and walked out the door. The manager came up, checked that the guy was breathing, called the rescue squad and police and went back to his game! We paid our time and left before the authorities came to clean up.

I can't imagine living in the house where I grew up, about a mile away, and allowing a 10 or 12 year old kid to ride his bike to either of these places nowadays. (Without a helmet, no less!) It was a much simpler time I guess.

Thanks for allowing some great memories to come back.

 

[JAM]

Now you are making me question my long-term memory. Don't make me give that up too! Maybe it was Bill&Billie's when I was there, but I haven't been playing for 20yrs, so I just don't know

I saw Efren there too. he played Freddie B, gave him 11-7, 12-7, IIRC. THink you were there that night? IIRC (again!) I beat the young Newport for a couple and didn't get to watch Efren's exhibition too much. I miss those days, action in the pool hall, no morgage

Poor Newport Junior used to have to stand outside of Bill & Billie's when the midnight hour hit because they wouldn't let minors in there after that time. His dad, BTW, attends Derby City Classic in Louisville every single year.

I saw Freddie Boggs play Weenie Beanie at the OLD Champions [pre-Richard Allen] on Glebe Road a game of one-pocket at a nickel a pop. The pool grapevine disseminated the news of this match-up, and the place was packed. Weenie Beanie pulled up after one game because Freddie Boggs was taking too long between shots.

Later that night, Geese matched up with Bobby Hawk, with Geese playing one-handed. Young Bobby Hawk was a little green back then and agreed to give Geese a huge spot, his two hands to Geese's one. It was over in no time, with Geese enjoying the thrill of victory.

Seattle Sam was working the counter at that time, which made it an action-friendly kind of place.

JAM

 

[Varsity2016]

well i hate to say this because i was good friends with the owner but check it.


in franklin park illinois, there was a hall franklin billiards, no heat, no music, smelled like shit, and the creepyest part was the owner was a really old un groomed guy in a wheelchair that only had one leg. the hall was freezing cold in mid winter and the crazy people that would go to this hall would have gloves and their heavy jackets still on. no good players in there what so ever, the gold crown 3's played horrible, loose rails, seemed like he got the felt from luna or empire carpet. i only went to go help the guy out move around stuff and the place went out of business surprisingly so i bought one of his gold crowns for 800 and sold it a couple weeks later for 1800.

 

[TATE]

What's the shadiest pool hall you've ever been to and why? Sound off.

There were some pretty rough rooms, but out here the one you really wanted to hold onto your wallet when you walked through the door was Coke's old place in North Hollywood, Big Mama's, in the 1960's and 1970's. It became Fast Eddie's when Ronnie Allen was a partner. If you walked in to get a straight pool game, you ended up getting robbed in banks. If you wanted 9 ball, you ended up losing your butt to an old guy in golf on a super tight snooker table. Then, of course, there was Ronnie Allen himself, who could only be described as a fast talking, hot headed, sore loser and hustler supreme.

The crowd was kind of like the west coast version of the Sopranos. I miss that place. It was great.

Chris

 

[poolbiz420]

It seems all these shady pool rooms are from years past, is there no shady pool rooms today? There is one here in town, (I won't mention any names) that I will not go into after like 8 p.m. the place has like 15 tables total it is very dirty, you walk in and get smacked in the face by the stench of stale smoke and piss. The people who hang out there at night are pretty unsavory you never know what's gonna go down. You have to park across the street so you can see your car, if you park in the side lot, it or stuff out of it might not be there. But when players come through town they know that is a place to find a game.

 

[Black-Balled]

I know Tucker 10 years ago. I heard he was a decent player around DC, but he was done by the time I got there and couldn't win. Hell, I'd like to play him some now FO SHO!

 

[Tommy-D]

> The pool room itself isn't exactly shady,but the neighborhood around what used to be called The Rack is precisely that. There used to be a very large housing project behind it,maybe 1000 feet away. I was there with a couple friends for a Sunday afternoon tournament,and the calcutta was interrupted by at least 90 seconds of uninterrupted small arms fire,there were obviously several participants. This was about 3:00 in the afternoon. It has gotten better though,that housing project was in the process of being torn down last I saw. Tommy D.

 

[poolbiz420]

> The pool room itself isn't exactly shady,but the neighborhood around what used to be called The Rack is precisely that. There used to be a very large housing project behind it,maybe 1000 feet away. I was there with a couple friends for a Sunday afternoon tournament,and the calcutta was interrupted by at least 90 seconds of uninterrupted small arms fire,there were obviously several participants. This was about 3:00 in the afternoon. It has gotten better though,that housing project was in the process of being torn down last I saw. Tommy D.

Are you talking about The Rack in Livonia, MI.?

 

[DDUBBS9]

Sarengetti Billards____ The Rack _____ It Was So Hot In This Place In The Middle Of July, The Herseys Bar In The Vending Machine Was So Melted It Was Bent Backwards Over The Spring, I Wanted To Play In My Boxers Now Thats Hot

 

[stevelomako]

Are you talking about The Rack in Livonia, MI.?

HELL NO HE'S NOT!!!

You've been to my place so I know you're thinking what the hell is he talking about? There's a bunch of pool rooms around the country called "The Rack" but the one Tommy-D (Dilorenzo ?) is talking about isn't mine.



My room opened back in 1963 as "Eddies Rack & Cue" as part of the big pool room boom from the movie "The Hustler" in 1961. Still has the Gold Crown I's. The developer of the little strip it's in had money problems when they were building in 1962 and sold the individual units back then to the pool room, the Bakery and the Fish & Chip restaurant next door. So I'm fortunate to own the building it's in.

It's a middle class residential area for miles and miles around, with at least 15 high schools and a few community colleges within 1-10 miles. That's the biggest reason it's been there so long, you get a new group of 17-22 year olds every few years till they move on to the bar scene.

It was actually the first pool room I ever entered. I was going to HS (1974) down the street and would walk by every day and finally got the nerve to go in. Kind of funny I have it now and the guys I thought were 'old' then, still come in. I thought 30 years old was ancient back then but I guess we all did.

It's had its changes over the years and I had to clean up the crowd when I took it over last year, the previous guy let it go and there were "wannabe little gangsta rapper types" from a different area coming in....but it wasn't too bad because I don't put up with the kind of crap that I did myself when I was young. It's about the only place in town where you can always get a game and even the young guys are picking up one-pocket.


Biz,
I'll see you in Toledo at the Glass City Open and I'm having another Viking tournament Dec 3rd & 4th. I have to buy you and yours a drink in Toledo.

 

[JAM]

...It was actually the first pool room I ever entered. I was going to HS (1974) down the street and would walk by every day and finally got the nerve to go in...but it wasn't too bad because I don't put up with the kind of crap that I did myself when I was young....

LOL. I always tell my daughter that: "You can't con a con!" Been there, done that!

Biz,
I'll see you in Toledo at the Glass City Open and I'm having another Viking tournament Dec 3rd & 4th. I have to buy you and yours a drink in Toledo.

We'll be seeing you, too, Stevelomako. Meet you by the Toledo frog at the smoking lounge!

JAM

 

[poolbiz420]

Couldn't put 2 n 2 together

HELL NO HE'S NOT!!!

You've been to my place so I know you're thinking what the hell is he talking about? There's a bunch of pool rooms around the country called "The Rack" but the one Tommy-D (Dilorenzo ?) is talking about isn't mine.



My room opened back in 1963 as "Eddies Rack & Cue" as part of the big pool room boom from the movie "The Hustler" in 1961. Still has the Gold Crown I's. The developer of the little strip it's in had money problems when they were building in 1962 and sold the individual units back then to the pool room, the Bakery and the Fish & Chip restaurant next door. So I'm fortunate to own the building it's in.

It's a middle class residential area for miles and miles around, with at least 15 high schools and a few community colleges within 1-10 miles. That's the biggest reason it's been there so long, you get a new group of 17-22 year olds every few years till they move on to the bar scene.

It was actually the first pool room I ever entered. I was going to HS (1974) down the street and would walk by every day and finally got the nerve to go in. Kind of funny I have it now and the guys I thought were 'old' then, still come in. I thought 30 years old was ancient back then but I guess we all did.

It's had its changes over the years and I had to clean up the crowd when I took it over last year, the previous guy let it go and there were "wannabe little gangsta rapper types" from a different area coming in....but it wasn't too bad because I don't put up with the kind of crap that I did myself when I was young. It's about the only place in town where you can always get a game and even the young guys are picking up one-pocket.


Biz,
I'll see you in Toledo at the Glass City Open and I'm having another Viking tournament Dec 3rd & 4th. I have to buy you and yours a drink in Toledo.

That is why I question it, you are right i've been to your place and never thought it or the surronding area was "SHADY". Trust me i've seen the area around it because it always seems when we go up there I always get us lost so we take the scenic route in!!

We'll try to make it up for that event, will definetly enjoy that drink. See you at the open

 

[stevelomako]

LOL. I always tell my daughter that: "You can't con a con!" Been there, done that!



We'll be seeing you, too, Stevelomako. Meet you by the Toledo frog at the smoking lounge!

JAM

That frog really is something isn't it? Hopefully it won't be too cold for us smokers. It's funny though, when I go play cards I like the non-smoking room waaay better.

Don't forget dinner/lunch/breakfast, we'll get him to eat something somewhere sometime somehow. We'll get a crowd together in the restaurant or something.

I decided to start playing again about a month and 1/2 ago, you know, to try and get in some kind of stroke for Toledo, DCC, Vikings, etc................I've hit balls once, LOL. Nice when you have access to tables everyday and can't even get to play.

Just don't lock up your AZ account on the hotel computer this year.

Steve

 

[misterpoole]

What's the shadiest pool hall you've ever been to and why? Sound off.

In my naive younger days I would go into any place called a pool hall, even in third world countries. I don't know how I survived some of those places. I was obviously not a local...next time you are in Mexico find a pool hall and check it out.

 

[Tommy-D]

> I should have clarified this. I was not referring to the one in Livonia,MI,since I've never hit a ball there,and haven't been there since going to speed skating competitions as a kid when I still lived in Akron. The one I am referring to is in the 3600 block of Lamar Ave in Memphis. Tommy D.