Small dingy rooms or large classy rooms

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catfishcody

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What is your favorite type of poolhall?

the small, smokey rooms with a few bar boxes or the big classy billiard rooms with 9ft Brunswicks and Diamonds?

Every other day i go to Saltys, a small game room with 3 valley bar boxes i play dollar 9ball all night and just enjoy the atmosphere. but sometimes i go downtown to the bank shot, one of the nicest pool halls around

I enjoy both, but i feel more comfortable in the larger quieter Bank Shot. which do you guys like best? big or small?
 
I prefer the larger halls with the 9 footers. In the area I live in, people are always getting shot or robbed around the bar scenes. When I drank, I didn't mind a good fight. Now that I am older and more mellow, I do my best to avoid those situations. I am 6ft.1 in. and 235 lbs. and found that they always go for the big guys, thus, scars, scars, scars. Screw it, I don't fight and don't wish to shoot anybody. JMHO
Don P.
 
yeah the good thing about saltys is they don't serve alcohol
 
catfishcody said:
yeah the good thing about saltys is they don't serve alcohol
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Just curious how does a place with just 3 bar boxes and not serving alcohol stay in business? Where do they make their money?

Personally I like a room with 9 footers, but big and "classy" doesn't fit my personality. I like be around a "working class" atmosphere, maybe a place a little grungy, but with fullsize tables. And the less smoke the better though I disagree with legislating smoking away.
 
depends on what you consider fun
the small places are more personal and if you are a regular ..........safe. however i have some cues id rather not take in one ( szamboti, rizzo ). and a more diverse crowd.
however the large rooms arent very personal. they are pool pool pool,,,,,,,,,and keep them cigs and drinks away from the table. they tend to be tooo pool room oriented and less people orienterd. thats where ill play with an expensive cue.
as far as action,,,,,,,,,,,,,small rooms are great as you can neak around.
 
catscradle said:
Just curious how does a place with just 3 bar boxes and not serving alcohol stay in business? Where do they make their money?

Personally I like a room with 9 footers, but big and "classy" doesn't fit my personality. I like be around a "working class" atmosphere, maybe a place a little grungy, but with fullsize tables. And the less smoke the better though I disagree with legislating smoking away.
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They have video games and good food too. It's a small place but i have never seen less then 10 people in there. on tournament nights there are more then 100 people there.
 
I like a place that has 9' pool tables, a few 10' billiard tables and one or two 6' X 12' snooker tables. It's real hard to find a place like that anymore. I'm totally into pool. I don't like smoke, alcohol or anything else that detracts from pool. I hate the juke box that is so loud you can feel the vibration! And, I love to watch action! The fighting thing doesn't bother me. For some reason, no one has ever wanted to take a swat at me. I guess I've been real lucky. I've had a few close calls, but when I didn't back down, they have always chose to drop it. Now I'm getting like Don, too old to want to make them back down! It sucks getting older!
 
Hey Rick, I like getting older. Wiser comes with the teritory. I am 54 and having more fun than I ever did in my life. They say that when ya get older, everything hurts, and what don't hurt don't work. Thas BS, it might hurt but it still works!! This is when you realize the true meaning of, No Pain, No Gain.
Wishing you the best.
Don
 
haha. Don, man, you crack me up.

As long as a place has 9 footers and decent table fees, I'm happy. My favorite place in DC only has a few tables (6 nines and 2 eights) and is in a basement with no windows, but it's nowhere close to shady. It's a pretty nice place with great folks behind the counter who are just as happy making you a pot of coffee as they are pouring a 12 year bourbon (I used to tend bar, and prided myself on providing non-alcoholic stuff for folks who would prefer to stay sober). I've sampled both there on many occasions, and both are very drinkable.

The only thing that bothers me is the smoke, but you can't have it all.

Well, not when you're a workaholic 26 year old in the city anyway. Maybe in 10 years I'll have that house with a gameroom ;)
 
Raistlin said:
I'll take small and dingy, as long as the tables are 9' and in good condition.
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That's the problem, it's hard to find a room like that with anything but 7 - 8ft tables

I'm going to a little room on Preston St tomorow, it's called Dragon Billiards a little hole in the wall pool room behind a bar. maybe they have some descent tables.
 
Catfish,There used to be a room called Derby City Billiards.They had pretty good diamond tables.You may want to see if it is still open.
 
Only teenaged punks hang out at Derby City now, fights every night too, just a few weeks ago some kids threw a guy though a window down there.

They cheat alot too, move the 8 ball when you're not looking and rack the balls really loose on your break.
 
Rickw said:
I like a place that has 9' pool tables, a few 10' billiard tables and one or two 6' X 12' snooker tables. It's real hard to find a place like that anymore. I'm totally into pool. I don't like smoke, alcohol or anything else that detracts from pool. I hate the juke box that is so loud you can feel the vibration! And, I love to watch action! The fighting thing doesn't bother me. For some reason, no one has ever wanted to take a swat at me. I guess I've been real lucky. I've had a few close calls, but when I didn't back down, they have always chose to drop it. Now I'm getting like Don, too old to want to make them back down! It sucks getting older!
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EXACTLY. To be called "billiards" a place better have a billiards table or two. Most don't. Snooker is good too. The poolhalls I liked didn't have 12' snookers, but they all had 10' brunswick snookers. So when I go to "Al's Billiards" I always ask if they have a billiards table. Once in a while someone will hand over 3 balls. usually not. The poolhalls I "grew up" in all had mostly gold crowns, one or two billiards tables, and some snooker. Some served alcohol some didn't. I never witnessed a fight at any of them.

To the original poster: Sorry, but if it has only barboxes it is not a pool hall. It is a place w/ bar tables. Either an arcade or a bar. Some poolhalls now have bar boxes because people like them, but it is a shame they have to have them really. It is bad enough pool tables went to 9'. When pool was the most popular they were 10'. I have never had the chance to play on a 10'. If a place doesn't have top quality 9' tables, it isn't a pool hall. If it doesn't have billiards, it shouldn't be called billiards. Sorry I am a curmudgeon. I'm not even that old. I just hate romper room places with bangers. I like pool halls with crusty old guys.

P.S. Pool and billiards may or may not die. But to be successful in the long term, people need to support and demand real places to play on real equipment. If we depend on bar boxes and leagues to keep the game going, it will surely die. JMO>
 
sorry to hear that about Derby City.I was there about 2 years ago .unfortunately times change.To bad, another room down the drain
 
Id rather play on a 9 ft table, and use a good cue. Howevevr bar boxes and $40 cues have kept pool alive in this ever so shrinking world where space time and money are at a premieum.
Dont tell anyone, but i neak away and go to a real pool hall every so often with my Szamboti.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,btw ptm, Im neakin up on you.
 
Yes i agree a place with a few bar boxes is not a pool hall, saltys is a small game room, but people come from all over the city to play there. the guys that play there are really good but put them on a 9ft table and thier game goes down the drain.
 
That says a lot about Keith McCready. He plays great on the 9 footers and will smoke anybody on the bar box.
Don P.
 
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