Of all the tables listed on FindSnooker.com, I've played on fewer than a dozen. Though I rarely travel for work any more, I do get around the country now and then, and on the sufferance of my wife I can sometimes spend an hour or two checking out the local snooker table(s).
So here's my goal: I'll post photos, stories, and/or semi-believable fish stories about the tables I do get to see and play on. Over a period of several years maybe I'll see as many as 10% of the tables in the country.
To start off, here's the 12' snooker table in my home room, The Billiards Cafe in Ayer, Massachusetts, which is west of Boston:
If you have a choice of pockets on a particular shot, try the side pocket to the right of the blue (which would be on your left if you're breaking from the "D"). I once had a ball bank off the short rail and roll slowly up the long rail about 1" from that side. The ball's speed died just as it approached the side pocket, whereupon it made a 90-degree turn and dropped in.
There were two witnesses on that shot.
Just this past week I played a similar shot in a tourney match. As my opponent said, it helps to know your table.
The owner, Calvin, has made the Cafe a great place to hang out. There are leagues, a Tuesday tournament that alternates between 8-ball and 9-ball, a snooker ladder run by "cascader", live bands, holiday parties--you name it. It's a lot of pool hall for a small town.
The Billiards Cafe (1 - 12')
39 Main Street
Ayer, MA 01432
(978) 772-7665
http://www.thebilliardscafe.com/
Snooker ladder:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=206427&highlight=snooker+ladder
So here's my goal: I'll post photos, stories, and/or semi-believable fish stories about the tables I do get to see and play on. Over a period of several years maybe I'll see as many as 10% of the tables in the country.
To start off, here's the 12' snooker table in my home room, The Billiards Cafe in Ayer, Massachusetts, which is west of Boston:
If you have a choice of pockets on a particular shot, try the side pocket to the right of the blue (which would be on your left if you're breaking from the "D"). I once had a ball bank off the short rail and roll slowly up the long rail about 1" from that side. The ball's speed died just as it approached the side pocket, whereupon it made a 90-degree turn and dropped in.
There were two witnesses on that shot.
Just this past week I played a similar shot in a tourney match. As my opponent said, it helps to know your table.
The owner, Calvin, has made the Cafe a great place to hang out. There are leagues, a Tuesday tournament that alternates between 8-ball and 9-ball, a snooker ladder run by "cascader", live bands, holiday parties--you name it. It's a lot of pool hall for a small town.
The Billiards Cafe (1 - 12')
39 Main Street
Ayer, MA 01432
(978) 772-7665
http://www.thebilliardscafe.com/
Snooker ladder:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=206427&highlight=snooker+ladder