Snooker Tables I have seen, known, loved, and sometimes loathed

[Rethunk]

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

 

[Rethunk]

Coat of Arms in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

If I remember correctly, the 10' table at the Coat of Arms in New Hampshire was the first table I found in my search for snooker tables in the Boston area. (The long version of the search for a Boston area snooker table is documented in this post started by McChen: http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=78055)

Portsmouth is a touristy seacoast town: bed & breakfasts, semi-pricey restaurants, lobster-themed knick-knacks, shops my wife can't help but visit, a bakery with great popovers, etc., etc. All that, and there's a 10' snooker table downtown in a British-themed pub called Coat of Arms.

There are places in the country where snooker is free for members of a private club members, and there are senior centers where seniors can play for as little as $0.50, but Coat of Arms is the only place I know where snooker is (or was) free to anyone on Monday nights.

Coat of Arms Pub (1 - 10')
174 Fleet Street
Portsmouth, NH 03801
(603) 431-0407
http://www.coatofarmspub.com/
Free snooker on Monday nights.

The food is decent pub fare: burgers, fish sandwiches, that sort of thing. However, if you visit Portsmouth in the summer, consider taking a 10-minute trip across the border to Kittery, Maine to Morrison's Lobster Shack. BYOB.
http://maps.google.com/maps/place?h...48bd8a96,Kittery,+ME&cid=14231837717472314706

Roll down the steps to street level and it's an easy drunken crawl from Coat of Arms to Legends Billiards around the corner. Legends may still have regular tournaments.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/legends-billiards-and-tavern-portsmouth

 

[Rethunk]

Chris's Billiards

Chris's Billiards is a legendary pool hall. I first heard about Chris's when I was a student in the Midwest in the mid 90's. Chris's Billiards, Ray Schuler, and Joey Gold (Cognoscenti) often came up in conversation.

In October 2010 I visited Chicago for business, and the friend who put me up for the weekend was gracious enough to express interest in shooting pool even though he's not a regular player. I knew Chris's Billiards had a snooker table, and I wanted to see it, so that's where we headed.

Pool tables, 3-cushion tables, and of course the snooker table. Yum.

This is what you see on one of the short rails:

This is what I can make out:

BCA Trade Show
Nashville Tennessee - July 20 to 22, 1989
Marking the Inauguration of the American Snooker Market
By Steve Davis & Cliff Thorburn
McDermott - Matchroom

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Davis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Thorburn

If there'd been more time I'd like to have waited around to say hi to George Fels, whose books I had first read in my college days and whose back page column in Billiards Digest is still a favorite. Maybe next time. That Saturday my buddy and I had a full schedule of active loafing ahead of us at places like The Map Room, a map-themed bar: http://maproom.com/.

Chris' Billiards (1 - 12')
4637 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60630
(773) 286-4714
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=107047289

 

[mnorwood]

Really interesting thread Gary. I wish there were more places to play around here. Champions is just so far away.

 

[Rethunk]

Really interesting thread Gary.

Thanks! It seemed that AzB was a better place for this sort of thing than the website itself.

I wish there were more places to play around here. Champions is just so far away.

Yeah, distance can be a problem. I'm lucky in that driving out to Ayer after work doesn't add too much to my normal commute time.

 

[Rethunk]

Illini Union - my first snooker table

My very first snooker table was the 10-footer at the Illini Union at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Prior to my junior year I didn't take pool seriously: it was fun, but not serious+fun. A German-American classmate introduced me to snooker, and that set the hook. Pool had tempted me, but snooker was my first true love amongst cue games.

Sometimes events conspire for you. There were several draws into the local pool/billiards/snooker culture:

• The snooker table was often available even when there was a waiting list for the pool tables.
• One of our professors, whom Charlie Peterson* had mentored, played 3-cushion and cracked bad jokes.
• My girlfriend at the time lived on the other side of town, and the Union was a convenient stopping place on the way home.
• The pool regulars were a curious combination of engineers and well-read students who were avid pool players. They became my friends.

* Charlie Peterson is BCA Hall-of-Fame inductee #3. Here's Peterson with Irving Crane and Willie Hope:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJnrQBLTi_k&feature=player_embedded​

This archive photo from the 1960's could've been taken when I was a student in the early to mid 90's; the room hadn't changed, and even if the carpet had been replaced the pattern was the same. The snooker table was located near the back.

(Photo from http://www.library.illinois.edu/archives/archon/?p=digitallibrary/digitalcontent&id=4414
Copyright Hedrich - Blessing Studio)

One of my first semi-regular opponents was a Thai grad student who could demolish me. He'd grown up playing snooker on 12' tables, and I was still a shaky beginner on a 10' table. I learned to focus on defense. Only recently, more than 15 years later, have I started to play more aggressively.

When I last visited in 2004, the pool tables, carom tables, and snooker table had moved into a space closer to the bowling alley, and they're now part of the Illini Union Rec Room. The billiards room, my comfy second home, was gone. Nonetheless there was some continuity: the pool tables had the same daytime manager, and my professor still played 3-cushion and still told the same old jokes. Sometimes you can go home again.

Illini Union Rec Room (1 - 10')
Illini Union
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
1401 W. Green Street
Urbana, IL 61801
(217) 333-2415
http://union.illinois.edu/funspots/recroom/Default.aspx​

 

[Rethunk]

The Rialto - downtown Portland, Oregon

The Rialto and its 10' table are located in downtown Portland. It's a great location if you're downtown and have a hankering for a little snooker.

The Rialto Poolroom (1 - 12')
529 SW 4th Ave
Portland, OR 97204
(503) 228-7605
http://www.rialtopoolroom.com/

If nothing else, you're within walking distance of Powell's Books, one of the best bookstores in the country.

http://www.powells.com/

The Rialto is a sports bar with an Off Track Betting parlor next door. If gambling is your bag, then this might be the place for you. Surely you've recognized that bar + pool tables is quite quite different from pool tables + bar. This is one of the places where pool playing seems incidental.

When I visited late one Thursday afternoon the upstairs room with the snooker table wasn't officially open, but they let me play anyway. White chalk marks dotted the table from one short rail to the other, indicating that some enthusiastic if inexperienced snooker players / gymnasts had played recently. Or maybe they'd played weeks ago; the table hadn't been brushed for a while.

The room was hot and stuffy, but unfortunately there was no bar service since I was playing before the second floor was officially open. A drink would've improved my mood. I'm not overly fond of playing on 10' tables, but in recent years I've felt more of a need to have other players nearby, and I don't much like playing when I'm the only one in the room. Overall my visit to The Rialto wasn't a stellar experience.

At the reasonable rate of $8/hour, a full bar, and food service, this would be a fine place to hang out with a buddy if you're horsing around.

From the second floor you can look down at the folks drinking on the ground floor.

 

[Rethunk]

Blue Moon Tavern & Grill - Portland, OR

The Blue Moon Tavern & Grill, part of the McMenamins chain, is located in a residential area of the Northwest section of Portland.

This is ground control to Major Tom: Blue Moon rocks.

Blue Moon Tavern & Grill (1 - 10')
432 NW 21st Ave
Portland, OR 97209
(503) 223-3184
http://www.mcmenamins.com/index.php?loc=11

There are lots of reasons to recommend Blue Moon and its comfy neighborhood pub vibe.

1. The 10' Brunswick table is in good condition.
2. The staff are friendly.
3. The Terminator Stout is tasty.
4. This is the kind of neighborhood pub I could imagine visiting regularly. Blue Moon, in additional to Powell's Books, are enough to convince me that Portland would be a fine place to live.

You could probably find some competition if you played there regularly, but it's also a place where you could play on your own without some mook walking up to you and asking, "Hey, do you want to play some sets?" Some may like round-the-clock action and railbirds two layers deep, but I'm happy with a snooker table in good condition, a good stout or porter, and the chance to occasionally chat up folks playing at nearby tables.

The 10' table is a Brunswick in good condition with fast cloth. The lady bartender said the tables are recovered each year, and judging from the lack of marks and good fit around the pockets I believe it. The lighting could've been a bit brighter and there was a table much too close to one of the side pockets, but I haven't enjoyed playing on a 10' table like this in quite a while.

Although I didn't have time or the appetite for food, any place that serves Scooby Snacks as an appetizer gets the benefit of the doubt from me.

And, the special bonus: pool and snooker are free before 5 p.m., and only $5/hour after 5..

I'd gladly visit Blue Moon again.

 

[Rethunk]

Sam's Hollywood Billiards in northeastern Portland

From downtown Portland it's a ride of perhaps 20 minutes on the #12 bus to the neighborhood in the northeast part of town where you'll find Sam's Hollywood Billiards.

Sam's Hollywood Billiards (1 - 10')
1845 Ne 41st Ave
Portland, OR 97212
(503) 282-8266
http://www.portlandpoolhall.com/

(The website listed above is the correct one; I have to update the entry for Sam's at http://www.findsnooker.com/Oregon.html)

The cloth on the 10' table was quite fast, but the balls ran true so it didn't take too long (or at least shouldn't have taken too long) to get used to the speed.

It was a league night when I arrived, or at least enough regulars were present to make it look like a league night. Though I didn't stay long, Randy told me a bit about the pool hall's history going back to the days when local guys played 3-ball snooker. Playing in the same place for 40 years has certainly qualified Randy as a regular. I wish I'd had more time to hang out and listen to his stories.

Gabe, a local table mechanic and top player in the local straight pool league, said there were quite a few snooker tables in homes in the area. Although I didn't meet any regular snooker players at the three locations I visited in Portland--The Rialto downtown, the Blue Moon Tavern & Grill in the northwest, or Sam's in the northeast--it's encouraging that there are quite a few snooker tables in the area.

If you want a serious game, or if you want to play in a pool hall with dedicated players, then Sam's should be on your list of places to visit in Portland.

 

[Big Arm]

Hope you are enjoying your stay! I will probably get back there this summer.

 

[Rethunk]

Hope you are enjoying your stay! I will probably get back there this summer.

Thanks! Before we flew back to Boston I wish I'd had time to stop by Classic Billiards, but it was a bit too far out of the way.

If you haven't visited Sam's Billiards before, you might want to check it out. There was a good crowd there.

 

[krupa]

I used to live in Portland and loved playing at the Rialto.

Blue Moon is also nice, though I'm not a fan of their food. Blue Moon is part of the McMenamins chain. If you're ever back in Portland, McMenamins Tavern and Pool on NW 23rd also has a Snooker table (they used to, anyway.) Eat next door at the New Old Lompoc, then go over for the snooker. The Lompoc's food and beer are better.

Ringler's (another McMenamins) may also have a snooker table. I was in there this past June but I honestly can't remember seeing it. It has a great atmosphere, regardless.

I actually had a question as well...

Is snooker on a 9' table worth it? I like the game but there are no snooker tables in my area and I'm wondering if getting a set of snooker balls for my Gold Crown would be worth the money.

Thanks
-matthew

 

[Cameron Smith]

I used to live in Portland and loved playing at the Rialto.

Blue Moon is also nice, though I'm not a fan of their food. Blue Moon is part of the McMenamins chain. If you're ever back in Portland, McMenamins Tavern and Pool on NW 23rd also has a Snooker table (they used to, anyway.) Eat next door at the New Old Lompoc, then go over for the snooker. The Lompoc's food and beer are better.

Ringler's (another McMenamins) may also have a snooker table. I was in there this past June but I honestly can't remember seeing it. It has a great atmosphere, regardless.

I actually had a question as well...

Is snooker on a 9' table worth it? I like the game but there are no snooker tables in my area and I'm wondering if getting a set of snooker balls for my Gold Crown would be worth the money.

Thanks
-matthew

If you're desperate to play snooker and you have no other option than sure I would get a set. But it's not a very good substitute as you lose the tactical game and other nuances since everything becomes pottable. Itd be like a couple of guys playing one pocket, but they both smack the balls open every chance they get.

But I would make sure to get 2 1/4 inch balls, as I know of people who will purchase balls intended for a snooker table.

 

[Rethunk]

Blue Moon is also nice, though I'm not a fan of their food. Blue Moon is part of the McMenamins chain. If you're ever back in Portland, McMenamins Tavern and Pool on NW 23rd also has a Snooker table (they used to, anyway.) Eat next door at the New Old Lompoc, then go over for the snooker. The Lompoc's food and beer are better.

Ringler's (another McMenamins) may also have a snooker table. I was in there this past June but I honestly can't remember seeing it. It has a great atmosphere, regardless.

Cool. I'll give them a call. There are a few other McMenamin's that I need to call in the near future.

I actually had a question as well...

Is snooker on a 9' table worth it? I like the game but there are no snooker tables in my area and I'm wondering if getting a set of snooker balls for my Gold Crown would be worth the money.

If you're desperate to play snooker and you have no other option than sure I would get a set. But it's not a very good substitute as you lose the tactical game and other nuances since everything becomes pottable. Itd be like a couple of guys playing one pocket, but they both smack the balls open every chance they get.

But I would make sure to get 2 1/4 inch balls, as I know of people who will purchase balls intended for a snooker table.

I agree with Cameron. I have a set of 2-1/8" Aramith snooker balls, and they play funny on a 9' pool table. They're the wrong size relative to the rails, and they're too small relative to pocket size.

http://www.ozonebilliards.com/arbrsnbaset2.html

That said, I found it fun to play "pooker" (snooker on a pool table) when that was my only choice. When you only play once a week, you take what you can get.

I even had a case made for my snooker balls so that they could rest in comfort.
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=190701

You can get 2-1/4" balls from Aramith.
http://www.ozonebilliards.com/arnusnbaset21.html
http://www.billiards.com/billiard-balls/snooker-ball-set-2-1-4th-inch

You could save money and get cheaper balls, but you can't go wrong with Aramiths.

 

[Rethunk]

Um . . . please don't do that

In December 2013, for the first time in perhaps half a year, I had the chance to play snooker. I was on the road and found a place to play only to see the waitress do this without hesitation:

So,
(a) that wasn't our table--there were two 12' snooker tables, and we played on the less crappy one
(b) none of those beers were for me, sadly
(c) seriously, WTF?

 

[Rethunk]

spotty potting at Limit Pool & Karaoke Club in East Lansing, Michigan

Twice now I've played at Limit Pool & Karaoke Club when business trips have brought me to East Lansing, Michigan. The club is located next to Oriental Mart in the Gables Point strip mall, which is a short driving distance from the campus of Michigan State University. It's an easy walk east from the intersection of East Grand River and Hagadorn.

Limit Pool & Karaoke Club
2800 E Grand River Ave East Lansing, MI 48823
(517) 664-2565

The club has a 12' Olhausen snooker table which provides an authentic, humbling snooker experience for the single player or for a party of enthusiasts.

If memory serves, the table was in good shape last year, but tonight I noticed some tears in the cloth around the side pockets. The side pocket nearer the back of the room may reject a ball that's moving too fast. Maybe the ball is scared of the sounds that occasionally erupt from the private karaoke rooms. Or maybe, just maybe, the balls are sufficiently obedient for players who can actually play.

Beyond that scalloped half wall you see on the left side of the image are a few booths where you can grab a bite or wait for a karaoke room. There's a kitchen that served noodle soup, so if you like traditional Chinese food, this could be the place for you. It looked good to me. It may help if you can read traditional Chinese characters, or know how to order off the menu.

While I was playing this evening I turned to the front desk to see a one-year-old boy holding a cue and grinning. Way to go, parents!

As I mentioned in another post, Limit Pool has snooker cues for sale. I think I saw a guy test hitting a cue, so maybe you can hit a few balls before you plunk down cash. Or maybe not.
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=365681

 

[Rethunk]

I should mention that Limit Pool in East Lansing also sells snooker cues!

http://www.findsnooker.com/Michigan.html