What is the best pool hall you ever played in? And where is it?

It sure in the hell isnt in texas. Nothin. But 8ft tables

Don't you have a stop coming up at Casper's in San Leon?

Pretty damn nice place if you ask me.

All nine foots and one 12 foot snooker.
Two stories, view of the water, nice outside deck on both floors.
Great food.

And best of all...sign on the wall says "This is a pool hall, not a bar. Drink and act accordingly "
 
Billiard Palace in Tulsa was one of my favorites-great golf game

Magoo's in Tulsa had/has a peppered steak that would give many steak houses the 7

Sky High Billiards in Fort Worth was one of the nicest pool rooms I have every been in period. Short life span though. I think about 12 months.
 
Country Retreat Family Billiards
South Boone, NC

Best kept, nicest, cleanest room I've ever been in.

Chris Aldridge

http://www.family-billiards.com/
Country Retreat in South Boone
I've played in that room...Gabriels tables, I think.
That room might have the best lighting in the world.
I might be a bit biased, two of my friends built them.
They did some R&D with light meters and I think they out-did Diamond.
...which took some doing.
 
Comer's Billiards here in Knoxville was the Mecca... Everything was mahogany and brass and the tables were immaculate....

Wade Crane was the house pro and that room was the reason everyone who was anyone came thru Knoxville..

You walked up to get a table and a huge board was posted on the back wall with all of the odds on all of the events vegas was handicapping....

They also had a decent stakes card game in the back.....

Between the sports book and the card game it seemed like there was always action... I know as a teen I watched several games of snooker played for $10000 and the sets o other games could go as high as the sky....

Comer's has been gone now for over 20 years.... We had a local prodigy start out young and his dad would bring him in and make games and back him.... When the kid got a little older he found his way to the pool hall without his dad and managed to get himself stuck for about $2000.....

Instead of his dad making good on the bet or negotiating he simply dropped a dime on the card game and the bookmaking.... Pool in Knoxville has never been the same and may well never be........
 
I have two.
First one was back in the '60s it was a little place with 8
Brunswick Anniversary tables,wood floors and some pretty good players.I was a teenager at the time and to me it was great. 50 cents per hour per person and the old clay balls. It was named Park Billiard Academy but was known as "Pokes" after one of the owners. It was in Neptune N.J.
But my all time favorite was The Ballroom in Toms River N.J.
36 Gold Crown tables and packed every night during the '80s.Good food,action and open until 2 or 3 am on most nights.

i was wondering how many posts id go through before before i found this.

i learned a lota things about alot of stuff @ the Ballroom.
 
i was wondering how many posts id go through before before i found this.

i learned a lota things about alot of stuff @ the Ballroom.

I knew you were at the Ball Room. I'm surprised only you and me are the only ones on here that were there in the heyday.
 
Not that I've been in all that many, but my vote is for Red Shoes Billiards in Alsip, IL, a near south suburb of Chicago. And the great thing is .... it's still open!. Very nice and well-maintained Gold Crowns, strong players, frequent tournaments, a bar with a very good though limited grill menu, no video arcade, no karaoke, a jukebox that plays only Frank Sinatra (not really), and great management. It's the action place in Chicago but a non-action guy like me has always felt welcome. Plus it has a really nice straight pool league.

The best looking place I've ever played in, and probably the best looking pool room anywhere, is the Illinois Billiard Club in Willow Springs, IL, a southwest suburb of Chicago. It's a bit like a museum with all kinds of displays and old photos of the greats of both pool and billiards. It's a private club. It also has a really nice straight pool league.
 
Not that I've been in all that many, but my vote is for Red Shoes Billiards in Alsip, IL, a near south suburb of Chicago. And the great thing is .... it's still open!. Very nice and well-maintained Gold Crowns, strong players, frequent tournaments, a bar with a very good though limited grill menu, no video arcade, no karaoke, a jukebox that plays only Frank Sinatra (not really), and great management. It's the action place in Chicago but a non-action guy like me has always felt welcome. Plus it has a really nice straight pool league.

The best looking place I've ever played in, and probably the best looking pool room anywhere, is the Illinois Billiard Club in Willow Springs, IL, a southwest suburb of Chicago. It's a bit like a museum with all kinds of displays and old photos of the greats of both pool and billiards. It's a private club. It also has a really nice straight pool league.

Red Shoes...was that formerly Pockets?

Did you see my photo at IBC? :grin:
 
I knew you were at the Ball Room. I'm surprised only you and me are the only ones on here that were there in the heyday.

I have been to The Ball Room and can understand why it was your favorite. It was an amazing place. I was only there twice and could not include it on my list.

Greg
 
Out of the Country

The "Q Club" in Perth, Australia ... now closed. I worked there back in the 80's during the America's Cup.

First floor > 10 private rooms with 12' snooker tables - private phones go to the restaurant , 8 bar tables, 14 snooker tables , & a full Italian restaurant where you can look thru a glass wall to watch snooker games .

Second floor, up the "escalator" > more pub tables upstairs, (2) 12' snooker tables for tournaments with much seating .

They were in the process of building a glass elevator from the street, going up thru the building to the top floor (#3) , where they had designed a nite club , food , and a few tables which could be used outdoors in good weather.

Unfortunately , the owner was having health problems (from what I heard ) and it had to close.
 
David Lee's Golden Eightball in Phoenix from 88 to 94 was probaly the most exciting poolroom in Phoenix. They had 41tables and sometimes had waiting lists at 2 in the morning. Open 24 hours a day you just never wanted to leave. You never knew what was going to happen there. David Lee hosted several pro tournaments there even the legendary onepocket match between Danny Diliberto and Ronny Allen. Danny was the house pro there. This year at hte Derby he told me that he thought there was never a better room. It closed with a bang when old man Bob put a teflon bullet through some scumbags heart. The man justed needed killin. I still drive by the building looking to see if by some miracle they have reopend it.
 
David Lee's Golden Eightball in Phoenix from 88 to 94 was probaly the most exciting poolroom in Phoenix. They had 41tables and sometimes had waiting lists at 2 in the morning. Open 24 hours a day you just never wanted to leave. You never knew what was going to happen there. David Lee hosted several pro tournaments there even the legendary onepocket match between Danny Diliberto and Ronny Allen. Danny was the house pro there. This year at hte Derby he told me that he thought there was never a better room. It closed with a bang when old man Bob put a teflon bullet through some scumbags heart. The man justed needed killin. I still drive by the building looking to see if by some miracle they have reopend it.

I love these wonderful stories about the best pool halls! Thank you!
Many Regards,
Lock N load.
 
When I first starting playing pool, I played at Wilt's in Arlington, TX. It had a couple bar boxes, about eight 8-footers, about six 9-footers and the only 12-foot snooker table within at least 100 miles (that I know of). What's more the staff was friendly and the place became like Cheers to me. After they closed, I've been unable to find anything close to a true pool hall around me that can even compare. Thanks for the memories Vern!

Hello Samiel,
So sad that so many great pool halls have closed!!!!
Many Regards,
Lock n load.
 
Hard Times Bellflower gets my vote. Wide variety of 9 footers, snooker tables, 3C tables, and barboxes. Love the atmosphere and all of the history associated with that room. Has a different feeling compared to any other room I have been in.
 
Hard Times Bellflower gets my vote. Wide variety of 9 footers, snooker tables, 3C tables, and barboxes. Love the atmosphere and all of the history associated with that room. Has a different feeling compared to any other room I have been in.

That sure sounds like a great pool hall! Where is it located? Thanks.
Many Regards,
Lock N Load.
 
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