What's wrong with my favorite pool hall?

pwd72s

pwd72s

recreational banger
Silver Member
This afternoon, my bride & I enjoyed around 4 hours of playing on a well kept 9' Brunswick anniversary. This was at The Cue ball, Salem Oregon. The guys playing golf on the snooker table were having their usual banter, but overall pretty quiet in there with classic rock playing at a subdued volume on the hall stereo. Just people having a good time.

Nothing like we see on TV at Steinway in NYC...no hollering, no stacks of big bills, no list...

Yeah, what's wrong???
 
You might want to try venturing in after 10 pm and then spend 4 hrs at the pool hall.......the best pool players are night dwellers......pool vampires.......daylight affects their game
(just kidding) plus they stay up all night playing and wagering on pool so they are not to be found until after sunset......and way, way after sunset you'll find the best pool players..

Matt B.
 
I haven't been to that pool room but it sounds like a nice place to visit sometime. I personally dislike loud music and people acting like idiots all around me while playing but unfortunately that is something we must deal with from time to time. As far as that stupid show and their list you are referring to, in my opinion that is all made up for the show. That show is on the same channel as that street racing show where they have all list of the top 10 drivers and cars. A little to similar for me and if those 10 people are the best New York has to offer then things have sure changed since I was there last.
 
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That sounds like my place from about 1 in the afternoon until 5, when the bars flies make their final approach to a landing.
I like it that way, though. It's just old hanger-rounders enjoying the day. We take shots we shouldn't. Call each other names when we miss.
It's not bad work if you can get it.
The other day one of the guys was about to try a particularly difficult shot that, if he made it, would get him several balls. I spoke up and said. "Did I ever tell you guys about when I was a kid I had a cat that was run over by a car and killed? His name was Lucky." They guy blew the hell out of the shot.
Yep. Not bad work, indeed. :)
 
Whats wrong ?

Its a 175 miles away, ( one way ) , If you are ever in Reno at the pool hall and see some one sleeping in a red car ( ITS NOT ME ):thumbup:
 
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pwd72s said:
This afternoon, my bride & I enjoyed around 4 hours of playing on a well kept 9' Brunswick anniversary. This was at The Cue ball, Salem Oregon. The guys playing golf on the snooker table were having their usual banter, but overall pretty quiet in there with classic rock playing at a subdued volume on the hall stereo. Just people having a good time.

Nothing like we see on TV at Steinway in NYC...no hollering, no stacks of big bills, no list...

Yeah, what's wrong???
Click to expand...

That's the kind of pool hall I like.

Not much noise. Maybe a little Dean Martin playing just loud enough to be within earshot. You can hear the thwack of each ball being struck. You can tell who hit what by the sound resonating from their cue. Nothing sounds nicer than the thud of a ball being slammed into the back of a pocket.

The problem with today's pool halls, is that the younger crowd wants Dubstep and Rap at max volume. I don't mind the music choices, I listen to all sorts of music, but it's the high volume and constant pounding bass that drives me away.

IMO, long gone are the days of hustling. It still happens, but it's not the same. If I want to gamble, I can make a few phone calls and play when I want, where I want, and who I want. Which means I can have the quiet, the good atmosphere, and still have the cash posted on the light when I want. :thumbup:

- Dave < prefers peace and quiet
 
pwd72s said:
This afternoon, my bride & I enjoyed around 4 hours of playing on a well kept 9' Brunswick anniversary. This was at The Cue ball, Salem Oregon. The guys playing golf on the snooker table were having their usual banter, but overall pretty quiet in there with classic rock playing at a subdued volume on the hall stereo. Just people having a good time.

Nothing like we see on TV at Steinway in NYC...no hollering, no stacks of big bills, no list...

Yeah, what's wrong???
Click to expand...

That sounds like exactly the kind of place I would really enjoy!!!!
 
DAVE_M said:
The problem with today's pool halls, is that the younger crowd wants Dubstep and Rap at max volume. I don't mind the music choices, I listen to all sorts of music, but it's the high volume and constant pounding bass that drives me away.
Click to expand...

I can deal with almost anything on the jukebox but why does it need to be so loud? I do not understand this even at bars, I thought bars were a place of social activity. How can you be social if you cannot hear the person next to you? If you want your ears to bleed from loud music go to a concert, don't ask the bar to turn up the jukebox because I will be next in line to ask them to turn it down.

<<<< looking for my own jukebox remote so I can control the volume on the interweb jukeboxes. Why is there not a phone app for this???
 
Bavafongoul said:
You might want to try venturing in after 10 pm and then spend 4 hrs at the pool hall.......the best pool players are night dwellers......pool vampires.......daylight affects their game
(just kidding) plus they stay up all night playing and wagering on pool so they are not to be found until after sunset......and way, way after sunset you'll find the best pool players..

Matt B.
Click to expand...

I used to hang in a 24 hour place and we didn't start coming in till around 11pm and played all night. I have actually met people who hung out there and when you would mention, "I used to go there everyday" they look and say " I never saw you there".

We kept different hours. The room had two completely different clienteles, actually three to be more accurate, that hardly knew the other existed. It used to be funny though, some times there would be early action. Two guys playing and a bunch of people watching.

On the next table there may be a guy and girl playing who might as well be in a different dimension. There is a whole other world going on around them they are completely unaware of. I room does not have to cater to one or the other, they can both coexist.
 
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I'm with you guys to some degree. I like a little peace and quiet... but quiet means less people, which means less business (generally). If I can, I'll usually play in the mornings or mid day. But it is nice to be around the hustle and bustle on a busy night.

Think of Hard Times in Sacramento. Always music going on and people being chatty. Got in on a ring game last weekend and it was a blast (besides the asshole who kept playing death metal). For most, pool is a social game and they need a little liveliness and excitement to keep it interesting.
 
DAVE_M said:
That's the kind of pool hall I like.

Not much noise. Maybe a little Dean Martin playing just loud enough to be within earshot. You can hear the thwack of each ball being struck. You can tell who hit what by the sound resonating from their cue. Nothing sounds nicer than the thud of a ball being slammed into the back of a pocket.

The problem with today's pool halls, is that the younger crowd wants Dubstep and Rap at max volume. I don't mind the music choices, I listen to all sorts of music, but it's the high volume and constant pounding bass that drives me away.

IMO, long gone are the days of hustling. It still happens, but it's not the same. If I want to gamble, I can make a few phone calls and play when I want, where I want, and who I want. Which means I can have the quiet, the good atmosphere, and still have the cash posted on the light when I want. :thumbup:

- Dave < prefers peace and quiet
Click to expand...
It is a little shocking what is acceptable today. I was at the pool room the other night for the first time in a while and there was a song playing on the juke box with the words "Suck my balls all night" repeated over and over.

I am not a prude, I once had an interest in a strip club, but come on, in a public place. I could see a new customer not coming back just due to that. Do I want to play pool with my wife listening to something that?
 
pwd72s said:
This afternoon, my bride & I enjoyed around 4 hours of playing on a well kept 9' Brunswick anniversary. This was at The Cue ball, Salem Oregon. The guys playing golf on the snooker table were having their usual banter, but overall pretty quiet in there with classic rock playing at a subdued volume on the hall stereo. Just people having a good time.

Nothing like we see on TV at Steinway in NYC...no hollering, no stacks of big bills, no list...

Yeah, what's wrong???
Click to expand...

If you're confused, can you imagine the confusion many of the viewers of the
Hustlers will have if and when they walk into a pool room and see few similarities to the television show? GO FIGURE.

Again, I appreciate the work it takes to get pool exposed to the masses. I just wish it were in a way that was truly indicative of how pool really is.
Hell, it's our game; don't we want it represented to everyone in its true form?
 
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fastone371 said:
I can deal with almost anything on the jukebox but why does it need to be so loud? I do not understand this even at bars, I thought bars were a place of social activity. How can you be social if you cannot hear the person next to you? If you want your ears to bleed from loud music go to a concert, don't ask the bar to turn up the jukebox because I will be next in line to ask them to turn it down.

<<<< looking for my own jukebox remote so I can control the volume on the interweb jukeboxes. Why is there not a phone app for this???
Click to expand...

One of the nice things about a loud juke box is it drowns out the idiocy that usually occurs around the bar. I'll take that over a dead silent pool hall where every word said bounces around the entire place from end to end. I know far to much about the early afternoon barflies considering I rarely talk with them.
 
I don't like loud music either, as long as it's subtle any genre is OK. I just can't stand when people refuse to get out of the way after their shot or just have no consideration to the table next to them. Happens way too much near me due to no real pool halls.
/rant LOL
 
Yeah I can remember when I was growing up, the only thing you heard in the pool hall was balls clicking and some folks talking. My brother took me to play my first game and there was no juke box or arcade machines. Just pool and snooker tables.

Fortunately for me, my home room is sectioned off and they have the ability to shut off the speakers in the 9 foot room. During the day it's good, but at night, even with the speakers turned off, you damn near need ear plugs with the loud music coming from the other areas.

A good friend that is quite a bit younger told me told me a while back "you know you are getting old when you think the music is too loud". We both had a good laugh.:smile:
 
onepocketron said:
Yeah I can remember when I was growing up, the only thing you heard in the pool hall was balls clicking and some folks talking. My brother took me to play my first game and there was no juke box or arcade machines. Just pool and snooker tables.

Fortunately for me, my home room is sectioned off and they have the ability to shut off the speakers in the 9 foot room. During the day it's good, but at night, even with the speakers turned off, you damn near need ear plugs with the loud music coming from the other areas.

A good friend that is quite a bit younger told me told me a while back "you know you are getting old when you think the music is too loud". We both had a good laugh.:smile:
Click to expand...
When I was a kid there were pool rooms but mostly bowling alleys had pool rooms. Lots of distractions that you paid no attention to. Announcements over the speakers, bowling balls crashing constantly, and a lot of noise in general coming from everywhere. A juke box would have been a pleasant alternative.

Some places didn't even have a separate room, the pool tables were out on the concourse. The bowling lanes were like 30 feet away. No matter what direction you were shooting there was a distraction in your line of sight.
 
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