Who got into pool since 2000 on?

Joe T

Joe T

Well-known member
If you got into pool since 2000 on tell us what brought you in.

And to everyone else what are some of the ways you see others getting involved in the game. Over the last year or so I've put myself in the shoes of the average person who in the back of their mind might want to try billiards and I can see how tough it may be for them to break in. We still have a stigma so there are soo many people that won't even consider going to a pool hall on their own and if they did suck it up and wonder in, what next? Friendly game, lol

One of the few things I see is league recruitment, teams need members and perhaps lower level handicaps. I believe golf has some sort of bring a friend golfing day or month and I know they have their 1st Tee program. I believe they also have a lot more dad brings son golfing going on than we do.
 
I used to play very infrequently but always loved the game.

In 2008 we added on to our house.

My wife's wish list:

Enlarged master bedroom
Bathroom for master
New Kitchen

My wish list:

Pool table :D

Now I play 15-20 hrs/wk

For me its a convenience thing. I can now play all I want without being unavailable for my family.
 
I got into pool more seriously around 2008 when I was asked to join a coworkers team for APA. The area I moved to has an APA presence, but it's painfully obvious in hindsight how much effort the league operator put in where I came from vs where I am now. Leagues are probably the most viable way to grow an interested fan/player base, but it won't happen if it's not easy to join. I want to join and am having a hard time getting local info- there's practically zero chance of stumbling upon the league here if you don't have prior experience
 
i been into pool for a while but am starting to just now take it serious. I would say if I was ranked in apa I would be a 4/5, I play with my friend a lot whos team is pretty beast locally but they never have an opening or when they do there looking for a 3.. I also just got more interest from a brother in law who has been playing for a while and am gonna try to join a CT league together if we can(I have moved 30 minutes from home which is in the middle of ct/ny)

but yeah, I was just able to get my own table and thats what did it, taking it from a want to play everytime I see a table (which was rare) to, playing about 5 hours a night LOL
 
I started playing in 2004. Prior to that I played once in a great while, mostly when I found myself at someone's house who had a pool table. I knew I really enjoyed playing, and that I had a pretty good natural aptitude for it. Once I was out of college and working 9-5, I decided to look into playing in a league, figuring it would be a good way to play competitively on a regular basis and improve. It was. I became one of the best players in that league.

Eventually I got sick of the league format (and the excessive focus on skill-levels and some individuals' manipulation thereof), and started playing primarily tournaments. The weekly tournament closest to my house was a short format (races to 3, double-elimination, 12-20 players), and as people got knocked out of it, they would start matching up for low stakes. I started to get involved in that, because once knocked out of the tournament, that was my remaining option for competitive pool until next week's tournament.

Gradually I started getting involved in tournaments with larger fields and higher-caliber players. There aren't many people left at that room near my house who will match up with me anymore. And lately I've found myself more interested in golf (that game is hard!) and guitar and less interested in pool. I think I'll always enjoy pool, though, and in terms of what percentage of the population I'm better than, it's probably the thing I do best.

-Andrew
 
I had always played pool since the age of 16. I was a banger and basically remained one for 37 years. In those 37 years I may have played 2-3 times a year at various bars, poolhalls, or peoples homes I would find myself in. Then around 2004, my wife started playing Keno on the first Tuesday night of the month with a bunch of ladies from our church, so the husbands decided we'd go to the poolhall and kill a few hours on that night. So now I was playing a lot more than 2-3 times a year. I have always been a good shotmaker, but never knew/understood that there was MUCH more to the game of pool than making balls. So, during these nights at the poolhall where I was constantly beating my buddies, I decided I would try to learn more about the game and improve. This would have been about 2005. I started watching pool on ESPN and learned a bit about cueball positioning. In 2006 at the young age of 53, I joined my first league (APA). It was a rough start as I started as a SL4, won about half my matches, then about halfway through my first session developed a terrible case of adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder) in my left shoulder that caused me to not be able to extend my arm to make a bridge (the upside of this is that I got very adept at using the mechanical bridge). I dropped to a SL3 because of the shoulder problems. The next session, when all was better, I began a slow, gradual ascent to where I am today (SL6 8-ball, SL6 9-ball, probably on the verge of being a SL7 soon). I also played in a BCA league and did well in it. I'm not a great player, not really even a good player, but I have my moments and have become very knowledgable about the game by reading books, DVD's, watching pool (both live and television, YouTube, etc.), and even went to RandyG's pool school in 2008. I think the biggest improvement came when we put a pool table in our living room in 2007. I practice on it everyday that I'm home (keep in mind that I'm retired ;)). Being here on the AzBilliards forum has taught me a thing or two also. Lately I have noticed my learning curve start to slow down quite a bit, but I still do things that tell me I am still getting better, although it is much more gradual than before. I love this game and probably am in it for the long haul. It's something I can do in my old age after I'm to feeble to ride motorcycles/ATV's, bass fish, hunt/shoot guns/reload, and bowl (I've got too many hobbies, eh?). I only spend two nights a week in the poolhalls now (9-ball and Masters league) because I just got too many other things to do with the little lady. I bet if I was a single man (thank God I am not), I'd probably find myself in more leagues and tournaments and spend less time at home. It's been a great journey in the six or seven years it took from being a total banger without a real clue to a player who can run a rack every once in a while and has learned what needs to be done with whitey. Long live pool!!!

Thanks for listening!

Maniac
 
I started 2.5 years ago (at age 46, tough age to start and try to actually get good at this) when my best friend got me started. He's been playing almost as long as I've been alive, and instead of us hanging out playing cards or something else while our wives did their thing, he got me started playing pool. A couple months after he started teaching me, I joined his APA team.

I tend to jump in with both feet when I do something, so I started searching the internet for sites that dealt with learning about pool, and of course I found my way here. I've been deeply addicted ever since, playing league twice a week, and many times at the club we belong to another 2-3 nights playing, as well.

Now if only I had the financial security to work less and spend some time getting real instruction, and having truly dedicated practice time. Ah well, I get some fine daydreaming when I buy my lottery tickets. :p
 
Great Topic!

I had a table since I was little, but never played too much until college.

What really got me hooked was Success and that happened through League Play. Yeah, I would play while at the bars with friends and get free drinks all night from the other college kids, but once I joined a bar league and had some success is when I got hooked.

Started playing tournaments around 2002 or so and it took some beatings to know how little I knew about the game. Not having success really locked my addiction in and I had to learn to have Success at this level!

I won the Arizona State BCA OPEN Men's Championship in 2008!
 
I lived near a poolhall in jr.high and use to go play with friends. After that I didn't really play at all again until I was 21. Never took it serious at all. Then in 2010 I was at a house party in Huntington Beach, where I was living. The owner of the house had a table and I was playing against some friends. She approached me and asked if I would like to join a pool team. Now I am hooked.
 
Joe T said:
If you got into pool since 2000 on tell us what brought you in.

And to everyone else what are some of the ways you see others getting involved in the game. Over the last year or so I've put myself in the shoes of the average person who in the back of their mind might want to try billiards and I can see how tough it may be for them to break in. We still have a stigma so there are soo many people that won't even consider going to a pool hall on their own and if they did suck it up and wonder in, what next? Friendly game, lol
One of the few things I see is league recruitment, teams need members and perhaps lower level handicaps. I believe golf has some sort of bring a friend golfing day or month and I know they have their 1st Tee program. I believe they also have a lot more dad brings son golfing going on than we do.
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I started playing in '61 in an old time hall where gambling/bookmaking was the business at hand, really unique place to experience the game. I eventually gravitated(due to a local teen gang hanging out there, which eventually ruined the business) to the local YMCA, which had four tables(maybe more, can't remember) and the local bowling alley, where I played until it closed in the late '70's. Took up residence in another local bowling alley until I quit pool around '84 for twenty years to work and raise my family. I started playing again in '04 at a room that had linkage to the place that I started playing in. Became friends with the young owner who helped me get started again and playing in the local leagues. Which is basically where I'm at today. I don't think there are any opportunities for kids or young adults to experience pool in my area like that any more.
Until the leagues at the top level and the pool manufacturing industry come up with and support programs that bring in new people to established pool rooms, or help to develop new venues for this game...we're stuck in an ever depreciating cycle the game is in now, as far as new player development goes. Saturday morning/afternoon youth leagues at a local pool room or entertainment center, something like the bowling alleys of past(well at least in my area) would be a start. And since there are only two viable pool rooms(within a twenty mile radius of where I live), and only one of these would be receptive to a program of this sort, and no bowling alleys that have an actual "pool room" in them like there used be, pool isn't going to advance in my area(million plus people twenty mile radius, not counting big cities).
Until you can come up with a venue where parents feel there is security for their children, they won't use it. Seems like big money to me to get that going. I don't think the industry has the "balls" or the vision to jump into that.
There's a lot of pool being played in veteran's organizations, somehow get the industry to go into these places start up venues for beginners...Saturday/Sunday morning play, possibly a league amongst a few local halls, for members children.
 
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My whole life I enjoyed playing pool, just never did it much. When I reached the age I was able to get into bars... with a fake ID :), I always found myself around the pool table and only went to bars with pool tables. Not exactly sure why, just something I always enjoyed. I didn't start taking it somewhat serious, like serious enough to buy a cue, til around 2006. I wasn't drawn in by gambling or money... just the challenge I guess. Like I said, just something I enjoy.
 
If you got into pool since 2000 and you are under 25 would be a better question. Will pool ever compete with video games which are electronic non real things. Will kids ever flip flop and prefer to do something 'real'? I think they will but it isnt happening soon.
 
I'm 50 now, always loved the game since I was a teenager, but never had the opportunity or time to play very much. So all those years I was a slightly-talented ball-banger.......UNTIL..........

....Bought a new house Sept 2011, told the wife that getting the house means a pool table in the den for me! (she agreed!)

Now I play everyday, and I'm on a mission to get better, (this website has helped a LOT)
 
2008 when I was 25. Started at Bumpers in Middletown RI, walking distance from my apartment.

Joined an APA league and plateaued until May 2010 when I met you, Joe. Since then I've gotten hooked on a constant rate of improvement. I won't plateau again for decades.

Pool is weird (as if golf!). There's an ambigiuos joy obtained from commanding a white sphere as if it were an extension of your mind. It stimulates a completely different part of my brain. That's why I play.
 
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