Why is Caroms not so popular in America?

wow

I had no idea anything like that existed in the US. You really need to give us details - how was this set up? Whose name is on the lease - is it set up like a business?
I'm on the east coast by NY, so there's some billiard play, but to my knowledge, nothing like private billiard clubs. God, I would love there to be a private billiard club like that here.

mikek18 said:
we have allot of members but there are 3 categories of members. last year we started a dart league on Monday nights and that atracted allot of people. we have the die hard 3 cushion players like myself but most of the members are into standard caroms. I would guess that total we have around 100 members.


the club started years ago buy some older dutch guys and has just been expanding. It is tough financialy to make things work. For instance this year we needed new cloth and rails on 2 of the tables. we were able to afford the rails but not the cloth. between 3 members they chipped in and personaly paid for the new cloth on those 2 tables.

we have leagues about 4 days a week. the rest of the time is open play. All members have keys and can go whenever they want. We lease the building and are looking at expanding and adding a couple of pool tables to attract a few more members. Our membership is around $300 a year and you can play in leagues for free.

we have a club president, secretary and few other people that donate there time to make things happen. we have meetings like twice a year to talk about stuff and make decisions. We are a nonprofit organazation.


i will try to post some pics early next week. if you have any questions feel free to ask. We are trying to bring billiards back to the usa. we are talking about having a usba seniors tournament at our club next year.
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the only Club I have read about , is "The Illinois Billiard Club" in Willow Springs,IL, throught a series of articles in "The ProfessorQBall" magazine. Minus the Elk Clubs,as in Tacoma ,WA.

I believe Carom Cafe in New York Have a Carom League, maybe someone could give some information on it format and requirement.

I agree more information, would be appreciated. Do you have any in house 3C leagues teams?
 
That sounds pretty amazing Mikek18. The only decently maintained heated table in my area is in Round Rock, which I live nearly 20 miles from. Just last weekend the same venue hosted the Texas State 9-ball open, which drew quite a few players that had never encountered the game.

I think the reason 3-cushion has not seen a significant comeback in the United States is that people's initial curiosity for the game itself is tempered by the sheer difficulty of it. Pool, however, can offer a beginner some reasonable expectation of being competitive in a relatively short time.

Also, caroms is basically competing for the same crowd that currently plays pocket billiards - which is seen as more social, less exclusive, and has many more institutions devoted to promoting and expanding the sport.

Caroms will probably never achieve the recognition it deserves in the US... but I'd settle for another decent table within 15 miles of my house!
 
In order to bring 3-cushion into the US Spotlight, we need to do several things:
1) We need to get pool players onto the 3-cushion table
2) We need to get and keep all 3-cushion players motivated and excited
3) We need to get Corporate Sponsors
4) We need television exposure
5) We need to keep 3-cushion tables in the pool rooms as well as add more of them
6) We need to teach the game to the young for the future
7) We need more people to help carry these ideas out
8) We need to reach out to the Spanish, Korean and Vietnamese communities where 3-cushion is very strong and thriving
9) We need more tournaments
10) We need more prize money
11) We need more instruction
12) We need to start new things such as Team 3-cushion, which was previously mentioned.

If you can add things to this list, by all means let me know.

Jim Shovak
USBA Secretary/Treasurer
 
By the way, private billiard clubs are becoming more common. There are several of them around the country. A list will be provided soon on our website, www.USBA.net

Jim
 
Thanks, Jim, for all the work you do toward bringing 3C back to the forefront. What I would like to see more of is bringing the 3C tables out front where players can see & learn instead of 'hiding' them in back corners like some cult game. We had two 3C tables in a small pl-room here in the middle of nowhere Eastern PA & the tables were up front for everyone to see & learn. From a handfull of players we ended up with 25+ regular players, bi-weekly tournaments, & a league. It took time, effort, & patience but it pretty much happened on it's own just from the exposure. Pocket pool players always like to improve their game & are amazed how much they can learn from playing 3C.
 
After reading all the feedback from everybody I'm glad I started this thread because we are sharing our ideas of how the bring back this game. As I mentioned before I'm going to make some t-shirts that say "Play caroms !!!", in spanish, english and french. And also a picture of the three balls. I think this is a good way to promote the game because people always look at our clothing. I'm also persuading my friends to play caroms and some of them have agreed. Another good new is that the owner of the place where I play caroms is thinking about buying another 5 x 10 table. If we all work together I'm sure more people will play this game again !!! So let's do our part and see how this goes.
 
Six freakin' Verhoevens at College?!!

Damn, I lived there for two years and the heated Rebco's at College were pretty good, but not anywhere near the quality of a well set-up European carom table.

On Cue billiards in La Mesa also had one carom table (old Brunswick that was ok to play on. Most of the Asian joints in SD have 8" or 9' tables with sh!tty cloth so don't bother unless you're there to socialize.
 
grand rapids "the Carom"

There are 3 olhausen 10 foot convertables and a 10 foot antique brunswick "regent" 6 leg from around 1910.

http://www.brunswickbilliards.com/our_rich_history/antique_tables/regent6leg.html

They all play pretty good and all have rapide 300 on them. Maybe mike can take some pics tonite of room and tables.

If any of you were at dcc last year and caught any of the 3 cushion qualifiers, Steve Anderson was there playing in them. He would be our current club president. You cant miss him if you see him.........pale guy with a purple glove.
 
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billiardshot said:
the only Club I have read about , is "The Illinois Billiard Club" in Willow Springs,IL, throught a series of articles in "The ProfessorQBall" magazine.
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Most of what we do at the Illinois Billiard Club is pool. We are starting our 34th Season of straight pool leagues soon with 24 or more players.

One of the older guys started getting some of us involved in 3 cushion this summer. The owner, Jim Parker is big on 3 cushion but he has had some health related issues involving he and his wife which slowed him down until recently. We've invited a few non-members in to play 3 cushion recently and we have been hoping to start a league but as of yet, not enough interest. I think that if we have some people playing 3 cushion on the three 14.1 league nights, this would expose it to the other pool players and may help us get it moving.
 
I think that's right on. There's one hurdle before that even, which is people have to know what the hell it is. I've had more than one pool player tell me that a pocketless table is a 'practice table' for pool. Which makes no sense, but there you go. There are plenty of people that play pool regularly that don't have a clue what billiards is.

There needs to be more Billiards footage put out on things like YouTube. Forget TV, all the kids today are on this inernets thing. Maybe CaromTV can pony up a few free videos, you tag them with 'pool' and people will come across it.

Full_Metal_Yeti said:
I think the reason 3-cushion has not seen a significant comeback in the United States is that people's initial curiosity for the game itself is tempered by the sheer difficulty of it. Pool, however, can offer a beginner some reasonable expectation of being competitive in a relatively short time.

Also, caroms is basically competing for the same crowd that currently plays pocket billiards - which is seen as more social, less exclusive, and has many more institutions devoted to promoting and expanding the sport.
Click to expand...
 
Wouldn't it be great if either Robert Byrne, BCA, or The USBA came out with a 3Cushion Billiard instructional tape for promotion of 3Cushion, and in English. Yes I know Accu-Stats got the Best of 3 Cushion tapes, plus tournaments ,as does CaromTV.
 
eze123 said:
I think that's right on. There's one hurdle before that even, which is people have to know what the hell it is. I've had more than one pool player tell me that a pocketless table is a 'practice table' for pool. Which makes no sense, but there you go. There are plenty of people that play pool regularly that don't have a clue what billiards is.

There needs to be more Billiards footage put out on things like YouTube. Forget TV, all the kids today are on this inernets thing. Maybe CaromTV can pony up a few free videos, you tag them with 'pool' and people will come across it.
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yeah...practice tables.. I hear that one ALL the time.. pisses me off everytime i hear someone say that.
As for Accu stats having the best 3 cushion.. I dont think so.. I own plenty of accu stats and Carom TV videos. Carom TV is WAY better.
the commenteray is superb. great job of explaining shots..why that shot was shot that way...and other shots that could of been shot besides the shot that was shot..why one shot is better than the other.. I never hear that kind of commentary from accustats.. Not bashing accu stats.. their Pool videos are the best... but the 3 cushion is lacking

I have plenty of people come up to me to explain how to play.. after my explanation...most say "WOW... that sounds hard" then just walk away..
3 cushion is an extremely challanging and frustrating game, which takes alot of practice.. and lets face it... most people are lazy and want instant gratification.. that is why 3 cushion will never be as popular as pool in the U.S. IMHO.
 
billiardshot said:
Wouldn't it be great if either Robert Byrne, BCA, or The USBA came out with a 3Cushion Billiard instructional tape for promotion of 3Cushion, and in English. Yes I know Accu-Stats got the Best of 3 Cushion tapes, plus tournaments ,as does CaromTV.
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sorry... I misread your post.. I see now that you werent implieing that one was better than the other.. my bad :D
 
seven said:
sorry... I misread your post.. I see now that you werent implieing that one was better than the other.. my bad :D
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"Best of 3 Cushion Billiards" by Robert Byrne from Accu-Stats, what I was implying. I know Darrell Paul Martineu has tapes.

Just wonder why Byrne never make a 3Cushion Billiard Instructional Tape, as he did with Pool. As much as he involved with 3C and the written material [books] he cover.
 
I think it's just the small audience for it makes it economically unfeasible. Byrne just managed to sneak the 3C info in along with pool in the books. The New Standard book is half and half. I've heard some pool players complain that the advanced techniques book has very little pool stuff that adds to the first book. It's mostly billiards, but you have to have 'POOL and billiards' on the cover or there aren't enough people buying.
I think pretty much all the other instructional billiards stuff in the US is self-published, like Harris or Martineau. and video production is pricey.
If you know some French or German, there's really good books to be had from Europe. I'm still waiting for the Caudron video to arrive.

billiardshot said:
Just wonder why Byrne never make a 3Cushion Billiard Instructional Tape, as he did with Pool. As much as he involved with 3C and the written material [books] he cover.
Click to expand...
 
eze123 said:
I'm still waiting for the Caudron video to arrive.
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sorry...dont get your hopes up... I have the Caudron video.. I would definetly not classify it as an instructional.. Its basically him shooting shots.. Nothing...if very little is even said about the shots..speed..hit...english... nothing.. It is pretty
cool just watching him rack up points at the various "Short" games though :)
 
I have a Dick Jaspers VHS 3Cushion Instructional tape, but it in Dutch/German. Nice to watch hard to understand.

Just how hard would it take to do a free instructional lesson on CaromTV or maybe Robert Raiford [just to mention a name] could do a youtube series of instructional on 3 Cushion.
 
Got some pics of our club

here are some pics of the club. there are a few different views as well as a look at bigdaddygerald at the old brunswick.

P1020807.jpg


http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff62/darkhorsecues/P1020801.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff62/darkhorsecues/P1020800.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff62/darkhorsecues/P1020798.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff62/darkhorsecues/P1020797.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff62/darkhorsecues/P1020796.jpg
 
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