Your First Time

My Mom was a cook in a roadside cafe. The owner that owned it also owned a construction company. The cafe had a large basement underneath it, he had a pool table down there. The dishwashers would leave or not show on a regular basis. I was Five and knew how to wash dishes. When the Dishwashers didn't show, my Mom would set me up to get it. In between trays, I could go down and play pool. So 5 years old washing dishes and playing pool what a life. Loved it.
 
Approximately 1978. 7 years old. Dad bought and undersized Brunswick snooker table.

I remember at first I couldn't spot the blue ball.

Probably didn't play a lot till about 10 years old, but by 12/13 I was able to beat my dad about half the time and often run 30s or so.

Didn't really play on a pool table till bars in university and then that's all I played for the next 35 years and counting.
 
My Mom was a cook in a roadside cafe. The owner that owned it also owned a construction company. The cafe had a large basement underneath it, he had a pool table down there. The dishwashers would leave or not show on a regular basis. I was Five and knew how to wash dishes. When the Dishwashers didn't show, my Mom would set me up to get it. In between trays, I could go down and play pool. So 5 years old washing dishes and playing pool what a life. Loved it.
A man could be happy living like that!

I wish I could remember the first time the hook stuck in me! No idea.
 
Orange Ball Billiards in Rockville, MD. Long time closed and I think its a CVS now lol. Cousins took me there during Thanksgiving? I was in middle school and they were in college at the time. Little did they know it would kick start a hobby that has lasted around 2 decades for me.
A couple of us here bought those tables when it closed.
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I was reading something today and it alluded to how small, passing, seemingly insignificant moments early on change your life forever.

It made me think of the first time I held a pool cue, and when, later on, playing pool became an integral part of my life. I'll write up my personal details later but will pose the question now: when was the first time you held a pool cue and then when did it become a part of your life.

Lou Figueroa
I was maybe 5 or so. Barely tall enough to see over the table....and dad showing me how to properly bridge. It was a bar table at a restaurant & bar he used to own. It stuck with me and I've played ever since; with hiatuses here and there, but never lost interest.
 
First held a cue when I was 2 years old. We had a bar table on our back porch and my father would put me on one of those 5 gallon popcorn tins and give me a shaft to shoot with. A cue has been in my hands ever since! When I visit my family on holidays my father and I still play a bit, but these days I have the upper hand - he taught me well!

Now that I have a 2 year old, I'm doing the same thing with my son, also I'm in the process of making him a custom short cue. He picked out a piece of Jatoba that he likes and I'm cutting down an old shaft to go along with it.

Hopefully he'll be able to love the game as much as I have throughout the years.
 
At about 10 my friend down the street took me to his basement where there was a gold crown and we played last ball. Then the boys club got 2 tables but when I found Mom's pool hall a few miles from my house when I was about 12, I was hooked. My first real cue was a Viking I paid 60 bucks for.
 
Great topic.

Mine came in stages, first pool table memories come from visitng neighborhood friends homes whose parents had a table. Maybe I was 5. We’d just roll the balls around, but there was something about those colors and numbers that reeled me in.

I think first time using a cue was on a bumper pool table during a father/son fishing trip. I was around 9 years old and it just developed from there over time.

After that I knew this game was special and wanted to find a place to play whenever/wherever I could.
 
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