Billiards

[kevin81002]

I didn't see a thread in here about it, so I figured I'd start one.

I had been a billiard junkie from the time I was old enough to hold a cue (Dad had a Gold Crown I,) til I chose my career path and gave it up due to the late hours that came with it. I played in tons of 9 ball tournaments, a couple pool leagues, alot of backroom gambling, etc etc. I was never good enough to make a living playing the game on tour, but good enough to beat 98% of the people in the room at any given time. As many of you are with golf clubs, I collected high end cues like crazy. Any time I'd find a deal on something, I'd pick it up. For those of you that know the game and cues, I've had a couple Joss Wests, numerous Southwest cues, couple original Bludworths, a Robinson with a ton of ivory work, a couple original Tad Cues form the 70's, higher end Schons, etc etc, along with a few choice cues from my favorite local cuemaker. When I quit playing 20 years ago, I sold everything off. I had no intention of playing much anymore, with the exception of the occasional bar night.

Fast forward to now... My wife and I just moved in to a new house a couple weeks ago, and she shocked me. The house is bigger than our last, and we had nowhere near enough furniture to furnish the 1st floor. I asked her if she would like to go pick out a living room set to fill the empty room downstairs. She says " Why? It's just the two of us. Let's get a pool table!" And now I'm hooked again, dammit! Table is set up, although I wish I would have just sprung for the table I really wanted. I second guessed myself on the restored 9' Gold Crown I was looking at, thinking it would be a little too tight in the space I had, and opted for a cheap 8 footer I got for next to nothing from my old neighber. Now I can't stop looking at cues. I have already bought one, and ordered another from my favorite local cuemaker. lol

 

[jdtox]

Good now I know not to play against you for $$ haha. I love to play, used to spend a lot of time at the hall in my early twenties. Don't play much anymore but do still enjoy it. I have a 7' Imperial in my basement, but like the treadmill in the corner it collects things on top and rarely gets used for anything other than a serving table at parties. I've had a few cues, but nothing special or fancy.

 

[dwchockey13]

Oh man!

My league partner in golf is a 7 handicap (top handicap) in our APA league and needed 2 people that weren’t good to join to help with the points system so me and my girlfriend joined.
I was hooked ever since!! I’m now a 4(decent player) but have not lost a game this season! Currently have a crappy $80 stick as a break stick, and I won a poison cue from the black widow herself! That’s my new playing stick!
We normally play on an 8’ table for league


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[aljaklaw]

 

[2BFAST]

Bro I didn’t know that! @Kevin81002 So am I. I used to play a lot when I was in college when I had a lot of time on my hands. We used to play a lot of 14:1 and one pocket. LOTS of late nights......

I have an Brunswick 8 ft in my basement. I only really play when we have friends over we’ll get some games going. I have a couple friends that I introduced 14:1 and one pocket too and we usually play quite a bit during the winter months when we can’t play golf.

I’m a HUGE old pool hustler junkie and love reading books about them back in the day. I always admired guys how classy they dressed to play pocket billiards. I think iv watched The Hustler with Paul Newman and Gleason more than I want to know. I also collect antique pool hall items like I have steel fold out chalk cups from the late 1800s that attach to the bottom of each end of the table and also a wooden stroke counter on wire that hangs above also from 1890s in Kansas.

 

[Misike]

I’ve spent many many hours playing pool, but it’s been years. Part of my dream basement in the next move will have a golf simulator, bar, and 9’ pool table.

 

[TonyB]

I have pretty much the same pool bio.... I've owned so many high end cues over the years that I lost count but stopped playing about 20 years ago. I tried to get back into it about 5 years ago and bought a OB cue that I really like. It is a 2 piece Sneaky Pete that plays great. I will have Gold Crown in my shop when it gets built but for the time being I now have a pool room with old Brunswick tables about 10 minutes away. I went down there last week and could see the rust but started getting back into stroke after about an hour.

One of the coolest things I witnessed was Harry Platis and a road player Steve Smith (The Lizard) playing between 10 and 50K one pocket every night for 2 weeks at Dr Cues in Seattle. I've seen Harry play a lot but he was in his best Sh*t talking mode the entire time with Steve and Steve's stakehorse for the entire 2 weeks.

 

[TonyB]

I was reading the Smoking Pot on the course thread last night and remembered a guy I used to gamble with. I would be wearing him out playing 9 ball and he would go outside, smoke a bowl, come back inside and be in dead stroke.

 

[kevin81002]

I love straight pool and one pocket. Problem was finding a game... unless I wanted to go down to Hard Times in Bellflower and play Efren Reyes or someone else way out of my league. lol

My buddy Scott and I, when we weren't looking for action we'd grab a table in the back of the room and have some pretty epic one pocket or straight pool battles. Miss those times sometimes.

Bro I didn’t know that! @Kevin81002 So am I. I used to play a lot when I was in college when I had a lot of time on my hands. We used to play a lot of 14:1 and one pocket. LOTS of late nights......

I have an Brunswick 8 ft in my basement. I only really play when we have friends over we’ll get some games going. I have a couple friends that I introduced 14:1 and one pocket too and we usually play quite a bit during the winter months when we can’t play golf.

I’m a HUGE old pool hustler junkie and love reading books about them back in the day. I always admired guys how classy they dressed to play pocket billiards. I think iv watched The Hustler with Paul Newman and Gleason more than I want to know. I also collect antique pool hall items like I have steel fold out chalk cups from the late 1800s that attach to the bottom of each end of the table and also a wooden stroke counter on wire that hangs above also from 1890s in Kansas.

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[TheLetterSee]

I've never been into the brands or anything but my family had been in leagues since my dad was a kid. Every house we lived in had a pool table and I would just grab a stick and start playing.

When i turned 21 and started playing at the bars i loved getting the "hustler" name-calling even though I'd never play for money.

Were looking to replace our cheapo table and pick up a Valley Cougar like my family has played on for decades in the bars.

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[kevin81002]

Too funny. Man there were some shady guys in some of the LA area pool halls that were exactly like that.

I was reading the Smoking Pot on the course thread last night and remembered a guy I used to gamble with. I would be wearing him out playing 9 ball and he would go outside, smoke a bowl, come back inside and be in dead stroke.

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[kevin81002]

Oh man!

My league partner in golf is a 7 handicap (top handicap) in our APA league and needed 2 people that weren’t good to join to help with the points system so me and my girlfriend joined.
I was hooked ever since!! I’m now a 4(decent player) but have not lost a game this season! Currently have a crappy $80 stick as a break stick, and I won a poison cue from the black widow herself! That’s my new playing stick!
We normally play on an 8’ table for league


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That's awesome man. The APA handicapping system is quite flawed. The last league I played in, I went through the whole season as a 3. All it took were a few key missed shots per game. Back then the rating went to 8, and I should have been an 8. I played one season and grew a conscience. lol

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[TonyB]

Bro I didn’t know that! @Kevin81002 So am I. I used to play a lot when I was in college when I had a lot of time on my hands. We used to play a lot of 14:1 and one pocket. LOTS of late nights......

I have an Brunswick 8 ft in my basement. I only really play when we have friends over we’ll get some games going. I have a couple friends that I introduced 14:1 and one pocket too and we usually play quite a bit during the winter months when we can’t play golf.

I’m a HUGE old pool hustler junkie and love reading books about them back in the day. I always admired guys how classy they dressed to play pocket billiards. I think iv watched The Hustler with Paul Newman and Gleason more than I want to know. I also collect antique pool hall items like I have steel fold out chalk cups from the late 1800s that attach to the bottom of each end of the table and also a wooden stroke counter on wire that hangs above also from 1890s in Kansas.

This is available on Kindle and is the book by Steve Smith who I talked about in another post. It is a pretty good read.... Also any CJ Wylie story. I heard a story by CJ who was on the road when Color of Money came out. He was wearing disguise and was going to play a room owner who thought he was a great player. He kept talking about Color of Money and would say "You saw the movie right?".

After playing and taking a lot of money from him over quite a few hours, the guy said "you played a lot better the bigger the bet got". CJ responded "You saw the movie right!"

https://www.amazon.com/Through-Lizard-Steven-James-Smith/dp/1469745771

 

[kevin81002]

I have pretty much the same pool bio.... I've owned so many high end cues over the years that I lost count but stopped playing about 20 years ago. I tried to get back into it about 5 years ago and bought a OB cue that I really like. It is a 2 piece Sneaky Pete that plays great. I will have Gold Crown in my shop when it gets built but for the time being I now have a pool room with old Brunswick tables about 10 minutes away. I went down there last week and could see the rust but started getting back into stroke after about an hour.

One of the coolest things I witnessed was Harry Platis and a road player Steve Smith (The Lizard) playing between 10 and 50K one pocket every night for 2 weeks at Dr Cues in Seattle. I've seen Harry play a lot but he was in his best Sh*t talking mode the entire time with Steve and Steve's stakehorse for the entire 2 weeks.

I bought an off the rack Joss to start playing again. I hits decent. I also ordered a cue from my buddy Myron. Myron IMO probably makes the best hitting cue on the west coast. I've had a ton of his cues, and have yet to find one I don't like. My playing cue back in the day was a Myron Sneaky Pete. Awesome low key looking cue.

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[TonyB]

I bought an off the rack Joss to start playing again. I hits decent. I also ordered a cue from my buddy Myron. Myron IMO probably makes the best hitting cue on the west coast. I've had a ton of his cues, and have yet to find one I don't like. My playing cue back in the day was a Myron Sneaky Pete. Awesome low key looking cue.

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The one cue I regret getting rid of was a Paul Huebler Custom with smooth leather wrap, ivory inlays and his signature plus sign. It was one of the last pure customs that Paul did himself. I got stupid and sold it years ago.

 

[Citronbull]

I used to play a little in the 90s during the games hey day. I'd watch Efren Reyes and his crew spot the Pro American players the 8 ball on a 9 ball game and they'd take their money. Most pool halls are closed now in LA and San Diego County, and the ones that are open are the ones where you can smoke and it sucks.

 

[jmatt]

Used to play quite a bit. Never hustler class, but could hold my own against them on occasion. Good enough to make the money in local tournaments, nowhere near good enough to win more than rarely.
Have a 9' Brunswick in the basement, I actually made sure I had a beam put in when we built so I had plenty of room around it.
I have a couple Falcon cues, a Poison and a Viking from years ago, nothing too radical. Can't get the hang of the low-deflection stuff (Predators).
Mainly 8 ball, some 9-10 ball, but that's low level now. Just play for entertainment in a fun league. Tremors set in a few years back and it just drives me nuts to miss shots I used to literally make eyes shut.

I have noticed snooker is almost dead here now. Near impossible to find a table. Shame, that game definitely showed you how well you were stroking the ball.

 

[Snickerdog]

My grandfather taught me how to play. I used to have to stand on a small step stool to be able to see the table. I played a lot when I was in the Marine Corp and for a few years after. Haven't played in many years but it is just like riding a bike. A great game.

 

[dwchockey13]

That's awesome man. The APA handicapping system is quite flawed. The last league I played in, I went through the whole season as a 3. All it took were a few key missed shots per game. Back then the rating went to 8, and I should have been an 8. I played one season and grew a conscience. lol

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100% agree with that. I haven’t lost a match this season but have somehow stayed as a 4 because I’ve lost 1 game each time. Where has my teammate is 2 and 6 this season but still a 6 because his 2 wins were rackless


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[kevin81002]

There are still some around. Danny K's in Orange is still there. But yeah, the two main places we went for action in the early 90s, Mr.Cues in Riverside and Hard Times in Bellflower, are both gone.

I used to play a little in the 90s during the games hey day. I'd watch Efren Reyes and his crew spot the Pro American players the 8 ball on a 9 ball game and they'd take their money. Most pool halls are closed now in LA and San Diego County, and the ones that are open are the ones where you can smoke and it sucks.

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[kevin81002]

Scratch that. Just looked and it looks like Hard Times is still there. lol

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[kevin81002]

The one cue I regret getting rid of was a Paul Huebler Custom with smooth leather wrap, ivory inlays and his signature plus sign. It was one of the last pure customs that Paul did himself. I got stupid and sold it years ago.

I bought them to sell them for the most part. But probably the one cue I wish I would have kept was a Bludworth I paid ful retail for at the time ($850.) It was beautiful and had such a great feel to it. Bludworth got a bad name when the two brothers split up. One took on cuemaking tools and ballcleaners, while the other took on cues, and failed miserably. The original Leonard Bludworth cues are the ones to look for, and almost impossible to touch for under $1500 for a plain one.

 

[Snickerdog]

Some of the best times when I was a kid, visiting grandpa and asking him to play. He would take awhile to get down the stairs to the basement, then he would get to his bar and pour a brandy on the rocks. Then is was game on, we would play for hours. I would love to have just one day to do that again with him.

 

[SHIFTY]

I was reading the Smoking Pot on the course thread last night and remembered a guy I used to gamble with. I would be wearing him out playing 9 ball and he would go outside, smoke a bowl, come back inside and be in dead stroke.

I have a buddy thats exactly the same. If he has a pull or 2 he's great, anymore than that and he can't play pool. That goes for hockey as well if he has a couple pulls on his bowl (he's our goalie) he's unbeatable, but anymore than that he may as well not showed up and he's a siv. We call it RB's special blend as he mixes it with pipe tobacco.

Man this thread has me thinking. I used to play pool 10 times a week or so, now its been probably 6 months since I held a cue, and I have boxes and other junk on my table. Gotta get that cleaned up.

 

[SHIFTY]

I talked with a few people at coffee about pool, and a few thought we should start a league or something through work. It really is sad after we thought about it how many lounges, bars, have gotten rid of their tables. There is only one place near here that has multiple tables that isn't a pool hall. There used to be multiple places... oh well.