9-ball

[sho'nuff]

anyone play billiards? especially 9-ball?

for me, during my 'bad years' a long time ago, i used to go to this local billiards place near my home. it was a purist billiards club until in the later years it got bought by someone else and it just turned into a place to hang out by kids.
they had great tables: brunswick and simonis cloth and cuetech for house cues.
and they ran weekly tournaments both organization and open with money added. i used used to play in the tournaments there and at other local spots too.

i started get my interest in it again after watching some youtube on last year's Open 9-Ball Tournament which is the premier tournament in the US.

like this one


anyone else here play pool or have an interest?
i am also looking to buy a cue. i want to get back into it a little, not much, it can be consuming.

 

[DNW]

I used to play 9-ball and billiards quite a bit when I was in highschool and undergrad. Nowadays, I'm not that much into it. Once in a while, I'll play some drunken idiots at a bar. I do miss my old cue though. I forgot the name, but it was a pretty decent one. I bought it second hand for about $400. That was my battle cue, and it probably paid for itself after the first few games.

 

[edmorel]

I used to play a lot of pool, pre marriage. Now I'll play occassionally at a bar when there are saps looking to give their money away

 

[Thomas]

I played a lot of straight pool (race to 50, 100, etc.) in my undergrad days and shortly thereafter, but was never all that. Got away from the game for a while, but had a decent time running people off the bar table in Cancun last May. I would have thought that I would be smoother with the years, but I'm still streaky as hell.

 

[sho'nuff]

it cool you guys play. or used to play. it is always fun to take advantage of some dudes with too much to drink. can be a bit dangerous though, sometimes you gotta give a game or two back and make sure they dont go crazy

 

[Rome]

I would only play for drinks and even then I made sure to buy a round every once in a while. Being stationed in S.C. for 4 yrs left me with little else to do than shoot pool and drink. If I get into it again I'll end up buying a Predator shaft for my Joss.

P.S. You can only get good at one if partaking in both at the same time. I'm an excellent drinker.

 

[rnoldh]

I was the college 9 Ball champion of my undergrad years.

This wasn't hard since the tournaments used to have about 8 people

This was at Rice U., Houston, Tx. in the 1970s.

I would say I was above average, but no one else was even average. I did gamble, mostly 8 Ball and 9 Ball. I also played rotation. Very little straight pool. 9 Ball is probably the best game today and a good test of skill.

I played 3 cushion billiards (which is a whole other world), but no one else did, and there were very few 3 cushion tables in Houston, back then.

You can find good deals on cues on Ebay and internet sites. But you have to know the market and what you are doing.

My favorite cues were made by Richie Lucasi. I had 3 but they're long gone.

My Dad taught me how to play pool and billiards in NYC in the 1960s. We played at Ames Billiards often, where "The Hustler", with Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason was filmed. I wish I could say that I saw them but I did not. My dad was very good. I think his straight pool high run was about 80! Not pro level but good. He really did know some of the greats like Willie Mosconi.

I haven't played in about 7 years. Pool is definitely a game of repetition. If I play daily or 4 or 5 times a week, I could probably get back to 75% of my previous game. But I doubt I'll put in the time to do that.

Good Luck and get back into the game.

But don't let it cut into your Santoni time

 

[sho'nuff]

Originally Posted by rnoldh

I was the college 9 Ball champion of my undergrad years.

This wasn't hard since the tournaments used to have about 8 people

This was at Rice U., Houston, Tx. in the 1970s.

I would say I was above average, but no one else was even average. I did gamble, mostly 8 Ball and 9 Ball. I also played rotation. Very little straight pool. 9 Ball is probably the best game today and a good test of skill.

I played 3 cushion billiards (which is a whole other world), but no one else did, and there were very few 3 cushion tables in Houston, back then.

You can find good deals on cues on Ebay and internet sites. But you have to know the market and what you are doing.

My favorite cues were made by Richie Lucasi. I had 3 but they're long gone.

My Dad taught me how to play pool and billiards in NYC in the 1960s. We played at Ames Billiards often, where "The Hustler", with Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason was filmed. I wish I could say that I saw them but I did not. My dad was very good. I think his straight pool high run was about 80! Not pro level but good. He really did know some of the greats like Willie Mosconi.

I haven't played in about 7 years. Pool is definitely a game of repetition. If I play daily or 4 or 5 times a week, I could probably get back to 75% of my previous game. But I doubt I'll put in the time to do that.

Good Luck and get back into the game.

But don't let it cut into your Santoni time

hey man . that is great to hear. what happened to your cues? sold them for santonis? hehehehe.
i was sliglhtly above avg too. good enough for billiard locals to take notice, but bad enough for the semi-pros to take my money all the time.

at that time they had a league called USPPA, ( i think it is still around) with a scoring system from 0-1000 or something like that,
if you are over a 90, you are considered a club B player , if you are 130 , you are considered club A, over that and you are a semi-pro or something like that. B players in my book are really good players.
i never joined USPPA, but some people who knew me said i was a 60-70

im thinking about actualy going to vegas to check out their annual 9 ball tournament , think it would be fun and it would be great to meet sfers there , who knows. just an inkling.

nothing cuts into my santoni time . nothing

 

[sho'nuff]

for those who appreciate the nuances of 9-ball strategy.

this one game is very entertaining on the strategic end of 9-ball

especially at the 1-ball ..




just remember, in 9-ball, there is a rule where if you foul 3 consecutive turns you lose the game automatically.

 

[yachtie]

I played alot of snooker and 3 cushion in school ( always could get a table

)

 

[lefty]

Originally Posted by yachtie

I played alot of snooker and 3 cushion in school ( always could get a table

)

I also grew up shooting snooker on 6' x 12' tables. Moving down to the smaller pool table was like shooting fish in a barrel.

For those who haven't seen it The Huslter is the best pool movies ever made and easily one of the best movies period.

Jackie Gleason was hugely underrated as a dramatic actor. His crushing of Newman was a tour de force.

lefty

 

[contactme_11]

I used to play ever saturday night with some buddies. Real run down dive of a place but it was great. Never really busy, cheap beer and one fee to play all night. Plus it gave us a chance to get away from our wives/ girlfriends once in a while.