Woohoo, another 1st review~
So I was introduced to this place by a buddy who's an avid snooker (not "boring" 8-ball, as he says) fan/player. How avid? He owns a $1000 custom-made pool cue, and competes in the local tournaments. So if he says this place has the best tables out of all the local halls, I'll take his word for it.
The place is a converted warehouse (like most other Richmond pool halls), with some posters to break (no pun intended) the emptiness of the walls.
So, what's great about this place?
1) Not too many people know about it. Getting a table is never a problem. Fridays + Saturdays can get busy though.
2) Free parking around the building.
3) The rates actually depend on the QUALITY of the felt. What that means, for example, is that a table with known "bad" felt costs less to rent than one with "newer" felt. So if you're a crappy player like myself, you can save a few bucks. With that said, they recently redid the felt on all of their tables (Nov 2010), so I'm not sure if this scheme is still in place. This isn't BS either. One time my friend had me try 2 tables (one "cheap", one "expensive") to see for myself. He wasn't lying. When playing on the expensive table, the balls behave more "ideally" (ie closer to what you'd expect if you've taken a Math 12 Provincial Exam).
4) There's a lounge area next to the counter. Not sure if they serve food or drinks there (I'd imagine they do), but one of your friends wants to sit out, they can in comfort. There are TVs in this area too, usually showing.. footage from snooker tournaments. Hardcore.
5) They offer additional services, such as retipping your cue. My friend uses other services for his cues as well, but I have no idea what he asks for. You'd have to be a pool shark to ask for these specialized services.
6) Each table (for the snooker ones at least) have an electronic scoreboard, so you're not stuck dealing with those lame sliders like every other place I've been to around Richmond. Makes it WAY easier to keep track of points.
You're not coming in here for the decor, but if you want an excellent pool / snooker venue, this is it. read more