boulevard billiards pool hall philadelphia

#Boulevard billiards pool hall philadelphia professional

He found it too difficult to work in Cotati and live in Petaluma, so in 2005, he closed the Cotati location. The business flourished but Simon, the single parent of two teenage daughters, had trouble keeping up with his pool table sales. “We offered a family-friendly environment that was well-lit and clean, offering good food, good beer, a friendly staff and top-notch equipment. “Everything I wrote came to fruition,” he said. In 1992, Simon sold his father’s coin collection to Croci and opened Buffalo Billiards in Cotati, following the outline he’d written in 1977. He sold the lighting fixtures to Rich Croci, who installed them in the pool room at Boulevard Bowl, and moved to Petaluma. In 1986, after his parents died, Simon closed the Novato pool hall. He also started a billiard supply business, offering new, refurbished and antique tables, cues, lighting, accessories and more. Simon returned to help his father while attending San Francisco State and Sonoma State universities. Drafted into the Army, he was serving in Germany when his father opened a bigger pool hall, Harry’s Novato Billiards, in 1973. I made my income in quarters.”Īfter graduating from high school, Simon attended College of Marin before accepting a job as a lineman in the nascent cable television business. He once paid me $70 for 10 months work, but I had a substantial income from playing pool on the side. “My dad then opened a pool hall near Hamilton Air Force Base, which I ran, and another one in downtown Novato, which included his coin shop gig. I was the best player in town,” said Simon. “I spent hours, hours and hours in the pool room. Harry then opened a pool hall in Sonoma, where his son continued to help out.

We were also a quasi-pawn shop specializing in gold and silver coins.” I had a whole different view of the pool hall business. “My father was pretty much into indentured servitude,” he said. He also learned the business by brushing the felt tables, stocking shelves and replacing tips on pool cues. “I got quite an education in pool playing.” “I played straight pool with Dorothy Wise every day, then with Evelyn dal Porto,” Simon went on. A year later he sold the business to big-time pool player Sax dal Porto.

#Boulevard billiards pool hall philadelphia professional

Several years later, he bought Redwood City’s Sequoia Billiards from Dorothy Wise, a legendary professional who’s considered by many to be one of the greatest pool player of all time. “In 1977,” Simon continued, “I created an outline of what I thought a pool hall could be and should be, erasing all the negative connotations and making ladies welcome.”Īlmost two decades earlier, Harry Simon moved his family to Novato and bought the Napa-Val fishing resort on the Napa River, near Mare Island, where he rented boats and cabins, and sold beer, bait and gas. It was a challenge, overcoming the viewpoint embraced in movies like “The Hustler” and popularized in “The Music Man” by lovable con artist Harold Hill, who proclaimed, “Oh you’ve got trouble! Right here in River City! With a capital “T” and that rhymes with “P” and that stands for pool!” His introduction came early, as a 5-year-old in Wells, Nevada, where his father, Harry Simon, opened one in the basement of a casino. “Those dark, smoke-filled rooms where ladies weren’t allowed to set foot.” “I’ve spent my life overcoming the negative stereotypes associated with pool halls,” Simon said. To his credit, as evidenced by the soaring popularity of pool halls today, they’ve transformed into a fun and relaxing, family-friendly venue. Lee Simon, proprietor of Buffalo Billiards, has spent decades disproving those old beliefs. Not that long ago they carried a sordid reputation as a male-dominated territory where low-lifes and ne’er-do-wells gathered to loiter, smoke, fight, bet and, of course, shoot pool.

The airy, well-lit game room welcomes everyone, regardless of age or skill level, to come in, chalk up a cue stick and play pool.īut life around pool halls hasn’t always been this inviting. If you pass by Buffalo Billiards on an afternoon or evening and you’ll notice the mix of individuals young and old, men and women, novices and experts gathered around the pool tables enjoying one of America’s favorite pastimes.