20. Hustler Pool and Snooker Club

One of the nicest things about having friends accompany me on my toon explorations is that they suggest things to do that I would never have thought of. 

The idea of a game of pool at Hustlers was Carmen’s and I don’t mind admitting that I was a little cynical when she first suggested it. We were sitting in the Old George Inn and I thought that really she just fancied another pint and, as I explained in my previous blog, I was reluctant to include too many eating and drinking places in the blog. She soon convinced me, however, that as a Pool and Snooker Club it was totally different than just including another pub in the blog and so off we went. 

Neil has been to Hustlers a few times with his friend Mark, but I’d never really considered going myself – mainly because I’m absolutely crap at pool and don’t even get me started on snooker. I tell you what though, I bloody loved it. 

I actually enjoy a game of pool – I’m rubbish, but it’s fun. When I go to play at a pub, however, I always feel as though people are watching and waiting for their turn and so, unless you have genuine skills, you end up just feeling a bit of a twat. I sort of thought Hustlers would be like that, but on a bigger scale. I mean it was an actual pool and snooker club, so surely everyone there would be really good and taking it really seriously… And maybe they were, but what I hadn’t taken into account was that, in a place like that, there are so many tables that you can find a relatively quiet spot, play, be crap, have fun, and nobody cares because they are all busy playing themselves.

We played doubles – Astrid and myself against Carmen and Sarah. The first game was a pretty competitive thriller with both teams getting down to the black and Carmen and Sarah eventually ending up victorious. Sadly that was the first and only competitive game as despite skills like this..

And moments like this..

Carmen and Sarah got better and better and Astrid and I, well.. Didn’t. 

I think they won about 4 games to our 0 in the end – a pretty conclusive result. No matter though, because as both a competitive person and a person with a newly discovered love for pool and snooker clubs, I am absolutely going to demand a rematch one day..