Our Story

A few words from Vic:

For me, it all started when I was 13. That’s when I first learned how to play pool. Over the years, I have fallen in love with the many games of pool from your standard games, such as 8-ball and 9-ball, to the lesser played games like bank pool and one pocket. Pool has been the unwavering rock that has supported me through the best and worst times in my life, allowing me a space to think about life and sharpen my skills.

I distinctly remember telling my mom at the age of 18 that someday I was going to open a pool hall. She never took me seriously, initially thinking that pool for me was a “passing phase”. Over a couple of decades, she came to understand that in no way was pool just a temporary hobby. After some time, she had coined the phrase, “You can take the girl out of the pool hall, but you can’t take the pool hall out of the girl.” She probably doesn’t know how much that phrase has stuck with me since, but I will cherish it forever, as it rings so very true in my heart.

Over the course of my life, I have been committed to acquiring the skills necessary to run and operate a pool hall. I worked myriad restaurant jobs including bartending at one of the local pool halls back home. I have worked almost every position in a restaurant including server, busser, dishwasher, expediter, floor manager, chef, and bartender. After working in the restaurant industry for several years, I went to culinary school as my other passion is cooking for the people that I love. After graduating from culinary school, I embarked on the greatest journey of my life, moving to Seattle, Washington away from my family, with almost no friends, and little money. After a small amount of time, I figured that I should probably go to Business School in order to really have all of the skills needed to own and operate my pool hall.

After graduating and almost a decade at my first professional job that I met the love of my life, Sean, who equally shared this love of pool with me. After almost a year of friendship, we decided to build a life together and work toward a day where we could really make strides toward the dream of the pool hall. After a full year, I have taken the leap from the high paying job to pursue my dreams of being a pool hall owner, and that is where we are today.

Our focus is to grow and expand the game of pool, especially for women and children, to continue to encourage 9’ table play, and support our local pool player community as stewards for the game. We aim to be the place pool players want to come to in order to connect with like-minded pool players, hone their skill, record their sessions, pick up a friendly game, etc. We proudly look forward to serving our pool community.

A few words from Sean:

My parents had a pool table in the “shop” growing up, no air conditioning or heat, in the attic. So we played a few times, but my real pool journey began at Portland State University where the guy sitting next to me in the class before lunch asked me if I wanted to check out the student center, where there was pool tables, bowling, and an arcade. That was my favorite spot, and in my second year I moved on campus and got a job there, and I played pool mostly for the next few years. After graduation, the economy was weak post 9/11 and tbh a career in engineering didn’t sound interesting, so I mainly worked side jobs and played pool the rest of the time.

Eventually, a friend offered to teach me to deal and play poker and we moved to the Seattle area from my native Portland. I learned the game of poker, but always enjoyed pool even though the money wasn’t good, and the poolhalls kept closing and all there was left was bar table action. The good old days of the poolhalls of my youth were over.

Fast forward to now: We’re opening a poolhall in the area!