In one way or another, shooting pool has always been a leisure activity. And whether you know it as billiards or snooker, carom or pocket, the basic principles of concentration and strategy apply.

In the 21st century, the game’s havens are once again experiencing the kind of identity crisis that often comes with age. Like the former bad boy who succumbs to a bad back and trades in his motorcycle for a Subaru, pool halls are just not as wild as they used to be.

Pool shark Denny Ayers longs for the good ol’ days when players threw punches and swung cue sticks like Louisville Sluggers, when hustlers cleaned out the wallets of suckers and toughs broke fingers of losers who didn’t pay.

Belmont Billiards was started by Pete Smith in 1925. According to his 1972 obituary, before starting the bar, Smith was one of the pioneer engineers at Frigidaire and was instrumental in setting up the Engineering Department at Moraine.