Place seems a little dingy in the beginning, but it's a pool hall! Â There are more than enough pool tables to keep one occupied on a weekend night, and they also have a private room on the side for the "pros". Â Â The place is loud, but not so loud or obnoxious where you can't hear your friends at the pool table. Â Â The tables are well maintained, Â there are a variety of pool sticks and accessories, and the prices are so affordable. Â Â For a cheap date night, I would come here or go bowling!
Review Source:Hard Times Billiards in Bellflower is still one of the top halls in the world. The best in the world  (Efren Reyes, Santos Sambajon, Dave Hemmah, Ronnie Alcano, Jose Parica, etc) have and still do play there.  And if the top pros aren't there you still have your pick of players that have beat them from time to time in all the games like Carrom Bola, 1-Pocket , 9-Ball, 10-Ball, 8-Ball, Snooker.... you name it!  A lot of times it's a good place to just come sit down and improve your game by merely watching how the players move the balls or their mouths (it's all strategy).  Hard Times is also a great place to take a date for music, pool, food and fun!
Review Source:This pool hall is HUGE....there where table 21, so there are at least +21 tables. What can I say about this place? It's a nice place to spend your day.
The cost is roughly $9 per hour when we went, I think its cheaper before 6pm. The crowd there was very nice, and the hot looking guys where a plus. Definitely coming back here again
Friends and I used to come here all the time back in high school. It's fairly large in size and enough tables for everyone. The location isn't all that great, but its not all that bad either.
Unlike some reviews that say the place is "ghetto" it really isn't. It can seem a bit shady sometimes, but don't let that fool you. It's a chill place to go and kick back with friends.
hard times is basically a hard-core pool hall. Â there's no alcohol, so you can't use the "i'm drunk" excuse for your lack of skills. Â the reason you'd go to hard times is to play pool, period. Â the pockets are some of the tightest in socal, and the place is known to attract world-class-caliber players. Â if you like playing pool, this is the place for you. Â if you like drinks to go with your pool, you should visit your local watering holes instead.
Review Source:This pool hall has been around for a very long time. Â Many notable and renowned pool players have passed through Hardtimes over the decades that it has been in business. Â It is divided into two sections primarily: main room and tournament room. Â You'll see 5" pockets in the main room, that's were most of the general public will congregate to shoot some pool with their buddies and dates. Â The tournament room has tighter pockets and the tables are generally in better condition. Â There is a per person limit of 2 people near each table at any time house rule and all breaks must be done with a break cloth under the cue ball. Â Most of the pockets in the tournament room are around 4".
They sell some food and refreshments, as well as some pool related items if you're in need of a new case or some accessories. Â During the day and most of the weekdays, you'll find more of the hard core pool players and enthusiasts. Â During the weekend, you'll see more of the casual players with their dates and entourage.
This place, despite other reviews, is not "ghetto". It's a fracking pool hall. If everything was decadent and gorgeous, that's a sure fire way of knowing there is too much talking and not enough playing. Who needs the distraction anyway?
I used to live in Calabasas (Malibu) and once, I drove by myself from Calabasas all the way to Bellflower to play pool at this place because I heard this is where you play if you want to get noticed. This is also where you go if you want to watch and learn something. That was a LONG drive my friend and well worth it!
And there's no doubt about it...right when I walked in, my eyes immediately got drawn to the room off to the side that had the small stadium seating (umm AWESOME). Where I come from, everyone kind of hovered behind a small wall all up in the player's space. This was different and much more to my liking.
I shot a few games on the table nearest to the door and immediately had people coming up trying to play, so there's definitely no shortage of competition or eager players looking to shoot or make friends there.
Over all, I just kind of felt at home when I was there. It was a nice feeling and I'll definitely be going back.
definitely my friends and i favorite place to shoot pool. LOTS of pool tables available.
the staff is very friendly. my friend comes here so many times that they actual know him. he doesnt even need to give him his drivers license to shoot here. they just give him the balls, he shoots, and he pays at the end.
love that this place closes late as well. i think they close at like 1am.
very laid back environment. if ure in the area and in the mood to shoot pool, definitely come here.
This is a hard core pool hall. If you are serious about playing (you don't have to be a pro) and want a variety of tables to choose from this is the place for you. No alcohol but a medium sized snack bar. There's also a long history of tourneys here. They also have bleacher seating for spectators which should tell you right away what kind of place this is. A Classic Pool Hall, no more, no less.
Review Source:Local hang-out for many, many years. Â What I enjoy about Hard Times is that there is a good mix of the old pool-hustlers and the young up-and coming pool-sharks.
Such a relaxing place to enjoy shooting a few games without worrying about people getting drunk and beligerent...they don't serve alcohol there and enforce a no-gang attire, et.c.
Hard Times is a laid back place and one where you can watch tournaments with those folks who have skills on the tables.
Go on and check them out....it's a nice way to spend a few hours say on Friday or Saturday or during the week.
HaHa OmFg.. ThIs PlACE iS StiLL oPeN! HaHa JK
I think I been here when I was in high school... BACK BACK in the days haha never really liked it.. Seemed dirty and ghetto... but what do you expect from a pool hall!
I do not think this is one of the best pool halls, but maybe that is because I am not a hardcore pool player. I like to drink when I play pool with my friends and this place has none.. so you will not be seeing me here anytime soon... but that is ok.. haha
Rated as a former #1 pool hall in America for a reason.. I go there for the tournaments because the pressure there will make you a better player anywhere else.
It is the caliber of the competition that makes this place cook. There is plenty of money changing hands. At nights around midnight, I like to watch people who come from all over Los Angeles and Orange county to ply their skill. If you go to pool halls to play with your friends and drink beer go somewhere else. But if you want to get your ass kicked by the best (including Effram Reyes-world Champ) then you found your place.
CHEAP snooker! Â $3 per person, per hour. Â BUT BEWARE:
1. pockets are extremely tight. Â
2. cloth is not good
3. table height is wrong. Â too short, just same height as all the pool talbes there.
4. no proper rests and bridges.
If you are so good that you can sink balls into pockets that are the same width as the ball, then this is the place for you.
Another room that I made my bones at. Â Sitting at the lake and watching Efren, Gary and Morro trade shots and large sums of money.
Side bets o' plenty. I'm pretty sure that the money earned here paid for my first car. lol.
The tourney side was always kept immaculate. Since ownership (formerly the same owners as Varsity  and Hard times La Habra)change, it does not appear to still be the case.
Still a decent room, with a decent amount of action.
Now if I could still just play like I did back then...which still wasn't THAT great. But it was good enough to to take down quite a few bundles from the lights.
Hard Times has never really been my choice for a pool hall. I've only gone to meet up people that were already there. I wouldn't make an effort to come on my own.
I was a Varsity rat back in the day so I guess my loyalty still runs deep. Hard Times was their competitor. Nevertheless, you do have to give them props where they deserve it though. Spacious, lots of tables, some arcade games, friendly staff, different sized tables, and a decent sized parking lot.
If you're in the area, this is the only spot to shoot at right now, unless you want to drive to anaheim or further. Oddly enough, there is something in me that never lets me come here, but I do once in a blue moon.
3 stars for the local joint. :)
I'm not a connoisseur of pool or anything but I find Hard Times as a cool place to go with friends when are you tired of playing on a pool table in a garage. I used to go here a lot in high school with my friends, so this pool hall is good in my eyes. It has a really good atmosphere, not like bars that have drunk biker guys and does not smell like feces. I find the back tables cool, since there is a black light and it makes everything even more interesting. I took off one star because i agree with Stan C. about there being no alcohol. hahaha.
Review Source:All age Pool Hall. Â
A variety of pool tournaments for different skill levels and games. Â Their first Sunday of the month tournament draws good players and is great for spectating as the house adds to the pot. Â No alcohol but you can get it down the street. Â They have good equipment: bar pool tables, 9ft, heated carom, & golf tables, large parking lot, pool equipment, attire, and accessories also sold here.
To the left and upstairs.. Al "Little Al" has a cue repair and custom cue shop. Â He makes really nice well-priced cue.. standard ones running about the same as production cues.. may take a while but worth the wait.
New ownership = better food, some changes in the tournament schedule, less money added to the first Sunday,
On a Saturday afternoon, the discussion of what activity to do turned into a Borat fest. There's actually people seriously considering watching that movie! Thank goodness I put a stop to that and decide to hit this place.
This place is a nostalgic pool hall from the yesteryear where it occasionally still holds billiard tournaments. It has about 38 pool tables and countless stacks of pool stick. There's about 10 pool tables on the inner room with a cheering stands. I'm guessing that's where the tournaments are held at.
Interesting thing when you walked in, there's two uber fancy pool table where I'm guessing Minnesota Fats or some hustler played their best games or crowd attractors are held at.
Frank sort of hit it up on the place in his review. It doesn't served alcohol. It is noted that security is tight on evenings where they do anticipate any trouble will arise. Plus it's hard to check for IDs as they really only one or two person working the register. They do have served hotdogs and softdrinks at the place.
For a clean fun in a nostalgic pool hall, this could be the place. Gawd knows it is still better than watching Borat.
From what I've read, pool halls used to house the scurge of society decades ago. Â As an intelligent boy who can recognize BS, I'm willing to bet that pool halls weren't half as bad as they've been made out to be. Â The Hustler with Paul Newman was advertised as a movie about a pool hustler and the dangers of pool halls. Â Um, it was a love story, not the best love story, but it was definitely more about love than about pool. Â Recently, though, pool aficionados around the world have been trying to reintroduce pool as a family-friendly game.
That said, I'd like to write about how I love Hard Times and how nice it is that it's family oriented, but I can't. Â I just can't enjoy playing pool there. Â There's not a drop of alcohol on the premises save for what I brought in my flask. Â I went on a Saturday night and it was full of boisterous teenagers. Â They don't serve alcohol. Â Because the place was full of kids, both the cues and tables were in bad shape. Â They don't serve alcohol. Â They. Don't. Serve. Alcohol! Â Godamit! Â Not even beer. Â
Here's the catch, Hard Times is separated by a wall in the middle. Â I asked my friend, "why didn't you get a table on that side?" Â Mind you, he's a pretty good player, "oh, everytime I play on that side I end up humiliated." Â I took a gander at the "other side" and noticed that hardly anyone was playing there, and those who were playing there were playing alone, practicing on what looked like tables that were in excellent condition, and playing properly with proper form and all that garbage. Â That's why this place isn't getting anything less than three stars.
Update: I figure the lack of alcohol only warrants a penalty of one star.
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