Durham, North Carolina - The Green Room

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I'm back in North Carolina, staying in the Raleigh area for work for a couple of weeks. I like staying here, in part because there is a cool little pool hall/bar right next to the hotel I usually stay at, called Hotshots.  I will be writing about this place more some other time - this time I wanted to talk about an interesting poolroom in Durham.  I was shooting over at Hotshots (getting spanked at 8-ball by an APA 7)  and asking around about the different action spots in the area.  I was told about a place called "The Green Room" in Durham.  Supposedly tons of action, storied pool hall with great people - so I drove out there last night, which was a thursday.  About 30min drive from the hotel, not too bad.
When I saw the sign on the door, I knew I was gonna dig this place:

The sign on the door of the Green Room

Not much was going on, but there were a couple people there.  I was invited to play a game of chess, and was happy to oblige, as I hadn't played in FOREVER.  I did well, 2-0 !  I wound up not shooting any pool, but I did take a few pictures of the place, which had indeed a nice atmosphere, a piano, a pinball machine, shuffleboard, and darts.

Bar area - really nice beer selection

Shuffleboard! Don't see these around much anymore..

Piano, pinball, pool.  Nothing else needed.

Ghosts of past racks - wish I would have worked harder at getting this pic right.

Interesting seating

Alex, my opponent at chess

I didn't stay too long, needed to be early at work the next day.  Nice atmosphere, very friendly people, but not much pool going on, and no action that I could tell.
Have you been to this place?  Should I go back and check it out maybe on a different day of the week?  Let me know in the comments.

Canonsburg, PA - Polish Horseshoes

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I hadn't been to this annual party since 3 years ago I think - so my bro, his girl and I drove up to Pittsburgh because, well, Ryan throws a damn fine labor day party.  Tons of food (including Reuben casserole :p   it was like chopped-up reuben sandwiches), great people, and a slew of outdoor games including horseshoes, cornhole, and a new one - Polish Horseshoes....

Cheech explains the game - and towards the end tells us the fantastic deal he is offering for his pool table lol

A great time was had by all.  

Cambodian pool - eyewitness news from Jonas

So my friend Jonas is currently undertaking a 7-week backpacking adventure through Asia, mostly in the south east.  I gave him my smartphone because he can make better use of it than me (plus it could be healthy for me to get used to not checking the internet every 4 seconds).  This allows him to upload pics on-the-fly and also to log his GPS coordinates so that his steps can be retraced for posterity.  Jonas left Germany about 2 weeks ago and has already been through a bit of Thailand and Cambodia, and now he is in Vietnam.  I highly recommend his blog (original German version - English version).
Of course, Jonas being a fellow billiard traveler, I have entrusted him to document any billiardly experiences he might chance upon along his way.  Here is his post from Siem Reap (right by Angkor Wat) where he encountered some locals shooting an intriguing game.  Here is a pic he emailed me from there, and a transcript from the English version of the post.

"Another addendum to yesterday : I lost $2 playing pool against the locals. An interesting variant in which all players (in this case, there were four players) get a certain number of cards. Each card represents the value of a ball (jack = 10, etc.), and the objective is to sink the balls corresponding to your cards - after each ball you sink you "play" the corresponding card. If an opponent has already played that card, it's worthless. Whoever has played the most cards wins. The next game is started by the winner of the first round. The order of the following players seems to be guided by the cards. For more detailed rules, the language barrier was too great and my budget too small."

 Also, notice that they are playing with american pool balls, on a small snooker-type table (you can tell from the rounded pockets and lower rail height).
Anyone play this or anything similar to it before?  It would be cool to get the full set of rules...
If you know of any other pool or billiard games that are played with a set of cards, I would love hearing about it.