04/13/2003

Bars and billiards seem to have a natural connection. Remember that in The Music Man, a pool hall meant trouble "with a capital T, and that rhymes with P, and that stands for Pool."

A store in Providence specializes in equipment for both vices -- and for a few other beer-and-cigarettes types of games as well, namely poker, darts, and Foosball.

Just beyond the restaurants and before Olneyville on Providence's Atwells Avenue, D&L Billiards is named for the initials of its owners, David and Lisa Christie. David says he started the business in 1987 because he has loved pool since he started playing at 21: "I started drinking and playing pool at the same time."

See, there's that connection again.

In their 4,500-square-foot space (it used to be a furniture store), the Christies pack a lot of pool-hall stuff, starting with dozens of new and antique tables ranging in price from about $1,000 to $36,000.

D&L will also refurbish or move old tables. Refurbishing might cost between $300 and $400; a move might bring that up to $600 or more, because tables have to be taken apart and rebuilt when they are moved.

"The glory days for pool tables were in the late 1800s and early 1900s," says Christie, and some of his antiques date back that far.

The game itself dates back centuries, and it has a steady base of appeal. But from time to time, pool has a boom, such as in the 1990s, coinciding with The Color of Money, starring Tom Cruise.

Now, there's a new movie coming out, Pool Hall Junkies, that Christie thinks might spark another resurgence. But he's not that worried about it either way: "There will always be people who play pool."

That's the great thing about vices: The culture always finds room for them.

Take bars: A lot of people want to put them in their homes. D&L sells customized bars, ranging from $1,200 to $20,000.

To go with them, D&L has the largest bar-stool display in Rhode Island, with more than 125 models. The store also has an eclectic array of bar art and accessories, ranging from 3-foot-tall Betty Boop coquettes to vintage neon bar signs to framed movie stills from The Hustler and The Color of Money to wooden plaques with sayings such as "When In Doubt, Add More Wine."

Once you have your pool table and your bar, you need equipment. D&L sells pool cues and racks and sets of billiard balls. They can also customize balls with a person's name or business logo. (Sets of balls range from $59 to $300 and up for personalized ones.)

Also for sale are poker tables in a wide range of prices; dartboards and sets of darts (packages of three, from $6 to $95); KEM plastic playing cards ($26.95); and Foosball tables ($500 to $900).

Air hockey and ping-pong are also represented. D&L even sells equipment to convert a pool table to a Ping-Pong table ($189).

Christie says he draws customers from as far away as New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.

Why does he think so many people remain deeply devoted to pool through the ups and downs of its general popularity?

"It's a social game. There's the clapping of the balls when they strike each other. And you can talk and drink while you're playing it."

D&L Billiards, 377 Atwells Ave., Providence. 421-7558. Open daily, Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Sun. noon-4 p.m. Web site: www.dlbilliards.com.