Dark Chicago    The City    Neighborhoods    New City      Minnow's Pool Hall

“Don’t let the low lights and chalk dust fool you. Deals get made here that shape who walks outta the Yards and who gets rolled into it.”

Description - Exterior

Wedged between a shuttered bait shop and a burned-out corner store near the edge of the Yards, Minnow’s Pool Hall wears its grime like armor. The flickering neon sign buzzes through the night—Minnow’s in bent letters above a cracked window with a faded 8-ball decal. The front door sticks in the summer. Locals say the building shifts when someone inside loses big.

Description - Interior

Dim bulbs hang low over green felt tables faded to gray. Smoke curls beneath the sagging ceiling, and old fans clatter without cooling much. A cracked jukebox plays only when Minnow’s in a mood, and nobody ever sees him change the records. There’s always a game going—some with cues, some with fists, some with numbers scribbled on folded slips. In the back, past the door with the butcher’s cleaver carved into it, are the booths where serious business gets done.

History

No one remembers when it opened. Rumor says it was a butcher’s locker once—explains the cold, the layout, the smell that clings to the back hallway. The Butcher Boys claimed it in the '40s and never let it go. It’s their home base, their message board, and sometimes their court. Minnow himself hasn’t aged a day since 1939, but no one has the stones to ask why.

Owned By

The Butcher Boys—officially through a front company, but everyone knows who runs the register.

Run By

“Minnow” Stazek, a rail-thin man with shaking hands and dead eyes. Says nothing unless it matters. Has a ledger no one's ever seen him open.

Employees

• Hattie “Hookshot” Doyle – house enforcer and table boss; foul-mouthed, dead aim, only smiles after breaking a cue
• Lyle – bartender who never speaks above a whisper; allegedly served during the war, no one knows which one
• CeeJay – chalk-runner and errand kid; knows who to watch and who to warn
• “Boxcar Benny” – drifter who fixes cues, dishes gossip, and maybe reads minds

Regulars

• Butcher Boys lieutenants planning shakeups between games
• Boxmen, bookies, and confidence men laying quiet bets
• Rail workers stopping by to drink off the grind and maybe sell a secret
• Retired bruisers looking for a place to feel useful—or dangerous
• A quiet priest who plays solo in the corner. Always wins. Never pays.
• A pale man in a black coat who plays without a partner or reflection

Notes

• The main table—Table 3—has seen three men die on it. The stain won't fade.
• A door in the back hallway is always locked. Even Minnow doesn’t carry the key—or so he says.
• A mural of a bull in butcher's livery was painted behind the bar in 1951. It wasn’t commissioned. It just appeared.
• Certain scores are settled here by game. No weapons. No yelling. One game, one shot, walk or crawl.
• Veil interference has been suspected more than once—ball rolls wrong, lights flicker, someone hears a number before it hits
• Rumor says every fifth full moon, the place hosts a game with no living players