Patricia Giatis has been playing at Gino & Carlo’s in North Beach since she was a teenager, rising to the top ranks of San Francisco’s insular and competitive pool community and even going pro for a brief period.
Patricia Giatis takes part in a tournament at Gino & Carlo in North Beach on Monday.
And Giatis is a perennial contender. As we chatted, a fellow player was making his way into the place and said, “So, whose butt did you kick tonight?”So it goes for San Francisco’s 8-ball royalty. Giatis has been playing at Gino & Carlo since she was a teenager, rising to the top ranks of San Francisco’s insular and competitive pool community and even flirting with a pro career for a brief period. But the travel and practice didn’t suit her lifestyle.
“We used to come here when we were 14 and have just a blast of a time, playing pool and having a good time,” said Giatis. “I actually started playing in the pool tournaments at a young age, when I was 16.”Now, women playing pool at Gino & Carlo back then wasn’t too common. Young black women playing was unheard of.
The field consists of 128 players, and they battle every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night for three weeks until a champion is crowned. If you’re wondering, Hector Ortega is San Francisco’s king. He hasn’t paid rent on his locker for three straight years. To watch her play is a study in concentration. She stalks the table with a calculated stare, considering angles, weighing options and moving forward with precision. There’s no chitchat or gamesmanship. Straight business.
Standing there in the neon lights of Green Street, it sure felt like the before times. Rack ‘em and crack ‘em, Queen Patricia.
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