Joe Rogan Experience #2569 - Bill Thompson · Aired Oct 21, 2026
Claim summary · not a verbatim quotation
At the turn of the 20th century in New York City, there were over one thousand pool halls.
The finding
What remains unresolved
Joe explicitly introduces the number with "I think." We did not locate a dated citywide count establishing more than 1,000 billiard halls at the turn of the twentieth century. Historical pool rooms could also mean horse-betting establishments, so a count needs the year, geographic boundary and business definition before it can settle this estimate.
No supporting source was captured. This finding should not be treated as a sourced conclusion.
Quick answer & review status
Quick answer
Is it true that at the turn of the 20th century in New York City, there were over one thousand pool halls?
We can't say yet. " We did not locate a dated citywide count establishing more than 1,000 billiard halls at the turn of the twentieth century. Historical pool rooms could also mean horse-betting establishments, so a count needs the year, geographic boundary and business definition before it can settle this estimate. Joe Rogan said it (matched by voice) on Joe Rogan Experience #2569 - Bill Thompson, aired Oct 21, 2026, at 2:03:04. We couldn't settle it from the evidence we captured, so it stays an open question, not a false claim. No supporting source was captured, so don't treat this as a sourced conclusion.
The context belongs here.
No separately verified on-air correction is recorded for this check. That is not a claim that nobody corrected it.
- Attribution
- Not independently confirmed in this record
- Editorial context review
- Not recorded; generated finding
- Coverage
- One selected claim from the episode
Revisions to this check
No dated revision is recorded here. Older checks may predate this log.
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