Enjoy playing in Chicago. A lot of veteran and some new talent there. From what I know and/or have seen, the best players are in and out of the Darien tournaments at Q-Billiards on a regular basis. The 'burbs are home to multi-time World Champions Terry Moore, Don Swan, Don Chalifoux and Tiffany Moore, and numerous pro and master players over the years such as Chad Hansen, Don Becker and others.
The location on Clark Street sounds like fun. Historically, it's centered on an old North side concentration of good players and old locations stretching from the Century Mall at Diversey up to about 7200 north (Dennis the Menace arcade, who's ancient, giant Greek table is pictured in the Complete Book of Foosball). This area was home to Jerry Knowles, George Petroheleos and "Dr. Bob" Thorud, and remains home of Pro/Master players such as Frank Kronkowski and Clint Gandy (both at last check, Chicago policemen out of the Montrose & Pulaski lock-up). My sense is that if the word gets out about this new place, a number of old-timers who like you, have been out of it for awhile, will start to come out of the woodwork there.
I haven't lived in Chicago since I graduated from High School (Lane Tech, at Addison and Western) but I still visit family there regularly. One place I liked for awhile that's still there is south of O'Hare airport, called "Cuephoria" -- well maintained tables and a nice atmosphere -- but no one goes there anymore for competition. I think it's just in an obscure location for most players.
Tournaments in the Milwaukee area often feature the most stunningly unique and talented player in the world today, Tony Spredeman, and several other pro level players. For larger events the players from each area are sure to show up on either side of the state line.
As for the Chicago foosball board, it is full of "drama" and complaints about every little thing, but so are a lot of other state and national boards. Best not to take anyone too seriously or to take offense by anyone regardless of what they say. I've found the boards for other/related sports to be much the same (ex: table tennis). What I will say is that in Chicago's old days -- and it may still be true of some older players there today -- there was a heritage of the hustle. Everyone always played for money, and yet no one ever seemed to reveal just how good they were. No matter who you played, it was always a close game and the winners very often attributed their victories to luck. (Unlike Texas or Colorado, where the winners were traditionally in your face with how good they were.) All I'm saying is, don't be too sure of yourself in playing Chicago players for money, even if they're not touring Pro/Masters.
Finally, coming from Belgium you're probably used to a much different style of play in which sticky, pin-able balls are a critical factor. On Tornado, you can do all the same things (except bank as consistently), but it takes a very different touch and you can't be as aggressive as you were on Jupiters with pinned ball control. As I lived in Germany for some time (and also used to be Tornado's International Sales and Promotions Rep), I had the opportunity to play against many of Belgium's (and Europe's) legendary players, from current World #1-ranked Frederico Collignon to his mentor, Pascal Gressier. (Back in about 1978 or so I witnessed Pascal thoroughly trounce American legend Jim Wiswell in Open Singles at a $100,000 tournament in downtown Chicago.) Quite an extraordinary collection of talent comes from Belgium.
Anyway, I hope the next time I'm in Chicago that we bump into each other.
Respectfully,
Larry Davis
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