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Walt Craig, 84, unsheathed his pool stick from a black, polyester case with a shoulder strap, pulled a specialized billiards glove onto his left hand and stepped to the table Friday at Margaret Schweinhaut Senior Center in Silver Spring. Almost immediately, Craig noticed his opponent, Vrajnish Shah, 71, had made a mistake setting up the game of 8-ball the two were about to play.

"That's not racked properly," said Craig, of Silver Spring, as he moved the 15-ball one spot over with his glove hand, the index and ring finger covered by leather.

A few minutes later, it's Shah's turn to reprimand Craig.

"No, you are these balls!" said Shah, of Gaithersburg, pointing at the striped balls as Craig attempted to knock in a solid-colored ball.

There isn't any money on this game but both Shah and Craig realize the stakes will be high in a few days when the two compete in the Maryland Senior Olympics billiards tournament, to be held for the first time in Schweinhaut's billiards room.

The two-day tournament began Tuesday and ends today with the winners of each age group eligible to play next year in the Summer National Senior Games in San Francisco.

Shah's and Craig's training was often interrupted Friday for additional rule disputes. They also took a break to compare the pool stick cases, the intricacies of which were discussed like they were grandchildren.

In addition to his specialized billiards glove and his personal stick and case, Craig brought along a tape recorder with an excerpt from the 1962 film "The Music Man," in which the protagonist, Harold Hill, is hustling some men at billiards.

At another table inside the bustling room, a familiar problem arose for other Olympians-in-training as Bob Brigham, 70, of Silver Spring, also lost track of which type of balls to shoot – stripes or solids.

"That's half the game when you get our age," laughs his opponent, Jim Matzel.

A few tables away, Raymond Jones was losing badly to Fred Beauchamp, who didn't hesitate to let his friend know the deficit.

"Look at this lead!" Beauchamp jeered.

"You haven't won yet," shot back Jones. When Beauchamp eventually scratched while trying to sink the winning 8-ball, Jones made sure to get the last laugh.

"You lost, you rack," Jones said before the rematch.

"I don't know how to rack!" responded Beauchamp, 83.

With six manicured tables, a bevy of bar stools and, most importantly, strong competition, the atmosphere at Schweinhaut's billiards room is similar to the pool halls and sports bars many of the regular players know from their past. But as many are quick to point out, the Schweinhaut room is even more enjoyable because smoking, cursing, drinking and eating are all prohibited.

"The most important thing is it gets these people out of the house," said Jerry Chirichella, 80, the unofficial gatekeeper of the billiards room, who has taken on maintenance of the tables and equipment. Chirichella has been playing at the Schweinhaut billiards room for 25 years and, like many of the room's regulars, plays Monday to Friday for five to six hours per day.

Photographs from the room's long history cover the walls and the roughly 12 players in the room on Friday all talked of spending countless hours playing together and developing friendships that continued even away from the table.

On one wall hangs a painting of the pool room, done by one of Schweinhaut's regulars about 10 years ago. In the painting, Chirichella is in the forefront and many of Schweinhaut's longtime players are competing behind him.

Chirichella reeled off the name and varied backgrounds of every person portrayed, stopping to point out those that have since passed away.

"You meet friends and people from all walks of life," he said while still looking at the painting. "It's a mix of everybody."

Chirichella, a past gold medalist in the state Senior Olympics, helped bring the tournament to Schweinhaut for the first time.

Previous statewide tournaments have been held in Towson and Baltimore, sometimes welcoming more than 100 competitors, he said. When Montgomery County announced it would host Senior Olympic events this year, Schweinhaut's great atmosphere and top-notch conditions made it the logical choice for billiards. About 40 participants competed this year.

Craig said he has been playing at Schweinhaut every day for the past month to prepare for the tournament, stopping only for more pressing matters.

"I'm married and therefore I have instructions," said Craig, a Silver Spring resident who has been married 63 years. "So I run errands before noon and then play from noon to 4 [p.m.]."

He said billiards has given him something active to do with his friends now that his wife's health problems have limited their activities together.

For Brigham, the Schweinhaut billiards room was a way to fill his newfound free time after retirement. Brigham has played at Schweinhaut for 11 years and said he plays four days a week for five to six hours a day.

"[After I retired] I found a lot of time and I was bored and depressed," Brigham said. "But I found out about this and it's a home away from home."