STRAIGHT POOL

Pop City, California. In a dysmorphic, twisted version of the continental United States, this is the treacherous epicenter of all organized crime rackets on the west coast.  Originally named Los Payasos, Pop City is a perfectly oiled sanctuary for organized crime. It’s sprawling skylines and even temperatures make a perfect back drop for the underworld casinos, back alley brothels and rub joints downtown. 

It’s no easy task controlling all crime in a place like Pop City, but amazingly all the rackets are run by five major crime  families and most of their business is done out of two bit parlors like the King James Pool Hall. Pool is very important in the criminal underworld.  All gangsters are degenerate gamblers but in Pop City, the quality of a gangster's pool game can earn real respect. Gangsters here will gamble on anything, they are degenerates, after all, but nothing draws big money bets like pool.

The King James Pool Hall is a special place in gangster lore. It's one of the most popular gangster hangouts in all of Pop City. For the past fifty years, the King James Pool Hall has been something like a gangster academy. Any young hoodlum looking to make a name for himself must graduate from here. 

It is the bethlehem of hedonism, a shrine to ostentatious corruption. No wonder the gangsters all loved holding court at King James. No wonder they all felt safe there, even with their business being conducted so openly. For years the King James Pool Hall has been like the capital city of the criminal underworld. No wonder then that somebody had to burn it down...

And start a war.