The below is my review of the DCC 2016 equipment. These are my own observations after playing there for 6 days, in the banks, the one hole, and practicing. My opinion may differ from yours
Table:
The Diamond Pro/Am Smart table was used.
Pockets: Grade A. The pockets marking the balls issue from years past has been resolved. I did not see any black marks on any of the balls.
Phenolic rail material: Grade D. The dymondwood substitute, the new phenolic material, has some issues. Aesthetically it looks nice. However, when you touch it, it feels almost like you are touching fiberglass that has just been sanded. It sort of gives that itchy feeling. This might be because of the chalk. The surface seems to be slightly porous, and the chalk collects all over the rails. They all ended up being filthy on the tables I was playing on. I've never experienced this on any other table.
Rubber cushions: Grade C: The cushions still bounce way too fast IMO. After a missed short bank shot, I would say to myself, "how in the world did the OB bounce all the way back to the other end of the table?"
Table frame: Grade B: The legs on the Pro/Am model get in the way of my feet. My shoes would routinely hit them. This is because the legs are at the 4 corners of the table. In contrast, a GC or Diamond Professional model has the legs inset from the corners, giving clearance for your feet. I'm 6'3" tall, so this might not be an issue for shorter people.
Mechanical Bridge: Grade A: In the past, the bridge Diamond supplied was garbage. The bridge head would rotate on the stick, very loosely, and it was hard to be stable with the bridge. This year, it looks like they had an aftermarket black bridge head on it. I think the moose head one. I don't know if that is now standard Diamond equipment, or just for the DCC. In any case, the bridges supplied at this DCC were great.
Ball Storage: Grade C: All the tables had the wire metal racks installed to hold the balls for when playing banks or one hole. They are not an elegant solution, and feel like an afterthought. Also, when playing banks, only 9 balls are used. The other 6 balls had to be thrown under the table to keep them out of the way. I'd like to see this table redesigned to include ball storage like on a GC and the countless other commercial tables in the past 100 years. I also thought the metal rack itself could be improved (if it does not get eliminated entirely). It could have the wires adjusted to make the balls slope away from center. This way, there would be visual separation between the two opponent's scores. The way it is now, only a single wire separates the two sides.
Balls Performance: Grade A: The Cyclop ball set was used. They played just like Centennial balls or Aramith Super pro balls. I didn't have any skids, or see more than the average number of skids from other players. The CB now has a single "measles" on it. I did not see any balls roll off, either OB or CB.
Ball color: Grade F: The Cyclop ball set is the worst color in the world. I could barely tell what color was what. And several of the balls looked the same. Its a good thing I did not play in the 9 ball, as I'm sure I would have fouled shooting the wrong ball. Disclaimer, I'm red-green colorblind. BUT, other people that were not colorblind were having similar issues. Even when coming home and watching the remainder of the DCC on Accu-Stats, the commentators all had trouble identifying the balls. I'd recommend Cyclop copy exactly the colors used on the Aramith Tournament Duramith Set. (Aramiths new top of the line set). That set has the best color differentiation of any set, imo.
Lighting: Grade B: Some tables had the nicer big diamond lights. Some had the smaller bar table diamond light.
Score beads: Grade C: The score went up to a bastard number of 8, instead of a nice number like 10. This made gambling games not so nice when they turned the corner. The tables that had the bar-table light on it, there was not enough space on the string for all the beads, and the string sagged a lot. It was hard to move the beads over the right amount on those tables.
Table:
The Diamond Pro/Am Smart table was used.
Pockets: Grade A. The pockets marking the balls issue from years past has been resolved. I did not see any black marks on any of the balls.
Phenolic rail material: Grade D. The dymondwood substitute, the new phenolic material, has some issues. Aesthetically it looks nice. However, when you touch it, it feels almost like you are touching fiberglass that has just been sanded. It sort of gives that itchy feeling. This might be because of the chalk. The surface seems to be slightly porous, and the chalk collects all over the rails. They all ended up being filthy on the tables I was playing on. I've never experienced this on any other table.
Rubber cushions: Grade C: The cushions still bounce way too fast IMO. After a missed short bank shot, I would say to myself, "how in the world did the OB bounce all the way back to the other end of the table?"
Table frame: Grade B: The legs on the Pro/Am model get in the way of my feet. My shoes would routinely hit them. This is because the legs are at the 4 corners of the table. In contrast, a GC or Diamond Professional model has the legs inset from the corners, giving clearance for your feet. I'm 6'3" tall, so this might not be an issue for shorter people.
Mechanical Bridge: Grade A: In the past, the bridge Diamond supplied was garbage. The bridge head would rotate on the stick, very loosely, and it was hard to be stable with the bridge. This year, it looks like they had an aftermarket black bridge head on it. I think the moose head one. I don't know if that is now standard Diamond equipment, or just for the DCC. In any case, the bridges supplied at this DCC were great.
Ball Storage: Grade C: All the tables had the wire metal racks installed to hold the balls for when playing banks or one hole. They are not an elegant solution, and feel like an afterthought. Also, when playing banks, only 9 balls are used. The other 6 balls had to be thrown under the table to keep them out of the way. I'd like to see this table redesigned to include ball storage like on a GC and the countless other commercial tables in the past 100 years. I also thought the metal rack itself could be improved (if it does not get eliminated entirely). It could have the wires adjusted to make the balls slope away from center. This way, there would be visual separation between the two opponent's scores. The way it is now, only a single wire separates the two sides.
Balls Performance: Grade A: The Cyclop ball set was used. They played just like Centennial balls or Aramith Super pro balls. I didn't have any skids, or see more than the average number of skids from other players. The CB now has a single "measles" on it. I did not see any balls roll off, either OB or CB.
Ball color: Grade F: The Cyclop ball set is the worst color in the world. I could barely tell what color was what. And several of the balls looked the same. Its a good thing I did not play in the 9 ball, as I'm sure I would have fouled shooting the wrong ball. Disclaimer, I'm red-green colorblind. BUT, other people that were not colorblind were having similar issues. Even when coming home and watching the remainder of the DCC on Accu-Stats, the commentators all had trouble identifying the balls. I'd recommend Cyclop copy exactly the colors used on the Aramith Tournament Duramith Set. (Aramiths new top of the line set). That set has the best color differentiation of any set, imo.
Lighting: Grade B: Some tables had the nicer big diamond lights. Some had the smaller bar table diamond light.
Score beads: Grade C: The score went up to a bastard number of 8, instead of a nice number like 10. This made gambling games not so nice when they turned the corner. The tables that had the bar-table light on it, there was not enough space on the string for all the beads, and the string sagged a lot. It was hard to move the beads over the right amount on those tables.
