this is my 8 foot table with 4 inch pockets, Erics setup looks to be even tighter
It looks like 4 1/2 to me by the balls and also your tape measure.
Pics of the "Fatboy" Rails and Pockets for TAR 21. Yeah they are a wee bit tight.
- Thread starter JCIN
- Start date
It looks like 4 1/2 to me by the balls and also your tape measure.
Well you have to remember this is very different from any regular tournament. It is a completely different animal.
I talked with Fatboy and we decided it made sense to use his rails for this match since they were ready to go. I want to thank him for letting us use them for this match. One of Alex's stipulations was he wanted TIGHT pockets. These are that but will take a ball down the rail. I have no doubt we will soon hear from the dude who made them and why they are the best rails ever in the history of pool or rails.
Here are a couple pics. Thanks for the loan Eric.
Will this change the line?
I will say this, I'm not a Diamond table guy, I am glad to see them do well and they are great for pool and I like the whole crew that works for Diamond, I just perfer to play on a GC. But thats irrelevant. Diamond is building a better product nowadays.
After Glen did these rails my Diamond was the BEST table I ever played on-period, hands down, there are no rolls on my slate(I dont know about JCIN's, I'm sure its as good). I never played on a better box ever in 30 years.
Glen built these rails to a standard I never seen before, the rails are so straight you can freeze a ball on both diamonds on each side of the middle pocket and fire the OB into the hole 100mph. I made it probably 30+ in a row on each side. The titty(point) dont stick out. I measured the openings of the pockets with my calapiers and they are all within 1/1000", at the opening and back of the pockets. They are calibrated perfectly.
The cushions are fast(but not boingy like Diamond has had troubles with), the 9 rail shot where you put a bill underneath ur belly and shoot the CB 9 rails and the CB stops on the bill. Glen made it first try, 2nd time he over ran the bill. It banks like a billiard table(true) it dont spread or reverse-none of that henkey shit, Broomback might never miss a ball on it.
Artie, Cotton, and a few other guys played on it and all agreed it was the best playing table ever. I felt the same way. I wish all Diamonds played like this one. I hope when the rails are put on JCIN's table they are put on good as they were on mine. I believe they will be. I hope the table plays like it did at my house for Shane and Alex.
I really was surprised to see this thread, I told JCIN, "I am always glad to help, if your gonna use my rails I just want to know about it, it dont need to be public." I just wanted to be sure they had a good tight table and that I could help, they could have got rails from the factory, but mine were 5 miles away. Mark has been gracious enough to store a couple tables for me since I moved. I will be moving them pout of storage in a couple weeks. so helping them out was my pleasure. Its cool that JCIN made it public. I just want to be clear that was not my motive, my motive always has been and will always be SUPPORT TAR!!!! in anyway u can.
One thing is for sure, JCIN can borrow these rails anytime he wants to, but i aint giving them to TAR
. IMO because these cushions play correctly, not boingy its actually a easier box than a factory table. I havent played on the new ones like the one Deschaine ran a 8 pack on, I know they are easier-there were lots of big packages that tournament. Shane told me they were much easier(at dinner just before he beat Alex 40-20 for 38 in the middle). I haven't played on them so i cant say, but the table JCIN is setting up with my rails has smaller pockets but CB control is more predictable therefore easier so the table is softer than a regular Diamond with the red inserts in the rail.
I'm gonna be betting with both hands on this one.
thanks for the thread JCIN, it wasnt necessary. I hope you knock it out of the park on this one, you deserve it.
best
Eric
It looks like 4 1/2 to me by the balls and also your tape measure.
Yea those aren't 4", the angle of the pocket openings is wider and much larger at the front than the 4" at the back.
Probably would be more likely to spit balls out that rattle though but not 4".
I hate to be a downer bro, but I've never seen the tightness of pockets measured that way. Typically, it is measured from outside point to outside point (meaning where the rail just starts to turn inward). The pocket will accept a ball that hits inside the point so that is where you should measure from. Using that measurement, your table looks to be a lot closer to 5" than it is 4".
never gonna happen, this is pool, not the PGA. Some guys are big pocket players(Earl) some are small pocket players(JA). Young guys like Diamond tables, old farts like Gold Crowns.
Pool hasnt got organized in a 100 years, then when you throw action in the mix, some games never happen because of equipment disputes. for example Shane and JA will never play. Shane wants to play on a Diamond and Ja wants to play on a 4" GC, there is $100,000 to $150,000 a side on that match, and because they cant come to terms on equipment it aint gonna happen. They wont compermise and play a session on both tables.
i'm amazed there is any action left anymore...
Okay, so this is the part where I make myself look like the "pool information idiot" and ask the question that probably everyone else on the forum knows the answer to..."Is there a regulation in place that standardizes the pocket size for professional tournaments? And if so, what governing body and what tournaments is it held to?"
Jason <--- Knows how to shoot balls...but maybe not "by the rules"
p.s. When I'm lost I ask for directions without hesitation...and yes, I'm still secure in my "manhood"!
I look at action matches the same way as boxers set up a fight. Some bouts never happen because guys can't agree on terms. The size of the ring, the weight of the gloves, many other things can cause a fight not to happen. Fighters want the set-up to favor them. A guy fighting a mover might want a smaller ring to limit his mobility.
Pool action is very similar. If a guy thinks he moves better or shoots straighter, he might want smaller pockets to work to his advantage. I still think Alex moves better than Shane (getting closer all the time), but obviously Shane thinks his break and run-out power trumps it or they wouldn't be playing.
thats exactly right, I have ducked games because I didnt like the equipment or the room, some rooms I just cant seem to play in. things have to be right for both sides for a game to come off. unless its a dump
LOL
I am pretty positive Earl would disagree with that. He has been *****ing about conditions being too easy for years. Not to mention there are few people who shoot a straighter ball then Earl, he could handle tighter pockets better then most other pros.
Translation of the original comment:
The winner of the match will have won by virtue of being a better player, not by luck or good breaks.
I like watching earl but lets be honest, he would whine no matter what. He whines about everything. He whines about gimmicky stuff like jump cues yet he's all over every gimmick there ever was. I have seen him use a jump cue too, he doesn't always use a full cue. I've also heard him whine about even the dumbest things like not doing well at a particular table because it was supposedly a 3 piece slate diamond table vs 1 piece slate. Not sure he was even right about it being 3 piece slate, but even if it were and even if there were a difference between playing either both players had the same table so it didn't favor either player.
How many times have you heard him complain that luck just doesn't favor him cause he's a "looser"? You can bet your goggles and assweights he'd whine about non standard or too tight of pockets and we'd hear all about it.
One of my favorite players, but a nutcase. :grin:
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Earl hates BIG Pockets! He practices on extremely tight tables and says that 4 1/2 pockets in Pro Pool is way to BIG!
i apologize it was a bad comparison, i see the entrance to the pockets are much straighter on the new rails as my table is 40 years old and still has the original rails, here is another picture of the opening at the back of the pockets
It does look tighter there, but you should be putting your tape from nipple to nipple, or putting the balls across nipple to nipple, the back of the pocket measurement is still meaningless.
What exactly are "Regulation" cut pockets? I would love to know because I have never seen any.
Okay, so this is the part where I make myself look like the "pool information idiot" and ask the question that probably everyone else on the forum knows the answer to..."Is there a regulation in place that standardizes the pocket size for professional tournaments? And if so, what governing body and what tournaments is it held to?"
Jason <--- Knows how to shoot balls...but maybe not "by the rules"
p.s. When I'm lost I ask for directions without hesitation...and yes, I'm still secure in my "manhood"!
I am far from an expert, but the short answer is no, there is no standard, regulation pocket size. There is no one regulatory body for pool that sets standards, either. This is a far bigger problem than just pocket size, IMHO.
What Justin is saying is that in a match like this, a gambling match-up as it is, both participants must agree on everything. The game, the rules, the location, and yes, the equipment. Most tournaments are played on what is available where the tournament is held, in the condition it is in at the time.
Perhaps the WPA has some sort of outside limits of how big or how small pockets can be, that is for someone far more knowledgeable than me to say. But so far as I've read or heard, there is no standard for pocket size.
this is my 8 foot table with 4 inch pockets, Erics setup looks to be even tighter
FYI - Pockets are measured at the outer point, not at the back of the pocket. Your pockets look to be about 5" at the outer points.