It is still rare to find 8ft tables in poolrooms still. Yet the majority of home pool tables sold are 8ft tables. People shoot pool at home and think they're pretty good and then go to a bar and find themselves in an altogether different playing table. I think many poolrooms would benefit by having one or two 8fts (with same styling as others). Whoever is working could send the casual crowd towards the smaller tables, and they may feel more comfortable playing on. Maybe they would play a little more and ease into the larger tables as they progress.
For us, the pool "cult-type" players that stay in poolrooms, we can't imagine pool without something to challenge us (or at least we would like to think this). Now, we have two rooms within 3 miles. One has AMF (Brunswick spec-era) 9fts and the other has house style Gandys with buckets. Both have places have good business, but the one with Gandys is full every night. Other than maybe the beer being a little cheaper, I don't see much difference in the two places.