Why no 8-foot tables in major tournaments?

[DawgAndy]

I had an OS 8 foot in my house when I had a table. It was a a perfect fit and did everything I needed it to for practice. I've never seen one in a poolroom around here. I think a room in Parkersburg WV had 8fts 10-15 years ago but I only played on the 9 footers they had. More 7 footers than 9 footers around here now I think. Pros would eat up racks on 8 foot tables

 

[Bavafongoul]

I lived in FT. Worth/Dallas area for awhile, Arlington to be exact.
It was so bothersome that I purchased a 9 ft Brunswick pool table.
Afterwards, my house became really popular with my pool hall pals.
It was a 9' table with smaller 4 3/8" pockets which made 8' tables easier.

 

[Bca8ball]

It's either 9-footers or bar boxes. Why never on regulation/oversized 8-footers?

Almost exclusively in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area our poolhalls are mostly filled with the oversized 8-footers. Some places have a couple to maybe four 9-footers, but the majority is easily 8-footers. In the bars is mostly where you find the 7-footers, but some pool halls have a few I guess either for people that don't want to pay-by-the-hour or for those that may want to practice on them to prepare for league/Vegas-like tournaments, or maybe for beginners that are intimidated on a table any bigger...I don't know. Is this a regional thing or is it like that in other parts of the country?

Why not put the bar box tournaments to bed and start playing US Open 8-9-10-ball tournaments that are bar boxes on the 8-footers instead? I've watched plenty enough streams of bar box tournaments to fully grasp that the 7-foot table is hardly a challenge for the upper tier/next level players.

Comments?

Maniac

Let's see...
The Las Vegas (Westgate) APA 8/9 ball singles, doubles, and wheelchair tournament in April are on 95 Valley Cougar tables 7'.

The Las Vegas (Rio) BCA tournament in July had 300 Diamond 7' pro-am tables

The Las Vegas (Westgate) APA Team tournament in August had 95 Valley Cougar 7' tables

All these are the annual prize possession of the league structures.
The industry needs these players and their billiard equipment purchases; right or wrong, the bar box tournaments aren't going away.

 

[Low500]

Makes heroes out of us amateurs.

Take an over sized 8 footer and have those pockets (including the sides) shimmed up to 4 1/4 inches.
That'll make a lot of heroes slow down and idle.
And a great training ground for 7 foot table matches.

 

[ballston]

Not sure I have ever seen an 8 or OS 8 around D.C. in a commercial spot.

My 8 ball division plays on 8 footers at Continental in Rosslyn (Arlington), just across the river from DC. We used to play on 8 fts at Baileys and Carpool in Arlington. Both places have closed and been torn down for a new mall and high rise condos.

 

[Maniac]

Let's see...
The Las Vegas (Westgate) APA 8/9 ball singles, doubles, and wheelchair tournament in April are on 95 Valley Cougar tables 7'.

The Las Vegas (Rio) BCA tournament in July had 300 Diamond 7' pro-am tables

The Las Vegas (Westgate) APA Team tournament in August had 95 Valley Cougar 7' tables

All these are the annual prize possession of the league structures.
The industry needs these players and their billiard equipment purchases; right or wrong, the bar box tournaments aren't going away.

I hear what you're saying, but I was meaning to infer "professional tournaments".

I realize that there is a very big place in the pool world for 7-foot tables.

Maniac

 

[Maniac]

Take an over sized 8 footer and have those pockets (including the sides) shimmed up to 4 1/4 inches.
That'll make a lot of heroes slow down and idle.
And a great training ground for 7 foot table matches.

Kinda like what I was thinking. To a professional player there just isn't such a thing as a "long" shot on a bar box. In the past, by watching some matches on 10-foot tables, we found out that ball pocketing becomes a scootch harder when length-of-shot becomes a factor. IMHO, a professional player playing on a bar box is just stealing. I've seen enough streams/video to know that even the second tier players (and some just below that) can make the game look to easy on a bar box.

So yeah, tighten the pockets on an 8-footer and get the pros off the toy tables. You know....the ones intended for amateurs.

Maniac