3 3/4” corners?

jtompilot

jtompilot

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
A month ago I was hitting some balls at Sandcastle Billiards on a GC with 3 3/4” corners. I froze four balls on the long rail above the side pocket. At pretty hard speed hit the ball would hang in the corner. It looked like pocket angle wasn’t quite right.

Saturday I was at Iron City Billiards and they have two Blue label Diamonds with 3 3/4” corners. Those tables are stupid tight. Anyways, if someone can freeze four balls on the long rail for me and test the corners I’d appreciate it. Thanks

Does anyone know what the pocket angles should be on a table that tight?
 
jtompilot said:
I watched some of the snooker finals, I have no clue how you can get a 147.
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I know you travel , hence jtompilot , but have you ever played on a snooker table where some of those shots would go ?
I know I never have.
 
alphadog said:
I know you travel , hence jtompilot , but have you ever played on a snooker table where some of those shots would go ?
I know I never have.
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I haven’t played snooker in 20 years but I doubt a ball will go in hitting it at high speed
 
jtompilot said:
A month ago I was hitting some balls at Sandcastle Billiards on a GC with 3 3/4” corners. I froze four balls on the long rail above the side pocket. At pretty hard speed hit the ball would hang in the corner. It looked like pocket angle wasn’t quite right.

Saturday I was at Iron City Billiards and they have two Blue label Diamonds with 3 3/4” corners. Those tables are stupid tight. Anyways, if someone can freeze four balls on the long rail for me and test the corners I’d appreciate it. Thanks

Does anyone know what the pocket angles should be on a table that tight?
Click to expand...
I wish I could get to pockets like that. At 3.75" the pockets needn't have jaws at all - or a shelf for that matter.
 
jtompilot said:
I haven’t played snooker in 20 years but I doubt a ball will go in hitting it at high speed
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Watch the guys pot balls down the rail - many force the ball in.
I am saying almost every snooker table I have played on is a gaffe table. I have played on a few 5x10 that were fair. I have gambled on a 5 x 10 in of all places a Holiday Inn bar that had about 4 1/4 " pockets. Business man wanted to play 25 cents a point wild 6. As a college student I said I would try him some for a dime with a 100 point freeze out- thinking I could afford to lose a few games. Dude couldn't play at all and i ran a quick 100 on the 6 and he raked the balls. Gave me a 10 and bought me a drink. Thanked me for letting him off for a dime a point.
 
jtompilot said:
A month ago I was hitting some balls at Sandcastle Billiards on a GC with 3 3/4” corners. I froze four balls on the long rail above the side pocket. At pretty hard speed hit the ball would hang in the corner. It looked like pocket angle wasn’t quite right.

Saturday I was at Iron City Billiards and they have two Blue label Diamonds with 3 3/4” corners. Those tables are stupid tight. Anyways, if someone can freeze four balls on the long rail for me and test the corners I’d appreciate it. Thanks

Does anyone know what the pocket angles should be on a table that tight?
Click to expand...
When my Diamond table was new it came with 4-1/8" corner pockets. No fun. I had them opened to 4-3/8" and they are restrictive enough. I have seen and played on a few gaff tables that were seriously shut down to 4" or below. One table in Dearborn Heights, Michigan was the most ghastly, probably 3-3/4" or less corners. Severely tight pockets take too much shooting out of a game. The main purpose is to increase revenue for the pool room owner as games can take 2-3x as long to play under those conditions. No thanks!
 
skip100 said:
Snooker is a nice game if you want to play on pockets under 4 inches.
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There was (or still is) a 12' snooker table here in SoCal that is used mainly for golf. The corners will not accept a ball. Over a series of shots the shooter must try and position the ball in directly in front of the pocket jaws and then force the ball in. The proprietor is able to quietly rob the golf players for table time on a daily basis! Lol.
 
Snooker analogy is not really relevant to the ops question since the shape of the rail around the pocket is rounded not flat like a pool table
 
jazznpool said:
When my Diamond table was new it came with 4-1/8" corner pockets. No fun. I had them opened to 4-3/8" and they are restrictive enough. I have seen and played on a few gaff tables that were seriously shut down to 4" or below. One table in Dearborn Heights, Michigan was the most ghastly, probably 3-3/4" or less corners. Severely tight pockets take too much shooting out of a game. The main purpose is to increase revenue for the pool room owner as games can take 2-3x as long to play under those conditions. No thanks!
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I agree. There does come a point where pockets that are too tight detract from the game. I mean let's just make them 2 3/8 so there is never a single run out ever again. 4 inches is more then tight enough...even for a pro

As for room owners, if they charge by the hour (smart tables work well for this), then it wouldn't matter if a single game took 1/2 an hour.

For the OP, I dont think the angle should change too much for smaller pockets. Should still be around 138 to 143 degrees. Check on Dr Dave's site. I believe I seen some of the info you are looking for. I can't remember where and I really dont have the time to look for it now.
 
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I’ve only played on one table with 3.75” corners. Don’t know how much of a difference the facing angles would make at that size, other than taking the table from very difficult down the cushion to impossible. I liked it as a novelty. Thought it was fun, but wouldn’t want to play anything except one pocket on that table for anything more than giggles and wouldn’t want it as a home table.

As you said, you couldn’t play balls down the cushion. Changes the whole game. On the table I played on they would go up to about medium speed if hit absolutely dead perfect. Even then, the OB would hit both facings and wobble in. Anything less than perfection and the ball would get spat out. If you hit the shot with any more pace it wouldn’t go no matter how well you hit it.
 
peppersauce said:
I’ve only played on one table with 3.75” corners. Don’t know how much of a difference the facing angles would make at that size, other than taking the table from very difficult down the cushion to impossible. I liked it as a novelty. Thought it was fun, but wouldn’t want to play anything except one pocket on that table for anything more than giggles and wouldn’t want it as a home table.

As you said, you couldn’t play balls down the cushion. Changes the whole game. On the table I played on they would go up to about medium speed if hit absolutely dead perfect. Even then, the OB would hit both facings and wobble in. Anything less than perfection and the ball would get spat out. If you hit the shot with any more pace it wouldn’t go no matter how well you hit it.
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Was it table 1 at T's ?? That table was ridiculous.
 
jtompilot said:
A month ago I was hitting some balls at Sandcastle Billiards on a GC with 3 3/4” corners. I froze four balls on the long rail above the side pocket. At pretty hard speed hit the ball would hang in the corner. It looked like pocket angle wasn’t quite right.

Saturday I was at Iron City Billiards and they have two Blue label Diamonds with 3 3/4” corners. Those tables are stupid tight. Anyways, if someone can freeze four balls on the long rail for me and test the corners I’d appreciate it. Thanks

Does anyone know what the pocket angles should be on a table that tight?
Click to expand...
Did you measure the pocket angle on the table in question? My table has 4.125" corners at 139°. Doing the same test you did, the ball drops every time. My mechanic was very aware/knowledgeable of overall pocket geometry and how it relates to a table that plays properly. He was telling me you have to decrease the angle when you tighten pockets. It you do not, balls will not pocket as they should. With pockets at 3.75" (3/8" tighter than mine), I would estimate the facing angle should be 138° and maybe even 137°.

Pic of my table for reference.
49603456301_6bf97eb126_b.jpg
 
rexus31 said:
Did you measure the pocket angle on the table in question? My table has 4.125" corners at 139°. Doing the same test you did, the ball drops every time. My mechanic was very aware/knowledgeable of overall pocket geometry and how it relates to a table that plays properly. He was telling me you have to decrease the angle when you tighten pockets. It you do not, balls will not pocket as they should. With pockets at 3.75" (3/8" tighter than mine), I would estimate the facing angle should be 138° and maybe even 137°.

Pic of my table for reference.
49603456301_6bf97eb126_b.jpg
Click to expand...
Tried to explain mouth-to-throat ratio to this gal one time. She ended up slappin' me saying i was a perv. ;)
 
Texas Carom Club said:
its a neat game like english billiards, i like that you can score by kissing the cb in, just the pockets though make me not want to play it lol, id play it only on a pool table for fun
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I've played it a few times, in pool halls that are in heavily in Russian Neighborhoods. It's interesting, with the way the game is scored I'm surprised that it's not more popular then 8 ball in bars.
 
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