shooting on 8ft. vs. 9ft.

Oh geez, let's not start this conversation again.

More impressive? Of course, it's on a bigger table. And he pocketed 100 more balls.

Less impressive? Of course, it was on better and well maintained equipment compared to what Mosconi did his run on.

Both tables had big pockets.

As for the question on hand, even though I'm a low level player, I find it much easier on an 8 footer. Less real estate to worry about.

John's run is clearly stronger. On average, an eight footer makes it quite a bit easier, but the matter shouldn't be considered in a vacuum. After all:

1) The balls today are of much higher quality than those of 65 years ago.

2) The felt was much slower back then, so break shots had to be hit harder and some of the complex position play would have been more difficult.

3) The rails on the tables back then were of lower quality and didn't play as true.

4) John handpicked the table on which he attempted the record, whereas Mosconi had to play on whatever the room in which he was giving an exhibition chose to use for best viewing by onlookers.

Best to just say that Mosconi's run was the greatest exhibition run of his era and John's run was the best exhibition run of the current era and leave it there. To both, let's just say "well played".

evergruven said:

thanks for the replies.



for the record, I was inspired to post thinking about john's run, but I wasn't trying to start a firefight about who's run was better-

I'm not experienced in 14.1 and am genuinely curious about the differences between 8 and 9ft.

I wouldn't assume just because the table's bigger, running would be more difficult; therefore I asked...



thanks again.

Click to expand...

BIG BIG. Deference in 9 and 8 foot tables. 8’ is my table of choice for fun yet challenging fun. I wish I could play more 8’ tables. I wish we could see tournaments on 8’ tables. It would be an interesting game to watch.


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ThinSlice said:

I wish we could see tournaments on 8’ tables. It would be an interesting game to watch.

Click to expand...

Barring the use of crazy-tight pockets, the eight footer just isn't a sufficient test of pro level skills today.

A 9' table's actual playing surface is 100" x 50", meaning 5000 square inches of playing surface. An 8' table's actual playing surface is 92" x 46", meaning 4,232 square inches of playing surface. A 768 square inch difference. An 18.14% increase in table size.

Which table is easier to play on? The numbers tell it all.

sjm said:

Barring the use of crazy-tight pockets, the eight footer just isn't a sufficient test of pro level skills today.

Click to expand...

Tell that to the pros that play in 7’ tournaments


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8 ft vs 9ft

I've practiced quite a lot of straight pool on various sized tables these past few years. My high run on a 7' is 75. I was playing really good 8ball when I did that. My high run on an 8' is 52 from my table at home which has tight pockets 3 3/4" corners. This is with thousands of attempts over the last few years. And my high run on a 9' which was during a league match is 37 on an old Brunswick with normal sized pockets.
I think if I had a 9' at home, I would get some runs in the 50's, but I'll never know as my room is too small for a 9'er. I only get to play on the big table about 10 times a year which is during competition during the straight pool league. I never really feel comfortable and confident. Hard to just play pool as everything seems so different.

generalize this

ThinSlice said:

Tell that to the pros that play in 7’ tournaments


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Click to expand...

In other countries the Pro's - do not compete much at all on tavern tables. It's only here in the states that the some of the top players will demote their games to the tavern tables.

arcstats said:

A 9' table's actual playing surface is 100" x 50", meaning 5000 square inches of playing surface. An 8' table's actual playing surface is 92" x 46", meaning 4,232 square inches of playing surface. A 768 square inch difference. An 18.14% increase in table size.

Which table is easier to play on? The numbers tell it all.

Click to expand...

The size of a true 8’ table is even smaller at 88” x 44”. Only “oversized” or “commercial” 8’ tables are 92”x 46”.