Settle this argument

Imotv8u

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I need help settling this argument about snooker ball sizes. We play on 9 and 10 foot snooker tables. Our balls are 2 1/8 inch diameter. Do the professionals playing on 12 foot tables play with a smaller ball? I say they play with 2 1/16 inch balls, or the metric equivalent. I’d really like to know. Thanks in advance.
 

Bob Jewett

AZB Osmium Member
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The rules of snooker include equipment specifications. I think a copy of the rules will be the most convincing argument for the doubters. Here are the rules:

https://www.wpbsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/official-rules-of-the-game.pdf

You will have to convert 52.5mm to inches.

Some Americans play a bastardized form of snooker with different rules and larger balls. Some American sets even have numbers on the balls!
 

jtompilot

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member

jtompilot

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
jtompilot is right.. 2.067 inches is, basically, 2 1/16 inches (2.0666666666) rounded up to 2.067. That's size I use on my 10 foot table.

I googled snooker, billiard, and pool ball size. What a crapshoot of size info. I did see sizes from 2 to 2 1/8 for snooker. 2 3/8 to 2 7/16 for carom balls. Here’s the three most common sizes for the the different games; 2 1/16, 2 1/4, 2 7/16. What the hell is English pool balls?

Of course that doesn’t count the many screwed up ball sets I’ve seen around the country, mostly Centennials.
 

onepocketron

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The rules of snooker include equipment specifications. I think a copy of the rules will be the most convincing argument for the doubters. Here are the rules:

https://www.wpbsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/official-rules-of-the-game.pdf

You will have to convert 52.5mm to inches.

Some Americans play a bastardized form of snooker with different rules and larger balls. Some American sets even have numbers on the balls!

I remember in my youth, which was LONG ago, there was a pool hall that had a 6x12 table and the colors were numbered. Ah, the good ole days when you heard nothing but the clicking of balls in the hall.
 

Imotv8u

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The rules of snooker include equipment specifications. I think a copy of the rules will be the most convincing argument for the doubters. Here are the rules:

https://www.wpbsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/official-rules-of-the-game.pdf

You will have to convert 52.5mm to inches.

Some Americans play a bastardized form of snooker with different rules and larger balls. Some American sets even have numbers on the balls!
Thank you for clearing that up for me! Yes our balls are larger and have numbers! Lol! Also, every hall I play at has different rules. Hopefully soon I’ll have my own 12 ft table with regulation cloth and balls and we can play this great game as it was intended
 

Bob Jewett

AZB Osmium Member
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Since I had a little spare time...

A small correction for the machinists out there. The actual specification in inches is not some of the numbers posted above.

The specification for ball diameter as stated in the rules (52.5 mm) is 2 17/254 inches exactly. That is not perfectly represented by the long decimal above, which is about 2 1/15. Closer is 2.066929134, which is correctly rounded in the last place shown.

The traditional pre-metric specification, which is still the number used by some retailers, is 2 1/16 inches. That is 2.0625 inches exactly.

It is clear that the metric specification is roughly 0.005 inches larger than the traditional spec in inches. If they had chosen instead 52.4 mm that would be 2.063 inches very nearly, and slightly closer to the traditional size.

Any complete specification says how far off from nominal the item can be and still remain acceptable. In the rules of snooker, that tolerance is +-0.05 mm. That is very close to 0.002 inches. This means that a ball that is exactly the traditional size of 2 1/16 inches is small and out of spec by about 0.0025 inches.

The fractional size mentioned above, 2 1/15 inches, turns out to be within spec since it is small by only about 0.00026 inches. So, I suppose you could say that the spec in traditional units has changed from 2 1/16 inches to 2 1/15 inches. Or, you could amaze people by quoting the 2 17/254 number and win bar bets. You could also win a bar bet that 2 1/16 is out of spec if you can find a traditional person who thinks in inches.
 

DaveM

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
I remember in my youth, which was LONG ago, there was a pool hall that had a 6x12 table and the colors were numbered. Ah, the good ole days when you heard nothing but the clicking of balls in the hall.

I was at Elite Billiards in NJ all day on Sunday and that was still happening. Even down to the snooker with numbered balls.:smile:
 

alphadog

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
what the hell are 1pkt players doing in the snooker forum:grin-square:

you know who.
 

seb1899

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
These balls came with the 5 x 10 Centennial I bought:

enhance


I believe they were 2 1/8" definately larger than the 2 1/16 balls played on the 12 ft Riley
 
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