8 foot tables, what's the point of them?

Cdryden said:

I see a lot of talk about great players adjusting to different size tables. Funny, when the money is on the line most great players will refuse to play on anything but what they are most comfortable with. I can't tell you how many times I have seen a match fall through because one player wanted the bar box and the other player refused to play on anything but a 9 footer.

Some will play on whatever and some wont, I don't think that is a fair judge of their skill, only of their preference.

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Well that blows the recent 10'er trend out of the water.

Those Texas rooms are just stupid. Ten or twelve 8' , two or three 9'. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to play when the 9'ers were taken and the 8'ers were open.

I can understand that some homes just can't fit a nine foot table so an 8 is good. But in a pool hall it's just stupid. Opinions vary.

Wileydog said:

They have 6 pockets just like the 7 and 9. I don't see a problem with them or see how they could mess up anyone's game.

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Willie Mosconi had the highest recorded run. 526 balls on an 8 foot table.

You can play for shape on any table that is twice as long as it is in width.

With CB control, speed choices could be about the same for many shots.
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My home hall had 10 9'ers and 2 8'ers. 8'ers were rarely used so they pulled them and put a Golden Tee in and 2 bar tables. That Golden Tee is a cash cow there.

hang-the-9 said:

The only place with 8' tables in my area is not the best place to play in. It's pretty close, but I don't know the last time they replaced or cleaned the cloth or rails. They have a mix of 8 footers and 9 footers, but last time I played there, my hand was black from the dirt. Have not been there in years.

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Two closest to me, 1 has four 9s to 14 (I think) 8s. The other has five 9s to maybe 15/16?

The newest hall is the odd ball (to me) , they had all 9s - a mixture of diamonds and GCs. Then he pulled half the 9s and put in diamond 7s.

So you have diamond 7s and GC 9s with couple diamond 9s.

jtompilot said:

Those Texas rooms are just stupid. Ten or twelve 8' , two or three 9'. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to play when the 9'ers were taken and the 8'ers were open.

I can understand that some homes just can't fit a nine foot table so an 8 is good. But in a pool hall it's just stupid. Opinions vary.

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Agreed. But growing up here in Texas that's all we knew, so its pretty normal to most of us to only have 2-3 9 footers per room.

8's my choice

i spent 30k on a 24 by 28 room and i could put any size i wanted in there, i personally chose an 8 ft as i like the larger tables. but i play a lot of league and going from 8 to a 7 is easier for me than going from a 9 to a 7.

I have an 8', plays good and everyone seems to enjoy it. I could squeeze a 9' nearly unobstructed, but once a few people come over it would just be to cramped. So I opted for the 8' and have no regrets regarding table size choice.

We play mostly on Crowns and Diamonds around here in the halls, and everyone seems to agree this table banks somewhere in between the two. (I'm not saying the table is as good as either, its just a decent playing table now that its been redone with good rubber, cloth & balls). We have fun, get a lot of practice time in and how can that be a bad thing.

If I had the space, my choice would be a 5x10' Bigfoot. Maybe my next home I will make it a priority to allow enough room for a couple tables. Until then, I'm happy to have a decent playing table to bang balls on and work on mechanics and precision stuff.

Dopc.

I mostly practice on 8ft tables. Its right betweeon 7 and 9 and alot of the tourneys are either 7 or 9 so with always practicing on an 8 is a very small adjustment that needs to be made instead of jumping to a 2ft difference. If all tourneys were played with 9ft then thats all i would play on. Also if i travel, alot of bars( not halls) use 8ft so that works out too if im out partying.

hang-the-9 said:

In theory, an 8 footer is a good compromize if you can't fit in a 9 footer, almost as big as a 9, more room than a 7 so you can play shape almost like on a 9 and can practice longer shots.

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It's the perfect size for amateur players to play like heroes!! I love them!!!! Big enough to spread my wings, small enough so I can hit the end rail for once.

Freddie <~~~ meatball with some provolone

Apparently, most neophytes to the game don't know this.

Ask Scott Lee, Randy G. and other billiard historians about the history of the pool table. The old timers have heard the stories of the history of table size. There is not much documented.

Before WWII, Italy produced more than 90%+ of the slate worldwide for pool and billiard tables.

The standard for billliard AND pool tables at the time was 10', with 9' at a minimum, in one and two piece sections.. A few 8' were made but strictly for residental use. Forget 7' bar boxes, they hadn't even been thought of yet from hearsay from the ol' timers on my part.

WWII left Italy in ruins. Slate was hard to come by for a while after Mussolini got strung up.

The billiard companies were in a fix!!!!!!!

With the returning G I ' s from the war, Brunswick and other companies focused on the smaller RECREATIONAL TABLE FOR THE HOME USE, instead of commercial, which meant going from one or two piece slate to three piece slate for home use since it was hard to find.

RE-engirneering and the standards definately lowered.

Mosconi, being a purist, along a few other top professinals, was not pleased, but since he was sponsored, he continued with his endorsements, exhibitions and ran 526 on an 8 footer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

There is a lot more to the history than this. I'll let a few other ol' timers fill in the details.

The rest is NSFW as it is a personal observation:

Earl wants to play on the 10 footer with tight pockets as a standard and GO FIGURE.. Maybe cuz he wins on them like Mosconi. The boy had and continues to have talent to this day.

Like Mosconi, Earl's a self centered ****** and will always be a self centered ******, but he is a PURIST. That simple fact makes me admire both of them for their ability.

I knew them both long enough to have an opinion of their greatness and on a slightly personal level, another opinion.

Sorry, They're both still p****ks despite their greatness.



All I know is, given a 7 footer, 8 footer or 9 footer, as long as I have a clear backstroke without hitting anything, I'm happy


Stones< 63 years old next Monday, playing more than 50 years, and I still LOVE the game and its' history.

BobTfromIL said:

I have an oversized 8', 9' won't fit. Most of my play is on 9' with some league
play on 7'. I really don't mind going up or down from the 8' and it sure is better
than no table.

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I'm with you, I also have an over sized 8' table (my room isn't quite large enough for a 9' table) and having this table helps my game so much. I play in a weekly 9 ball local league on 7' tables against AA players and if I didn't have my 8' table to warm up and practice on I doubt I could win a match against those guys. I recently had my table recovered and I'm playing better than I ever have in my 9 ball league matches thanks to having my 8' table to practice on. I can't say it's an advantage practicing on an 8' table and then going out and playing in a tournament on 9' tables, but I can say for sure that going from my 8' table to a 7' bar box is not a problem at all!

James

I'll add that the oversized 8' plays more like a 9' than the standard 8'. I'm 6'3"
and usually don't need to use a mechanical bridge on a 8' table. On the oversized
I find that I do use one more frequently.

A good player should be able to play on anything. So dismissing an 8' table seems a bit short sighted in my opinion. I prefer a 9' but there's nothing wrong with an 8 footer as long as it doesn't have buckets on it.

Just wish the bar box would go away, but it's part of the billiard world I suppose...

I've bumped into them exactly twice in my life, both home tables. It's definitely an odd size.
I don't think playing on one will help or hurt your pool game... it's not like you never have clusters
or tight position on a big table, and never have missable shots on a small one.
You're going to deal with both on every table.
It's still pool.

If my home couldn't fit a 9 footer, but I had room for an 8, I'd go with the 8 over a barbox any day.

If I had room for a 9 I'd have one. With my 8 I have room for stroke with zero obstructions. I hate home tables with shots you need a shorty for. 98% of the tables in the places here are 7s and I love being able to practice on a bigger table. Makes the 7 feel that much easier when I get down on a shot.

I have an 8 footer at home because I can't fit a 9. That said it's better than nothing. I have nice simonis cloth and the rails play ok, not the best, but ok. If all i could fit was a 7, I'd rather have a 7 footer than nothing. But I like my 8 just fine.

I play on 9 footers in my league and there some adjustment, nothing a rack of balls won't fix though.

Get what you can, or what you want, it's a personal choice, so just have fun.

100% of my practice is on an oversized 8 when I play on a 9 footer my transition is smooth, I do not under play or under stroke when I jump on a 9ft table. I remember I went a whole year on an oversized 8 then went to play on a 9 footer I had no problem what's so ever.


Reading my posts means you consent to my incorrect spelling and poor typing skills.

See no point in them at all. .Evidently weird gay things in Texas is the norm.