3 and 7/8 inch pockets tough

5ballcharlie said:
The 3 and 7/8 inch pocket is super tight. Has anyone seen a tighter pocket than this?

They just had a tournament in taiwan where the pockets were shimmed to 4.04 inches(according to a Taiwan news article) which is the smallest allowable size for tournament specs.Apparently in a lot of the pool halls in Taiwan the the pockets are even yet smaller.

Sounds like your 3 7/8" is as small or pretty close to as small as it gets.
RJ
 
Pockets

I am getting ready to set up a Gold Crown 2 that has 3 7/8" pockets with the angles recut, that is a the tips of the pocket. Very tight, the owner wants to see how it is. Ernesto did the rails on this table. The poor girl who I got the table from could not make a ball on it.

Table 1 at Hard Times was under 4" and I recut it to 4 1/4", it plays much better. Efern would not gamble on that table. It was only good for practice and One Pocket

I also just set up a Connley table that I redid the rubber and extended the rails on to tighten up the pockets. They turned out under 4", the owners wife could not make a ball. It was very hard to play on.

I think a good size for top players is 4 1/4" with the angle changed.


Steve
 
Tight Pockets

We have a place in Houston, FlyBoy's, that has triple shimmed Gold Crowns and they will have you waving the white flag , Tightest tables I have ever seen.---Smitty
 
I dunno, I've played on "super shimmed" tables, and it is a challenge, but to practice every day on them would mess my game up totally. My last home table was right from the US open, and was pretty snug. I liked it just a tad tighter than you find at most tournaments, but will still take a ball fired down the rail, and not puke it out in your face!.:)..............Gerry
 
5ballcharlie said:
The 3 and 7/8 inch pocket is super tight. Has anyone seen a tighter pocket than this?
Here are a few pics of my table and the pockets (about 3 7/8). The table mechanic from Good Times Billiards in Van Nuys Cali set mine up. I use to practice there alot, Table 1 at Good Times had pockets a little under 4 inches so I requested the same.

I've had my table for a little over a year, and the tight pockets have been both a blessing and a curse (more of a blessing). It is somewhat discouraging at times when practicing, (very tough for me to run a rack). I also noticed that my style of play changed to more of a finesse game (the table and pockets for my level of play seem to accept the balls better). This style seems to work for me at home, but when I play away this stye doesn't work as well (unless I'm playing where there is simonis and tight pockets).

I have noticed I shoot straighter, and can run more balls when I'm in gear. Overall I love my table and would encourage you or anyone else to try practicing on equiptment with tight pockets. Peace.

Snake
 

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The pool hall that's about 5 minutes walking distance from the place I currently live in have tables with pockets that are 1.5 ball width wide, 1.8, and 2.0. I get freaked out just looking at the 1.5 tables. The place I used to frequent the most in Vancouver had 2.2 pockets. The first place I played at in Taipei had 1.7 pocketes and it was a big adjustment.
 
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Harold Smith said:
We have a place in Houston, FlyBoy's, that has triple shimmed Gold Crowns and they will have you waving the white flag , Tightest tables I have ever seen.---Smitty


Smitty tells no lies. We ran a 1 pocket and 9-ball tournament there a couple of months back and i thought one guy (Charlie Bryant) was gonna go through the roof. THEY ARE TIGHT!
 
yea snake that looks like my table. Really tight huh? I just got it so I will play everyday for 8 plus hours on it and see what it can do for my game. :D
 
5ballcharlie said:
yea snake that looks like my table. Really tight huh? I just got it so I will play everyday for 8 plus hours on it and see what it can do for my game. :D
That's awsome, I wish you the best of luck.
 
Snake said:
Here are a few pics of my table and the pockets (about 3 7/8). The table mechanic from Good Times Billiards in Van Nuys Cali set mine up. I use to practice there alot, Table 1 at Good Times had pockets a little under 4 inches so I requested the same.

I've had my table for a little over a year, and the tight pockets have been both a blessing and a curse (more of a blessing). It is somewhat discouraging at times when practicing, (very tough for me to run a rack). I also noticed that my style of play changed to more of a finesse game (the table and pockets for my level of play seem to accept the balls better). This style seems to work for me at home, but when I play away this stye doesn't work as well (unless I'm playing where there is simonis and tight pockets).

I have noticed I shoot straighter, and can run more balls when I'm in gear. Overall I love my table and would encourage you or anyone else to try practicing on equiptment with tight pockets. Peace.

Snake

Judging by your picture with the tape measure, it looks like 3 5/8", so it is closer to 3 1/2" than 4".

Also, while pocketing accuracy will improve with tighter pockets, I think it takes a lot away from the game if the pockets aren't big enough to be able to cheat them and be able to move whitey around the table instead of just slow rolling everything. You end up just trying to cinch everything, rather than playing position. And that's not pool IMHO. In a tournament played on super tight tables, the win often comes down to who gets to pocket the hanging 9 ball.
 
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Actually, he doesn't have the yard stick all the way to the edge the pocket, it looks almost 1/4" short. I believe that would make the pocket 3 3/4".
 
rackmsuckr said:
Judging by your picture with the tape measure, it looks like 3 5/8", so it is closer to 3 1/2" than 4".

Also, while pocketing accuracy will improve with tighter pockets, I think it takes a lot away from the game if the pockets aren't big enough to be able to cheat them and be able to move whitey around the table instead of just slow rolling everything. You end up just trying to cinch everything, rather than playing position. And that's not pool IMHO. In a tournament played on super tight tables, the win often comes down to who gets to pocket the hanging 9 ball.
I agree with your opinion for my level of play (B level player). There were three games that I lost last week in a race to 8 (at Hollywood Billiards) by leaving the 9 in the jaws of the pocket. Also I do at times have a difficult time moving the cue ball.

However I have noticed when watching A and above level players, they are able to do what they want with the cue ball regardless of the pocket size, I've hit balls with Max Eberle, and watched guys like Ernesto D., Tang H., Morro and others manuever the cue ball around the table with ease (at Hollywood Billiards the pockets are just as tight as my home table).

I'm learning to be more precise and technical with my choice in strokes which allows me to manuever the cue ball. I'm still far away, but long to get better. Have a great day. Peace.

Snake
 
5ballcharlie said:
The 3 and 7/8 inch pocket is super tight. Has anyone seen a tighter pocket than this?


The tightest pocket table that I've ever seen in a pool hall was at Big Daddy's pool hall in Ocala Florida when I was down around there 4 winters ago....it was the second table on the left as you entered - I never measured it, but I'd guess it was around 3 and 7/8 inches. Maybe one of the Florida guys on here knows the table that I'm talking about. Ghost
 
small pockets = too much work

Right now I am not afforded alot of time to shoot pool, I get out maybe once a week tops and play in a local tournament. Shooting on a table with less than 4.25 inch pockets is just too difficult. I'd rather be playing on 4.5 or (laugh all you want but what the hey its the truth) 5 inch pockets.

While I'm at it, I might as well say that shallow shelves and fast cloth is also my gig lol. What can I say, I'm getting old, I need all the help I can get to make them go in the hole.
 
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