They don't have to be 4.5, but there is a lot of wiggle room between 4 1/8th and 4.5 as someone who donates to the one pocket div, I would rather play a little looser than 4 1/8th
I donate to the 9 ball division, so a little something in common there.
As far as I know, most of the stronger one hole players would rather play on a tight(er) table. A few strong players have been over to my house on several occasions to play rotation, but since the pockets play tight, they usually end up saying….”This is a good one pocket table.”
My table is a 2000 model Diamond Professional with the red label. Just the old school oak that most of us have played on. I’m pretty sure the pockets are 4.5” at the front of the pocket, but the way they’re cut, probably no more than 4.25”in the back where balls can hang just deep enough without dropping that you can’t clip the ball in coming offs the rail the next shot, you’d have to hit ball first.
I could tell you how long my Simonis 860 has been on there, but nobody would probably believe me. They’d say that I need to get it recovered. But it’s in really good shape and plays about medium speed, not slow and not fast like new tournament cloth. To me, it plays perfect and that’s the same scenario we find on most pool hall tables to begin with. It definitely makes you have to hit the balls good if you fire anything in. If I want to speed the table up, I usually just vacuum it real good and it’s noticeable that it’s playing a little faster for a week or two perhaps.
Good luck in the one hole at Derby. I can’t wait to get there tomorrow, it’s practically the only tournament I go to and without my wife knowing I typed these words….it’s my favorite week of the year.
