About those Chinese 8-ball tables

[straightline]

We have Joy 9ft table in our club. Near rail ball have to be hit perfectly if you use any speed.
If you played snooker on good 12ft table, Chinese Pool table is little more difficult than normal snooker table but distance is little less than snooker.
It really takes a lot of focus to play good on those tables. My record is 4 run outs in row chinese 8-ball.

Edit: Side pockets are easier than snooker and you try play position to side pockets as much as possible. Corners are brutal.

Forgive me but the corners are stupid. They gotta cut them better for rail shots and just make the opening smaller. As it is, the game, and yes the experts are run out stringers, defaults to the typical snooker rope-a-dope. I'd even say the sides are too big. I'd like to see those Italian cave type sides.

 

[realkingcobra]

To my understanding the pockets are supposed to be the same as snooker pockets. I know that they can be as tight as 82mm. As comparison, the 4 1/4 inch pockets on American pool table is 108mm wide

Tournament Snooker tables have 3 1/2" corner pockets measured at the drop off of the slate shelf.

 

[straightline]

Not to cut you off RKC but I have a vision.
I just realized this IO score logo is the perfect depiction of what I'm suggesting.

Sides maybe need work although they do add an element of treachery lol. Anyway, the corners are slammable down the rail but still tougher than pool.

 

[Flakeandrun]

Not to cut you off RKC but I have a vision.
I just realized this IO score logo is the perfect depiction of what I'm suggesting.
View attachment 725726

Sides maybe need work although they do add an element of treachery lol. Anyway, the corners are slammable down the rail but still tougher than pool.

When frozen to the rail you can use the nap direction/spin and essentially beat the living fuck out of it into the corners... everything else is slower than the slowest pool an American will have ever witnessed...

A hybrid table is very Frankenstein... I like it.

 

[Positively Ralf]

one common denominator that does not receive much mention amoungst those who have seen success outside China , i.e. UK pool and Snooker guys.....their familiarity with the Strachan napped cloth

I'm curious to know which Snooker players excelled at Chinese 8 ball. When I was watching Chinese 8 ball when it first came out, Gareth Potts was the dominant force and he's an English/UK 8 ball player. Not to mention there were other English/UK players that made the trek over to play and they did very well.

Now, I have not watched much Chinese 8 ball in close to four years, so have there been snooker players who have been unbeatable forces there? I know Gareth Potts is no longer the face of the game but that's all I know.

 

[straightline]

When frozen to the rail you can use the nap direction/spin and essentially beat the living fuck out of it into the corners... everything else is slower than the slowest pool an American will have ever witnessed...

A hybrid table is very Frankenstein... I like it.

Back in the 70s the only way I could make a pool ball down the rail was to bunt it with outside spin; bobble it into instead out the pocket. Way too confining for pool. Sure like to see the shot you suggest.

 

[garczar]

I'm curious to know which Snooker players excelled at Chinese 8 ball. When I was watching Chinese 8 ball when it first came out, Gareth Potts was the dominant force and he's an English/UK 8 ball player. Not to mention there were other English/UK players that made the trek over to play and they did very well.

Now, I have not watched much Chinese 8 ball in close to four years, so have there been snooker players who have been unbeatable forces there? I know Gareth Potts is no longer the face of the game but that's all I know.

Because of covid the game was shut down since '20. what little i watched was all dominated by the Asian regulars. Potts was about the only anglo that played much. Appleton and Melling have played some. Appleton won the big one yrs back.

 

[Positively Ralf]

Because of covid the game was shut down since '20. what little i watched was all dominated by the Asian regulars. Potts was about the only anglo that played much. Appleton and Melling have played some. Appleton won the big one yrs back.

Yeah you're right. That was when Appleton was on a super run of winning everything iirc.

Makes me wonder if all those top UK 8 ball guys are still around. Remember Mick Hill and how over he was with the 8 ball crowd over there? That guy was a beast.

 

[Flakeandrun]

Do you watch much c-8?

There's some good content on the usual social media sites. There's one player in particular who always blows my mind (can't remember his name of the top of my head though... can send later). Earlier in the year, I played in a 9ball tournament where Fu Jian Bo was also playing. He was giving some demo on a Chinese table after to a few guys... absolutely creaming it into the corners - straight or angled - using both power and the nap/spin to force it in from it's initial contact with the jaw of the pocket.

If you watch any c-8, you will regularly see the shot I described above.

Absolutely does not work for me on a 9-foot diamond with CPBA cloth, that's for sure haha It does work for me on c-8 tables.

 

[straightline]

Do you watch much c-8?

There's some good content on the usual social media sites. There's one player in particular who always blows my mind (can't remember his name of the top of my head though... can send later). Earlier in the year, I played in a 9ball tournament where Fu Jian Bo was also playing. He was giving some demo on a Chinese table after to a few guys... absolutely creaming it into the corners - straight or angled - using both power and the nap/spin to force it in from it's initial contact with the jaw of the pocket.

If you watch any c-8, you will regularly see the shot I described above.

Absolutely does not work for me on a 9-foot diamond with CPBA cloth, that's for sure haha It does work for me on c-8 tables.

G Potts showed a corner shot that was complete precision but not on the rail. I perused some recent hard break heyball and those guys do clearances like it's blackball. More pedantic maybe but out is out.
Your shot reminded me of those Denny Searcy stories and I've only been able to wonder HowTF it's done.

 

[skogstokig]

Yeah you're right. That was when Appleton was on a super run of winning everything iirc.

Makes me wonder if all those top UK 8 ball guys are still around. Remember Mick Hill and how over he was with the 8 ball crowd over there? That guy was a beast.

mick hill still plays and also plays chinese 8b

 

[markjames]

mark selby

 

[markjames]

and these tables are taller
than diamonds or gold crowns

 

[CanadianGuy]

I'm curious to know which Snooker players excelled at Chinese 8 ball. When I was watching Chinese 8 ball when it first came out, Gareth Potts was the dominant force and he's an English/UK 8 ball player. Not to mention there were other English/UK players that made the trek over to play and they did very well.

Now, I have not watched much Chinese 8 ball in close to four years, so have there been snooker players who have been unbeatable forces there? I know Gareth Potts is no longer the face of the game but that's all I know.

Mark Selby would be the best example placing second in the worlds

Ding Junhiu and Stephen Hendry have won a bunch of regional tournaments

 

[skogstokig]

Mark Selby would be the best example placing second in the worlds

Ding Junhiu and Stephen Hendry have won a bunch of regional tournaments

selby doesn't count , he's a former english 8-ball champion

 

[Raceto9]

Do you guys know if one can play with snooker balls on a JOY table? I've read this thread but still can't figure out if the rails are too high?

 

[Mensabum]

Ah, those crafty Chinese. Maybe they have a little electric "felt mower" to smooth it out.

I wanna be a Greensman for the Chinese!!

 

[Mensabum]

Wow!! That's freakin' snug folks. At one of the rooms here in Tulsa they have a GC4 w/ 3&7/8" pockets that is plenty tight. Those Ch.8b tables are REALLY tight.

We have some 4" GCs in our hall and you can't cheat them for sh#t!!
Gotta stroke em smooth and they still jaw you sometimes.

 

[Kim Bye]

The pool hall I used to play at had a few Chinese 8 ball tables and a few blackball tables. The interest in these died out within a week. From a pool halls perspective having all these local varieties that needs a special table is a nightmare. These new formats offer nothing new and they don't have the broad appeal of a regular pool table where you can play a number of different games. Blackball comes from tiny British pubs not having room for bigger tables, I suspect it's much the same with Chinese 8 ball, you can have a "mini snooker table" at home.

 

[DeadStick]

What does "shaved felt" mean?

Well, back in the 70s, women used to go au naturale. Then sometime around the early 90s, they started to




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