Advice on table size and placement in game room

twilight

twilight

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I recently bought a house which was in the process of being built. The foundation was already poured when I bought it and it's currently it's in the early framing stage. The game room is upstairs and since it's in the framing stages I was actually able to ask for extra floor/ceiling joists/trusses (depending on which way you look at it).

I've seen the blueprints and the game room says 21'2" by 12'4". Fortunately I was able to move some walls and get the final dimensions of the room to be 21'2" by 15'0" from interior to interior. I thought to myself GREAT! 9FT table! Unfortunately, while also picking carpet, tile paint, and other options, I never really thought about where they measured the length of the room. I drew a picture of what the game room looks like. The builder measures it from the longest part of the room (top part is 21'2") but there is an odd corner where a bathroom goes that shortens the wall on the lower part of my picture to 18'8".

My two questions are what size of pool table should I buy, and how should I place my table? I know the playable dimensions of a 9 ft are 100"x50" and it would fit, but the space around the table is my main concern. I've seen posts like this before, but since every room is different I'm going to need advice on this one. Websites seem to disagree on how much space is needed around a pool table. While the width of my room is fine, it's the length that's tricky and I can't make any more structural changes.

If I center a 9ft table in the 18'8" space I'll only have 4" of backswing on the right side of the room if a cueball is frozen to the rail, but I won't need to worry about an odd corner where there is a bathroom.

There's over 3 ft to move the a 9ft table a bit more to the left, I won't have to worry about the right side of the room, but I'll need a short cue for the bottom left corner of the room.

Another thought would be an 8 ft centered in the 18'8" space.

I'd love to hear what our thoughts are and if you have any other thoughts on the table placement. THANKS!
 

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Here's a suggestion. The room is a little small for a 9-foot table if you want anything else in it. Figure out for yourself how much room you want by going to a pool hall with a sheet of plywood or corefoam, put the sheet at the same distance that you would have at home and see what it feels like. You may want to do this when the room isn't busy. See if chairs/barstools will fit between the table and wall.

One advantage of an 8-foot in that situation is that it's less intimidating to guests.

Personally, I don't think I'd like using short cues in real games.
 
If it were me, I would def go with an 8 footer. I had similar circustances and had to settle with a 7 ft. Which is what I play on in leagues anyway so it works and is better than no table. I still have 1 shot that I break out the bar cue for unfortunately. But to me, I wanted something I could play with my normal cue (99% of the time). I'm not using a short cue in league, so I def don't want to practice with one.

You'll also have the advantage of being able to but a could bar stools or whatever you may fancy.
 
The guidelines are this...for a 7' table the room should be 13' x 17', for an 8' table 14' x 18', for a 9' 15' x 19'.
 
If you are hoping to develop a high-level game to compete on 9-footers in the future, I'd definitely recommend getting a 9-foot table.

I'd center the table on the width of the room. As to the length, I'd place it slightly left of center on the 18' 8" dimension, to allow yourself 6 or 7 inches of backswing space from the right wall (rather than the 4" if you centered it).

Then you will have absolutely unimpeded space around all but that lower left corner. For that, a 53" - 54" cue will work fine on the few shots that are real close to the cushion.
 
AtLarge said:
If you are hoping to develop a high-level game to compete on 9-footers in the future, I'd definitely recommend getting a 9-foot table.

I'd center the table on the width of the room. As to the length, I'd place it slightly left of center on the 18' 8" dimension, to allow yourself 6 or 7 inches of backswing space from the right wall (rather than the 4" if you centered it).

Then you will have absolutely unimpeded space around all but that lower left corner. For that, a 53" - 54" cue will work fine on the few shots that are real close to the cushion.
Click to expand...

I like this. I couldn't be happy with anything less than a 9' Diamond and if I got anything less I'd always be thinking... "I wish I would have....".
 
Thanks for the input guys I guess I will go to the pool hall and measure it out. I like playing serious pool and usually only play on 9ft. Don't get me wrong, I'll play 7ft and 8ft in tournaments but 95% of my time is on a 9ft. I like the last suggestion about shifting things only slightly off center. The odd corner might not be too bad since I do have over 21 ft in length if I'm frozen to a short rail.
 
If the builders are still there, and the basement is not finished, and you have lolly columns, my suggestion is to truss a carrying beam with steel plates and move a few columns, forget the upstairs and get a 9 footer in the basement.
 
Unless you are a big fan of bar boxes I would go with an 8 footer. Your room is almost the exact same size and layout as my game room in my basement. I have a fireplace that sticks out in one corner of my room and if you happen to have to shoot from that corner it can be a real pain in the ass. I have a special cue that is about 2 inches longer than a jump cue that I have to use. Other than the one corner you should be clear everywhere else. If you try to put a 9 footer in there you will have a few more tight spots to deal with.

If you want shoot me a pm and I can send you a couple picture of my room to help you gauge the space.
 
If the big table doesnt fit, I'd go with a shower curtain instead of a bathroom door. No way I'm going through all that trouble and not getting a 9 footer.
 
the bathroom is what's keeping you from a 9-footer. If you do decide to go with the 9, keep in mind most of the play is at the foot side of the table, so make sure you break towards the window. If it was my room I'd choose the 7. If you play 9-foot tournaments and this is a practice table for drills and non-serious pool, then you might consider the 9.
 
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