Are More Players Going To The ar Box?

Here in the Midwest

Most rooms have bar tables, and when I say Bar tables, I mean the oversized 7 footer. The room I go to has 20 Bar tables, 3 GC's, and a Snooker table. The Gold Crowns get plenty of 1 pocket action, and 9 ball sometimes, but most of the action is on the Bar tables. All 5 of the weekend tournaments are on the Bar tables with 200% payback.

Only experienced players play on the 9 footers, the rest of the people prefer the Bar tables. It is easier to learn Pool on a Bar table than a big table, and beginners can learn to make more shots than they would on a big table.

The room I go to though does have $500 Challenge matches every Saturday night on a big table.
 
rrich1 said:
8ft diamonds here. only the smaller "hick" bars have 7fters.
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Thats like the whole midwest of the United States.....

Everyone plays on 7 foot tables...... there are some 9 footers, but very few big table players compared to the barboxes.

I honestly cannot stand barbox play, its not that I could not get there and compete at the level I know I can play at, its just that it will take lots of time to get to a point where you actually stand out as better than others on a barbox, because so many people can run out on them.

I am still deciding if I want to dedicate the time to compete at higher levels on them. My time is not as free as it once was, and pool is one of the last things on my list of things I can do, although in my mind it is a great desire.

I hate not having the time to improve and reach my potential......

Playing in a tournament once or twice a week is not the type of practice needed to bring my game to the level it could be at and once was at, but thats all the time I get....... :(

So those of you who know me, enjoy beating on me while you can.......
 
It's very nice to be in a backwoods state like Maine, and almost all the places I've ever been in having 9-foot tables... I live in the second biggest city in the state, and I have to drive 30 miles to find a 7 footer (they have 2 in this place), yet I can go to four different places within a 10 mile radius and play on 9-footers.

The better rooms in the area are 30 miles (in a different direction) and 45 miles, and they have 9's as well.

And guess what? Almost all of the evil APA matches here in the state are played on 9's, too. :p:eek::D:rolleyes::o

It's very strange for me to play on a 7-footer. Very strange.
 
ReignOfDarkness said:
First you tell me to **** off, and now you are stating the same problem I tried to explain a month ago. I haven't though about AZB for weeks, but then I accidentally stumbled upon this. I have much better things to do right now but here's my final piece of advice.

You can't play on BBs cause you don't understand the principles of play in that game. They are the future of pool, like I alredy said, even if some of you don't like it. The reason you get your asses kicked by stupid bangers is that you just don't know the elements of play the bangers have mastered.

I hate to mention my and my friends' guide again, but there you can find the basics of play on a 7'. The rules are also much closer to what you'll encounter as they're a variant of bar rules. Maybe you should put some of that to use next time you play a match on a 7'.

This message will most likely be auto-erased in a matter of hours. Good luck to you fellow players.
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Sorry, bub, but it's not like there's some kind of huge secret to barbox play. It's more aggressive and table management is at a premium, both because it leans towards a run-out style. It isn't that Joe Drunk at the bar is a better player or that his style of play is 'unbeatable' as you like to suggest.. it's that the few big table players that lose more often just don't 'get it'. They're not as accustomed to forcing the CB around, but they'll shoot your nuts off. Chances are, if they can't play that game on a barbox, they probably don't play a good overall game on the big table. You're overthinking it way, way too much. I consider myself more of a bar player, because that's been a heavy majority of my play time.
 
They have two Diamond BB from teh SBE in my home room. Dont mind playing on them at all. With 4.25 pockets its almost like playing on the 9 foot when it comes to well hit shots.

Personaly I like both and don't care either way. As long as the equipment and format is a good one we could play on anything :thumbup:

If I owned a room I would have a decent amount of both and a 5 x 10 snooker table. Then again if i owed a room there would be 16 BB and 18 9 footers :grinning-moose:
 
Banks said:
Sorry, bub, but it's not like there's some kind of huge secret to barbox play. It's more aggressive and table management is at a premium, both because it leans towards a run-out style. It isn't that Joe Drunk at the bar is a better player or that his style of play is 'unbeatable' as you like to suggest.. it's that the few big table players that lose more often just don't 'get it'. They're not as accustomed to forcing the CB around, but they'll shoot your nuts off. Chances are, if they can't play that game on a barbox, they probably don't play a good overall game on the big table. You're overthinking it way, way too much. I consider myself more of a bar player, because that's been a heavy majority of my play time.
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Banks,

Remember the first time I played on a bar box about twenty years ago. Big local tournament. Once entered, became a "prohibitive" favorite. Went for twice the next player in the auction. Immediately went two and out. Tried to play "perfect" position. On a BB, that's not the way to go. Learned a lot over the following years. Although I consider myself a "big table player", have great respect for the real giants of the BB. It really is a different world. Not better. Not worse. Just different.

Lyn
 
RunoutJJ said:
They have two Diamond BB from teh SBE in my home room. Dont mind playing on them at all. With 4.25 pockets its almost like playing on the 9 foot when it comes to well hit shots.

Personaly I like both and don't care either way. As long as the equipment and format is a good one we could play on anything :thumbup:
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JJ,

Are you playing over in Endicott? If so, was at the Diamond booth when the owner finished the deal for the tables. You lucky devil.

Only one in Rochester. A Smart table. Owner asking $1.50 per rack. Love to play on them but not at $15 per hour. Beer and wine stains make it difficult to see what color the cloth really is :p. Nine foot Diamonds at the pool room are $10 per DAY!!!!!

Lyn
 
Snapshot9 said:
Most rooms have bar tables, and when I say Bar tables, I mean the oversized 7 footer. The room I go to has 20 Bar tables, 3 GC's, and a Snooker table. The Gold Crowns get plenty of 1 pocket action, and 9 ball sometimes, but most of the action is on the Bar tables. All 5 of the weekend tournaments are on the Bar tables with 200% payback.

Only experienced players play on the 9 footers, the rest of the people prefer the Bar tables. It is easier to learn Pool on a Bar table than a big table, and beginners can learn to make more shots than they would on a big table.

The room I go to though does have $500 Challenge matches every Saturday night on a big table.
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Snashot, maybe it's a geographic thing? I live in Southern California and I only know of one pool room where the BB's outnumber the 9 footers (6 to 4). There's a sports bar near me that has 4 or 5 BB's and no big tables. They run leagues out of there but it is in no way a pool hall but rather a bar. And in the pool halls out here pretty much the opposite is true as far as the action goes - no one is on the bar boxes compared to the use the big tables get.

I'm not surprised all the tournaments at your room are on the 7 footers; that's what they have the plenty of. It would be kind of hard to attract much of a field to a big table event when there is only 3 tables available. But I guess the small boxes is what people want in your area so that is why they are there.
 
One reason so many 9' players hate bar boxes is because a big % of the BB's in bars are not kept in good shape. If you play 10-ball on a well kept tight pocket Diamond (4.25" Pockets) it will give most players all they can handle. Even the 7' Valleys can be made to play much harder by tighting all the corner bolts, tighten pockets to 4", good cloth and good rails like Ridgebacks. The few good players that have played on mine loved it and one guy went out and bought a used Valley and set his up the same way.

Just like a good poolroom doesn't have all their 9' tables tightened, neither should all the 7' tables in a good room. The average player of today is much better than the average player of 15 years ago. Todays players need to be able to play on well kept tight 7' tables when they want more of a challenge. If more players refused to play on unkept tables you would see how fast they got fixed or the joint would go under. Johnnyt

PS:I don't pretend to be a table mechanic. It's just that i've played on bb's for over 50 years and have set up and fixed 100's of them. They (Valley's) are very easy to work on and can be made to play very well for a few hundred in parts and a few hours of your time.
 
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cardiac kid said:
Banks,

Remember the first time I played on a bar box about twenty years ago. Big local tournament. Once entered, became a "prohibitive" favorite. Went for twice the next player in the auction. Immediately went two and out. Tried to play "perfect" position. On a BB, that's not the way to go. Learned a lot over the following years. Although I consider myself a "big table player", have great respect for the real giants of the BB. It really is a different world. Not better. Not worse. Just different.

Lyn
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Sounds like my experiences on the big table.. except for the tournament stuff, that is! In general, open position is much more conducive to good play than 'perfect' position for me. Due to the higher likelihood of a messy table, sometimes you do need to play that 'perfect' position once in a while. I completely agree with that last part.. not better, not worse.. just different.

As I've said, I'm coming up on 8 years since joining an APA team and starting my play.. but it can be pretty obvious when somebody hasn't played on one or the other - big table players not being aggressive and avoiding spin and vice versa for barbox players. There are some that manage well on both, but from what I've seen from average players it tends to lean one way or the other. Who was it that said something to the affect of.. "Control that white c********* right there and you win."
 
The game

"Controlling the Cue Ball is 70% of the game" - Jimmy Caras, 3 time world champion said to me in 1962. I took it to heart.
 
cardiac kid said:
JJ,

Are you playing over in Endicott? If so, was at the Diamond booth when the owner finished the deal for the tables. You lucky devil.

Only one in Rochester. A Smart table. Owner asking $1.50 per rack. Love to play on them but not at $15 per hour. Beer and wine stains make it difficult to see what color the cloth really is :p. Nine foot Diamonds at the pool room are $10 per DAY!!!!!

Lyn
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Sure am!! My home room is Guys and Dolls in Endicott with a double shimmed GC3 (4.25 in the corners) and two beautiful Diamond BB's in the back ;) "What's that?? You will only gamble on BB?? No problem!!" :p
 
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