Ball uniformity in the pool room.

[pocket]

Ever consider bringing your own set?

At our local pool hall, there is a 9' table (with a ball return) that will 'eat' the random pool ball. Wouldn't be happy if that were one of my centennials or duramiths.

I play in a bar tourney every now and again. Went in one week and someone had stolen both ten balls (who steals a ten ball?). On both tables, the owner had taken a couple extra 11 balls and crossed out the 11 with a sharpie and wrote 10 on it. Quite entertaining.

 

[hang-the-9]

At our local pool hall, there is a 9' table (with a ball return) that will 'eat' the random pool ball. Wouldn't be happy if that were one of my centennials or duramiths.

I play in a bar tourney every now and again. Went in one week and someone had stolen both ten balls (who steals a ten ball?). On both tables, the owner had taken a couple extra 11 balls and crossed out the 11 with a sharpie and wrote 10 on it. Quite entertaining.

To find the eaten balls, just look at the ball return track, they often hop off and are stuck between the track and the table.

 

[fastone371]

That is why I stay home and play with myself...why would I leave my house to pay money to play on inferior tables with worse balls and crappy racks and chalk that shoulda been thrown away long ago while I listen to awful music and pay too much for a drink or 9?

And then I have to fade all you humans too?

Brutal.

I could not agree with you more!! I even have a set of Aramith Tournaments and Centennials so I always have a nice clean set to use. The pool hall in Milw. has a bunch of GCs and I think they have Aramiths and Centennials that they rotate, playing on the same table I have had each kind of balls numerous times. They keep them in good condition too, they must have a polisher. Theres another pool hall in Oshkosh where they have Diamonds, the balls are Aramiths but I expected them to be nicer, I guess they must not have a polisher. A bar that I play week nite tournaments at the balls are so old and worn that they look like they were sanded with 80 grit sandpaper, its the first time I have seen balls that bad, cant tell if they are 1 set but I know how to rack them to get a semi decent rack.

 

[pocket]

To find the eaten balls, just look at the ball return track, they often hop off and are stuck between the track and the table.

First time it happened the clerk told it it happened all the time, asked which ball it ate and gave us a replacement.

I check the table and it looked 'sealed' if you will. No access to the ball return track without removing a panel somewhere.

 

[dr_dave]

How common is it to get your set of balls and have there be 3 different sizes in there? It makes racking a challenge sometimes. Is this something that happens at every pool hall or is it more of a low-rent thing?

The differences can be huge in bar boxes. A couple of years ago, I carefully measured and weighed a large collection of balls in all of the bar boxes at a local pool hall. For those curious, the results and ramifications are described in the following BD articles:

"Ball Weight and Size Difference Effects – Part I" (BD, February, 2012).
"Ball Weight and Size Difference Effects – Part II" (BD, March, 2012).

Enjoy,
Dave