Bar table pool vs. big table pool

Thank you all for your inputs. I am struggling even more now. So what is the elephant in the room that makes 7 footers so much different ?
cause its just different, play more to get the feel
there is no formula the geek sqaud can tell you that will instantly make you get it
have to put the time in and get the feel, see what the better players do and try to make it work for you,
 
I don’t know.. wearing glasses to play I just can’t play 9 foot without looking over the brim. I can say I feel rarely on a 7 foot table do I have to get my stroke out but on a 9 foot you have to open it up almost every rack.
8 ball felt more suited to 7 foot tables. More clusters small areas to get into
rotation was more challenging on a 9 foot Because as I said you really have to open the stroke up more. you can’t just finesse the balls around all day with a little spin.

The tables I really hate are 8 footers.. get that shit out of here lol
 
Interesting. So the Valley tables in your area use the oversized cue ball?
No, haven't seen an oversized ball in probably a decade. Most bars have Valley tables still, but get the aramith balls with the mesh in them. They're actually a tiny bit lighter than most balls. A lot of people carry their own cue balls. (Usually the red circle ball)
 
if the balls are the same
then the geometry is not the same
the way the balls behave when they interact with each other is HIGHLY dependent on the condition of the equipment.

Using an extreme example to better illustrate my point: A freshly covered bar table with polished balls played inside an air conditioned bar in Tucson is going to play a hell of a lot different than the exact size and model table, dirty cloth and balls, in an outside bar in Charleston in August.

Same size tables. Same balls. Completely different game.

Aiming lines don’t change regardless of table size. Geometry is math. Math is math. Friction is the enemy.

A sliding cloth and clean balls is far more forgiving with unintentional english than grabby cloth and balls.
 
the math and geometry arguments
haven’t changed my eye’s aiming

if the balls are the same size-
2.25 inches in diameter-
on both a seven foot and a nine foot table
then my shooting is different
 
The metal flake and oversized balls have become extremely rare, at least around here.
Unfortunately, I can’t say the same. How the metal flake Universal B is still even available to buy is crazy. Yet they’re all over the place around here. We’re some 40 years when the cage insert came out, which was way better than the oversized and metal flake. We’re 20 years since the Green Aramith was introduced and I guess 10- 15 years since the Purple Aramith.
 
Last edited:
Unfortunately, I can’t say the same. How the metal flake Universal B is still even available to buy is crazy. Yet there all over the place around here. We’re some 40 years when the cage insert came out, which was way better than the oversized and metal flake. We’re 20 years since the Green Aramith was introduced and I guess 10- 15 years since the Purple Aramith.
what is a metal flake?
 
Ok, I had a disagreement in the TAR chat about this. Jeanette Lee was playing Larry Price and the announcers were constantly talking about how Jeanette wasn't a bar table player and if only she had some bar table experience and on and on.

I said that it's all the same. I said it's all about controlling the cueball and nothing else.

I say this as a player who has played bar tables and big tables for 30 years now.

I just don't see the difference at the higher level and I have had this discussion with people like Buddy Hall and David Matlock while driving down the road with both of them. Matlock told me that it's easier to play big tables because balls don't cluster up as much but other than that there is no difference with a normal cue ball. He did say that the game is different on the bar table with a big cue ball.

Buddy said a good player should be able to play his best on either table.

So what do you all think - tell me what the real concrete difference is from bar tables to big tables.
Pool is pool no matter what table you’re playing on. Only difference is you’ll have longer snots on a longer table. It’s all about controlling the cueball.
 
Interesting. So the Valley tables in your area use the oversized cue ball? Or you don't have any Valley tables?
I dont remember the last time I saw the over size cue ball on a valley.. it’s been decades
 
Pool is pool no matter what table you’re playing on. Only difference is you’ll have longer snots on a longer table. It’s all about controlling the cueball.
sure pool is pool but the level of difficulty changes. a par 3 golf course is still a golf course.. but it’s not the same as playing on a full course with par 5’s and 4s.
 
um. no. a 22.5 degree shot into a 4.5 in pocket cares nothing about how far away the shot is.
There are differences the player has to have resolved. The ball control is surface area dependent for instance and therefore object ball line is subjected to greater CIT and SIT priorities. I'd venture that more likely than not, even the all around players will not have worked out these details.
 
Interesting. So the Valley tables in your area use the oversized cue ball? Or you don't have any Valley tables?
I assume you missed the word “don’t.”

Many places who use Valleys today use.

Cage/Spring/Plug Aramith
Green Aramith
Purple Aramath

None of these are the oversized or metal flake cueballs, and none of the are overweight. They all work off of the magnet system.
 
Pool is pool no matter what table you’re playing on. Only difference is you’ll have longer snots on a longer table. It’s all about controlling the cueball.
The longer shots come with some added variables though, don’t they?
 
Back
Top