Best 7’ table other than Diamond!

iusedtoberich said:
I played on a Predator barbox at last year's Expo for about 20 minutes. It played perfect to me, including the pockets. The only thing I didn't like was the "tink" sound the balls made when hitting the pocket.

You guys are forgetting that most players, even serious players, can't run a rack on a Valley. Easy pockets are ok imo. (And the Predator pockets are nowhere as easy as a stock Valley). Super tough pockets like on a 9' Diamond take the fun out of the game. Medium tough pockets like on a 7' Diamond (shorter shelf than the 9' with the same pocket cut) is about the max difficulty tables should be for 99% of the players, imo.
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The tables were much different this year. They were still predator apex tables, but they were setup completely different than the prior year.

They all had Predators “league cut” pockets on them which is a different pocket width (4.75”) and I believe the angle of the facings is different as well. But the biggest change was there was no shelf to the pockets. If you drew a line between the two points of the corner pocket, the curved cut of the slate would end almost at that line. The only place you could hang a ball was near the facings as that had the most shelf space due to the curve of the slate cut.
 
Scrunge19 said:
The tables were much different this year. They were still predator apex tables, but they were setup completely different than the prior year.
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Ball returns had issues on some of the ones I played on this year. Did you experience this?
 
iusedtoberich said:
I played on a Predator barbox at last year's Expo for about 20 minutes. It played perfect to me, including the pockets. The only thing I didn't like was the "tink" sound the balls made when hitting the pocket.

You guys are forgetting that most players, even serious players, can't run a rack on a Valley. Easy pockets are ok imo. (And the Predator pockets are nowhere as easy as a stock Valley). Super tough pockets like on a 9' Diamond take the fun out of the game. Medium tough pockets like on a 7' Diamond (shorter shelf than the 9' with the same pocket cut) is about the max difficulty tables should be for 99% of the players, imo.
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I find the 7 foot Diamond's 4.5 inch pockets to be perfect for recreational play

The giant Valley corner pockets feel too big for even semi serious players IMO.
 
JPB2 said:
Ball returns had issues on some of the ones I played on this year. Did you experience this?
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Yep, I had to take the ball return window off on the very first night they opened the tables up for practice. The cue ball or other random balls kept getting stuck instead of rolling through. I showed a couple of refs where the keys were and by the next day they took the doors off of all of the tables in the venue.

The only time they put the ball return doors back on was when the ceo of Predator arrived and they had to keep up appearances for him as opposed to showing how people actually had to use their tables. Classic.
 
iusedtoberich said:
I played on a Predator barbox at last year's Expo for about 20 minutes. It played perfect to me, including the pockets. The only thing I didn't like was the "tink" sound the balls made when hitting the pocket.

You guys are forgetting that most players, even serious players, can't run a rack on a Valley. Easy pockets are ok imo. (And the Predator pockets are nowhere as easy as a stock Valley). Super tough pockets like on a 9' Diamond take the fun out of the game. Medium tough pockets like on a 7' Diamond (shorter shelf than the 9' with the same pocket cut) is about the max difficulty tables should be for 99% of the players, imo.
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What???? If you cant run racks on a Valley you are probably not a "serious player".
 
Lowell said:
The Fargo 560s I've seen B&R on Valleys maybe once every 10 to 15 racks.

That is not pro level, but definitely serious.
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so much of it comes down to the break- if there is a lot of congestion, it is obviously much harder to run out
 
garczar said:
they aren't still made are they? thought they quit making tables yrs ago.
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I know the owner of Rebco. He lives in Fresno and his warehouse is still here. It is filled with collectible pool tables that includes some 6 leg tables. Bob had brain surgery a year ago and his health status has been precarious but he is still with us thankfully. Bob is a character that stands tall in pool lore, right along with Dan Dadian who brought professional pool players that were his friends to play in Fresno. Rebco tables are very good tables but not equivalent to Rasson, Diamond or Brunswick 7’ tables. I am surprised no one mentioned 7’ Brunswick tables. I played on one last summer over a weekend and the table quality was amazing. And price competitive with Diamond tables too so I’d go with a 7’ Brunswick pool table with 4.5” pockets and Simonis cloth. The pocket size is what Diamond tables and most tournaments use.
 

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bradsh98 said:
In my professional opinion:
Kasson are particle board garbage. Though, I have heard that the company built some decent ones... However, in all of the years that I've been in this business, I have not seen a single Kasson that was worth more than a few BTU's.

Connelly made some very nice tables. They also made some cheaper tables... Know the difference, before making a purchase.

I've worked on a few Cannon tables. They seem to be essentially (if not exactly) the same as a Berringer table, which is a cheap Asian import. Nothing particularly great about them, other than the cost.


Check out the Olhausen Tournament Pro. It's a fantastic table. Very well built. I love the way that they play. We have one in our shop.
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Dealer here. Kasson, Connelly, and Cannon are solid picks at that price point. All three play true and hold up well, though Kasson's got the tightest tolerances if you're playing serious matches. Connelly's a step down in consistency but way more forgiving for casual play. Cannon's the value play between them.

One thing to nail down before you buy: your room's lighting setup. A 7-footer needs the right overhead fixture height and brightness to avoid shadows on the cloth, which kills playability fast. Fuller guide here on pool table light height if you haven't sorted that yet. Get that right and your table investment actually pays off.

What's your play style, and are you going new or used?
 
Cleveland_Rocks said:
There is no good 7 foot table. The only real tables are 9, 10, or 1
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Poor position to take if you live in the USA, its becoming more difficult to find 9' tables to play on every year. I guess you either learn to accept barboxes or quit playing pool. Even though I have a GC at home I choose to play on barboxes because i want to compete.
 
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