Buying a pool table, what do you recommend?

poolplayingtips

poolplayingtips

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My wife and I are moving into our new home in the next few weeks.

I want to surprise her with a beautiful 4.5 x 9 foot table.

Price range about $3,000.00 to $6,000.00

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If you own or work for a company that sells tables within that price range or dimensions, please reply.
 
poolplayingtips said:
My wife and I are moving into our new home in the next few weeks.

I want to surprise her with a beautiful 4.5 x 9 foot table.

Price range about $3,000.00 to $6,000.00

---

If you own or work for a company that sells tables within that price range or dimensions, please reply.
Click to expand...

GOLD CROWNS 4 .new played on nothing better..
Ps love the info u sent me ... :eek:
 
Brunswick Gold Crown IV.
Diamond Professional.
Olhausen Champion Pro.

you cant go wrong with any of those, they should all cost less than $6,000. perhaps the GCIV might be a little more. pay close attention to the cloth, the balls dont roll on the table, they roll on the cloth.

DCP
 
poolplayingtips said:
My wife and I are moving into our new home in the next few weeks.

I want to surprise her with a beautiful 4.5 x 9 foot table.
Click to expand...


Yeah...if she's not a pool player herself, she'll be nice and surprised. :eek: :eek: :mad: :mad:
 
I recommend an Olhausen or a Diamond Pro. If you are looking for cosmetics, playability and durability I would lean towards Olhausen. They offer a wide variety of finish's and exotic wood species to custom make your table to make it unique. One that comes to mind is the Waterfall. I've played on this table and it plays just as good as the Champion Pro. In fact I may like the playability of the Waterfall and the Monarch more than a Champ Pro or a Diamond. I would do your homework if your looking into a GCIV. They arent made like the old GCI's and II's. The GCIV is an imported table with inferior rail cushions that will tend to harden over time. Diamond offers the Artemis cushions that have proven to be efficient and last. Olhausen comes standard with Accufast probably the longest lasting cushion on the market today. Olhausen backs there rail cushions with a lifetime warranty that will ensure you a lifetime of play without the hassle of replacing the rail cushions. Here are a couple of my favorites. Keep in mind you can do many finishs. Eastern Red Leaf maple, Northern Red Oak, Pennsylvania Cherry are all available for the rail, apron and legs. Bubinga, Jatoba, Walnut, Curly Maple, Birdseye Maple and many more are available for the rails. We have a Remington with natural B'seye rails, ebony diamond sights and black graphite finish on the body for a contrast. Its our best seller.If you want to see a certain table let me know. I have a kiosk that i can punch in any type of wood and finish, pocket, cloth you want.
Good luck

http://olhausenbilliards.com/images/poollarge/28.jpg
http://olhausenbilliards.com/images/poollarge/29.jpg
http://olhausenbilliards.com/images/poollarge/10.jpg
 
I have a Brunswick Gibson and couldn't be happier, I get plenty of compliments on the looks too. I got it before the WPBA started using it on its televised events too.
 
Diamond Pro or Gold Crown 4...

I had no idea Olhausons were popular here. Imho, Diamonds and Gold Crowns are by far the better commercial tables.

-Roger
 
poolplayingtips said:
My wife and I are moving into our new home in the next few weeks.

I want to surprise her with a beautiful 4.5 x 9 foot table.

Price range about $3,000.00 to $6,000.00

---

If you own or work for a company that sells tables within that price range or dimensions, please reply.
Click to expand...

I don't work for a pool table manufacturer. But, I have owned a 4 1/2 by 9 Gandy Big G for the last 12 years and I like the table very much. I have Simonis 860 and Brunswick Centennial balls. I have heard the arguments against the Gandy Big G and the only one I agree with is that the pockets are a little wider than those found on the Gold Crown. I get around that by using pocket tighteners when I practice. I remove them when the kids have their friends over or when I am playing against friends who aren't pool players. On the other hand, a table with tight pockets will always have tight pockets. There isn't anything around that you can use to temporarily open them up a little. I bought the table in 1993 right after the US Open. Barry was selling the US Open Gold Crowns for $3600.00. They were new with just the tournament matches having been played on them. I chose the Gandy because it is an older one from the late 60's that was in excellent condition and cost me $2000.00. I didn't then, and still don't see where a Gold Crown is $1600.00 better than a Gandy Big G. Especially one of the older ones. The Diamond tables are very nice but I can't understand why they are worth $5000.00 and over. Same with the Gold Crown. On a side note...and not that this matters much, but Willie Mosconi could have any pool table on earth in his home but he had a Gandy in his basement. Also, the Johnston City tournaments in the mid to late 60's were played on Gandy Big G's. They probably had shimmed pockets though. Just my opinion and good luck. I'm sure you'll enjoy whichever table you end up with.
 
I heard that Gandy went out of business. The place I shoot at had 10 Gandys and they are replacing them slowly with GC's, since the company closed and replacement parts are gone with it.

Imo, the last batch of big G's (their commercial model) are inferior to any GC's, even the III's (I'm sure the ones from the 60's play awesome, that's true of old GC's as well). I play on them side by side in my local room and there is no comparison. If I had a budget of 6 grand to spend on a new table I wouldn't consider anything but GC, Diamond, and possibly Gabriels.

-Roger
 
buddha162 said:
I heard that Gandy went out of business. The place I shoot at had 10 Gandys and they are replacing them slowly with GC's, since the company closed and replacement parts are gone with it.

Imo, the last batch of big G's (their commercial model) are inferior to any GC's, even the III's (I'm sure the ones from the 60's play awesome, that's true of old GC's as well). I play on them side by side in my local room and there is no comparison. If I had a budget of 6 grand to spend on a new table I wouldn't consider anything but GC, Diamond, and possibly Gabriels.

-Roger
Click to expand...
Roger,
You are absolutely correct in all of your comments above. Gandy has gone out of business and the newer tables are definitely not of the same quality as the older ones. I should have specified that in my original post. I play in one of the local pool rooms that has newer Gandys and something is always falling off or breaking somewhere. I guess what I was suggesting is that if it were me, and I had $6000.00 to drop on a pool table, I would buy a good quality used commercial table for less than $3000.00 and spend the other $3000.00 on a high end cue...or two...and I know you can get an older Gandy Big G in good to excellent condition (try to find one that's been on someone's house - not in a pool room) for less than $3K...sometimes a lot less. I play in another pool room that has Gold Crown III's but the corner pockets are angled in such a way that they sometimes have the tendancy to "spit" the balls out rather than accept them even on a clean hit (you know - sometimes you just have to hit a little harder to get position on your next shot). But I have to admit, the solid heavy wood work on those Diamonds is awfully nice. Barry has switched to Diamonds at the US Open and they are really nice...but oh soooo tight...
John
 
buddha162 said:
Diamond Pro or Gold Crown 4...

I had no idea Olhausons were popular here. Imho, Diamonds and Gold Crowns are by far the better commercial tables.

-Roger
Click to expand...

What in your opinion makes a GC better than an Olhausen Champ Pro?
just curious.....
 
Whilst a GC is a nice table, it's less suited for a home IMHO because it may not fit into the decor of the room. A pool table is a piece of furniture, so you need to approach it as such...like a 5'x10' table. The fundamentals of a table from each manufacturer is the same within the brand (I don't have a problem with no ball return system for a home table).

I bought a Brunswich Ashbee table not too long ago. The main issue was the inlays were more attractive than a plain table and the color of the stained mahogony. I didn't need a ball return system, because playing at home, walking around the table to get the balls is not a problem. I wanted something warm to go with a warm decor with floral patterned furniture in the room (sofa, some elegant bar stools and table, tapestry, etc.). Some of the Olhausens would have worked too, but I didn't really look into them. I'm less concerned about resale values or anything like that than whether or not it fits into the room you are putting it into. I don't plan on reselling the table, and when it comes time to sell the table (due to my death) I really don't think a few thousand is going to matter much in the grand scheme of things.

If you truly are buying for your wife, consider what her tastes in furniture and decor are, and the room tha it is going into. The last thing you want to hear is "that table clashes..."
 
If I were re-buying a table and had your budget I would buy a OLD antique Brunswick. Get something pre-1940's, they are both collectable and they were built so much more solid back then it is not even funny. Plus you have a table then that will never lose it's value and instead may go up in value instead for ya.

I have a Gold Crown 3 atm, nice table. If I had $6000 to spend on a table there is no way I would get a Gold Crown though, I would get some very old Brunswick.
 
Fred, That is a great looking table. The Montebello is one of the few well made brunswick tables IMO. The downside to this table is that the finish and wood selection is limited. For the same price or less you could have a unique or 1 of a kind Olhausen or Connelly.
http://olhausenbilliards.com/images/poollarge/4.jpg How about this table in a solid Birdseye Maple? How many tables have you seen made of solid B'seye maple? or curly maple if you want to keep the bucks down...
 
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