Buying my first Billiard Table

R

retiredguy

New member
Hi new to the forums and need some advice. looking at purchasing my first billiard table and doing a lot of research. This table will be for my home and I am a relative novice to the game. I am planning on spending between 2 and $3000 and am looking for a table that will be durable and well made. I have tried to find information that would rate tables but have not been successful yet. I have been told by local dealers that all tables are about the same. What makes one more expensive then another is the wood construction of the table. Locally I am looking at Olhausen, Leagcy, Claymore and Beringer. Costco sells Brunswick but not sure if I would deal with them vs local dealer. I would appreciate all comments or a link to information that would help me decide on which table is the best for me. Presently the legacy is about $400 cheaper then the Olhausen. i have yet to check out the others. Thanks in advance for the help.
 
If you are looking fora 9 footer, you cant go wrong with a well cared for, used Brunswick Gold Crown. They are built to last forever and are the standard as far as playability goes. You should be able to pick up a nice used one for $1,500.
 
Seek the best table mechanic in your area. Talk to them about pre-owned tables or what they suggest as far as recommending a quality table. Regardless of how you have to spend you can get a good table. Take your time and buy it right the first time. A good table will last a long time. All tables are not the same. Some dealers are hucksters and some are sincerely knowledgeable.
 
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On many websites, they will show you why one way of doing things is better than others and they just so happen to do it the correct way (for example the debate over plywood or metal versus wood bracket). I will do my best to give you the most comprehensive and unbiased opinion that you can find. I have installed thousands of pool tables and built a few, so I feel that I qualify to give my opinion.

1. First you should determine the size of the pool table that you want. See Room Size Requirements.
2. There are two things that could qualify as the second step that you should take.
 
Five years ago I retired to my new home. It had a huge basement but I bought a 8 foot Legacy, new. Three years later I bought a mint condition Gold Crown IV with new 860 cloth. It was the first time the table had been recovered. It was that nice.

I found mine through a mechanic who had done installs on two tables in the neighborhood.

Don't make the mistake I did. The costs run from under a 1,000 for a beater to about 2,500 for a primo mint table.

Real nice Diamonds can be had after a tournament. I'm an old geezer so I wanted a GC, it's the classic for those of us of a certain age.
 
another idea, is to contact the owners of the pool halls in the area, lots of room owners i know have 9 foot brunswick gold crowns in storage (these tables will outlive me), and they are surprisingly cheap....prob about 1500 for a gold crown 2, or 2k for a gold crown 3.
 
Btw, you might want to specify, (in case I missed it)........do you want a TRUE billiards table? As in 3-cushion billiards, with no pockets?

Or do you want a pool/pocket billiards table?
 
billiards tables

You first need to determine the specifications and size of the table which will fit it into your room. That is the first point to be focused on buying the table.
You can go for Minnesota, FatCat, Brunswick or the Viper billiards table.
Check for the online billiard stores. You will find the specifications and the ranges on the site.



billiard balls
 
Hi you can choose the Olhausen Billiards table itself.Because olhausen family have been working from 1930's in this billiards business.

For any Service problem in table their on-site technician will solve the product problem quickly and professionally.So you can contact them on :858-277-0450

Olhausen Game room products
 
For anybody who might be asking the same question in the future....

I just returned an Olhausen Signature Series yesterday and ordered a GCII that will be refurbished. I had the Olhausen about a month and it's just not a commercial/professional quality table, construction-wise or set-up-wise. I am sure that it is fine recreational piece for people who aren't familiar traditional tables and who don't plan on playing outside of their home but it played considerably unlike any other table I've played on at numerous pool halls over the past 30 years in the Chicago area.
 
Pool cues Dallas

Your first billiard table should also get perfect company. So, why not buy new sets of pool cues. Think about it. Wooden and designer pool cues are quite popular in Texas.
 
tonemachine said:
For anybody who might be asking the same question in the future....

I just returned an Olhausen Signature Series yesterday and ordered a GCII that will be refurbished. I had the Olhausen about a month and it's just not a commercial/professional quality table, construction-wise or set-up-wise. I am sure that it is fine recreational piece for people who aren't familiar traditional tables and who don't plan on playing outside of their home but it played considerably unlike any other table I've played on at numerous pool halls over the past 30 years in the Chicago area.
Click to expand...

May I just emphatically second this sentiment. I bought a mint-condition Olhausen Remington that was only a few years old. The dealer sent two mechanics who set it up poorly, then at my insistence sent two different ones who tried to fix what the first two had done and mostly succeeded.

This is a $5,000 retail table that I was repeatedly assured was one of Olhausen's best playing tables and "one of Olhausen's signature tables." I was told I couldn't get a table in the Olhausen line that played any better regardless of the money I spent--that money would just go to better quality woodwork.

The Olhausen was such a miserable table to play on that I ended up selling it four months later for a $1400 LOSS and getting a used Diamond for more money than I initially wanted to spend.

The corner pockets on my Olhausen would rattle and trap the ball unless my aim was dead on. Not only that, but the table was badly "out of balance," by which I mean the corner pockets were nasty but the sides were huge buckets that would accept anything. It literally unbalanced my play--it got so I would prefer a hard shot in the side pocket to an easy shot into a corner. It was warping my ability to learn to play position, which is what I bought a home table for in the first place.

I honestly believe--my personal belief--that Olhausen tables are helping to drive the decline in the popularity of pool. Mine was just unpleasant to play on. As with anything unpleasant, gradually you start to avoid it. My bet is that there are many thousands of Olhausens across the country mostly being avoided by their owners, who have concluded that they just don't like playing pool as much as they thought they would.

I paid $1400 for the privilege of passing this information on to you. DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID.

My Diamond is not "a little" better than my Olhausen was. It's a completely different experience. It's VASTLY more fun to play on. Hugely. No contest.

If you are a casual or weekend player or if kids or teenagers will be playing on your table regularly, get a Brunswick Authentic (easy and pleasant to play on). If you are a serious player who wants to play a lot and improve, make every reasonable effort to find the best, most well-regarded ***independent*** pool table mechanic in your area. Present that person with your budget and do what he recommends. A good independent mechanic is not an "extra." He should be your de facto dealer. He can help you identify and locate a good quality table and then he can set it up so that it plays the way you want it to. Doing anything else is a fool's errand.

Mike
 
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