I must be a better player than I give myself credit for. I have no problem beating the ghost on my table.
Diamond pockets specs
- Thread starter dendweller
- Start date
I have played on both 4.18 / 4.25 and as an amateur player as well, I think the most I can do with would be 4.25" . This sizes is the best overall mediums for everything. The 4.18" is very very frustrating as even the slightest dirtier ball sets vs a newly polished one would drive me crazy playing on it.
I don't know.
I don't play 9 ball.
I don't play the ghost.
I don't play on 9' GCs with 5" pockets.
What I do know is playing 10 ball I have run out on 9' Diamonds with pro cut pockets enough to make the statement regarding no joy for GCs w/ buckets.
As said, this is my opinion. We have all heard yours.
WTF do people keep using 'playing the ghost' as a factor in pocket sizing??? Playing the ghost is tough action on just about any pocket unless you're 600ish FR or better. I've played quite a bit on blue label ProAms and Pros. Tough but fair. Anything smaller is for better players up to pros imo. League cut Diamonds are great for league play(DUH) and general banger play.
4.25 is way to tight for general poolroom use. Most casual/rec players have trouble on 5" pockets. 4.5" is a doable all-round size but still tough for bangers.
Because the guy is talking like he has no issues playing the ghost, it's a tough accomplishment to do it regularly.
Well he said he'd rather wait on a waiting list than play on a table with bigger pockets. For someone to say that I imagine they would absolutely murder an easier table. That's why I was curious the skill level.
I played 2 sets to 10 tonight. We started on a 7' Diamond with Pro-Cut pockets as the 9' were all booked. Opponent is 592, I'm 571. I was up 6-1 in about 25 minutes, playing jam up. A 9' Diamond with Pro-Cut pockets opened up and we moved there mid set. The first game must have taken 15 minutes we both kept missing. And the rest of the set went slow as molasses too. Same with the next race to 10 that was all on the 9'.
Anyone can of course play on any table. I don't mean to say my opinion means more than anyone else.
A 9' Diamond with pro-cut pockets, and typical worn-cloth local conditions, is such a tough table, no one is running racks on it unless they are near pro level.
I actually wish the 9' Pro-Cut pockets had the same shelf as the 7' Pro-Cut pockets. It would play a lot easier then. The 7' Pro-Cut pockets play just right, for serious local players, IMO.
Playing Casper is not a very accurate way to judge your skill imo. Depends way too much on the the break. In most cases if you don't open up the rack you're not getting out regardless of how good you play.
Most racks of 9b i ever did was a 5pk on my 21st birthday. It was on a bucket-mouth GC1 at CueCity in Tulsa. The only reason i did it was i broke like king-kong and just happened to get an open shot each time. Only one of the racks was hard at all. My point is the break is the determining factor for package-runnage regardless of table or its pockets. At Magoo's we have an old D'mond ProAm red-label with pretty worn 860. Its not that much harder to adjust to/play on than the 4.5" GC4 sitting ten ft. away. Nothing like what the He-ManDiamondHatersClub continually whines about.
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Local GC covered with 760+ speed off-brand cloth played very well, initially. Now, after slightly worn, a ball hit with any speed that touches the long rail on the way into the corner will always bobble. Don’t know why, since that didn’t happen (as I recall) ‘back in the day’ (?).
BTW: All this whining re: tight pockets reminds me of the golf ring game I used to regularly attend back in the 90s (10’ snooker table using standard pool balls). Masochism exemplified.
BTW: All this whining re: tight pockets reminds me of the golf ring game I used to regularly attend back in the 90s (10’ snooker table using standard pool balls). Masochism exemplified.
It is common knowledge new cloth is slippery and gets less so as it wears.
Things go into holes better the more slippery there is. Shirley also common.
My first trip to OKC back in the early 80's a guy ran out the golf game on a 10' snooker table with standard balls. That was the least expensive golf game I ever played, there were no hickies
The current golf table at Magoo's used to be in Chester's in OkC. Its an old 10' B'wick Royale with pool cushions and TINY pockets. Cloth is Gorina 3c cloth. Pretty tough. Normal game is 5/6 handed, $10/game, $1/hickies. Sometimes they play 20/2 or if a few top guys are there i've seen them play 50/5. Always with pool balls.My first trip to OKC back in the early 80's a guy ran out the golf game on a 10' snooker table with standard balls. That was the least expensive golf game I ever played, there were no hickies
Well said. Exactly how I feel.
disagree 100%. In my area 4.5 is the standard as most pool halls have either 7 or 9ft diamonds (or both) with 4.5 procut. Playing on the few GCs and clones in the area with 5" pockets feels like buckets. My home table is 4" (with the subrails extended to fix the pocket angles), and while tight, it honestly plays easier than some of the 9" 4.5 diamonds. And if you watch the matchroom events with 4" pockets they play and make shots that would NEVER fall on the 4.5 diamonds in my local home pool hall where touching the side rail at all is a guaranteed miss/rattle. So there is more to it than just size. But that said it depends what you are going for. I hover around 630 atm, and my home table can be frustrating when I'm have an off day, but otherwise its not bad at all. And after the first 6 months or so of doing it I noticed an obvious improvement in my shotmaking ability. So, no I don't think its just bragging rights. I think its the best way to practice if you take your pool game seriously. That said I get why pool halls with limited tables would not put anything smaller than 4.5 in their rooms. There was a funny interaction between Shane Wolford and his parents online after the first battle of the bull where Shane wanted them to keep the 4" table in their pool hall, and they said no and raffled it off lol (its a pretty small pool room, only 7 or so 9"s) But no... I think for some shots these smaller cut diamonds actually play easier than their bigger counterparts....
So you are saying that a shot that rattles on 4 1/2" pocket will fall on a 4" pocket if hit exactly the same?? How can that possibly be? The ball rattles because you hit the adjacent rail too far from the pocket and the ball bounces between the facings without falling. Sometimes the ball stops in the jaws, other times it goes back into the playing field. I would think a ball hit the same way on a 4" pocket would likely hit the tit of the opening with no chance of falling.
I'm not going for it either. Pure bs. The ONLY time that tiny pockets play even REMOTELY easy is when using new, slick worsted cloth. Let the cloth get good and broken-in/ little dirty and 4.5 Diamonds will spit out anything wiping its feet on the way in.
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I think there is actually something to that. On bigger pockets, there is more shelf area because of the round shape of the shelf. More of it is exposed. So the ball has more surface to hang up on.
I’m not 100% on this, I didn’t do a drawing or anything. I believe other members said similar over the years.
I’m not 100% on this, I didn’t do a drawing or anything. I believe other members said similar over the years.
Or the pockets are cut at 135°.