Diamond table domination

But they have no real market here, or at least no real market in the middle of northern US where I am. Everyone that doesn't have Diamonds is putting in Diamonds around here. Just been to two state tmts in the last 4 months around here where the wife played, the one a couple weeks back about 150 Diamond tables set up, no complaints heard from anyone there.
 
muskyed said:
But they have no real market here, or at least no real market in the middle of northern US where I am. Everyone that doesn't have Diamonds is putting in Diamonds around here. Just been to two state tmts in the last 4 months around here where the wife played, the one a couple weeks back about 150 Diamond tables set up, no complaints heard from anyone there.
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That’s the topic of the thread:):):)
 
muskyed said:
But they have no real market here, or at least no real market in the middle of northern US where I am. Everyone that doesn't have Diamonds is putting in Diamonds around here. Just been to two state tmts in the last 4 months around here where the wife played, the one a couple weeks back about 150 Diamond tables set up, no complaints heard from anyone there.
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out of curiosity, what tournament had 150 tables?
 
garczar said:
Go look at how a Diamond Pro is made. Every bit as stout. Constantly looking in the rear view mirror gets old after a while. One thing about those old tables, yeah they are stout but those pockets that stick up always drove me nuts. A friend has a 8ft Anniv and i really do not like playing on it. i'll take a GC4 or a Diamond any day.
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Next time I am around one- I will take a look under a Diamond- just out of curiosity and to enlighten myself. As I stated earlier in this thread- I have no problems with people's preferences for one table brand or another- that is each person's entitled feelings about table brands.

On the same note, each one of us here, a public forum, has the right to express their thoughts in a respectful manner. Yes I admit, as you observe on this site, that I do " look in the rear view mirror" quite often. Forgetting history often leads to future mistakes; besides, lots of products and ideas from the past definitely hold up to our present products and ideas.

People gravitate toward hobbies for many reasons and passion is probably the most compelling and lasting engagement reason tied to hobbies. Playing pool is a game and has been a competitive sport to me in my life. Many things pool related like cues, tables, cases, and all related are combined as one of many hobbies that I enjoy.

Millions of people find and highly value the passion that they pour into vintage items of all sorts from watches, to clothing, to musical instruments, to everything under the sun. Anyone "tired" of hearing from people's passion about vintage quality always has the ability to block out their view on public forums - however, usually those in this world who deny passion are truly the saddest among us - enough said.
 
mikemosconi said:
Next time I am around one- I will take a look under a Diamond- just out of curiosity and to enlighten myself. ....snip....
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The Diamond "Professional" is like a GC in that it has a frame made of heavy timber, that the slate then sits on top of. The heavy timber (from memory) started out as regular solid wood in the early 90's, and then changed over at some point in the table's evolution to LVL style lumber.

A Diamond "Pro-Am" is made of plywood in a box shape. Almost all Diamonds in the "wild" are the Pro-Am. Usually only homeowners buy the Professional.

Both are rock solid. I have no issues with the plywood on a Pro-Am. I think that table is more solid than my Gold Crown 4.
 
iusedtoberich said:
The Diamond "Professional" is like a GC in that it has a frame made of heavy timber, that the slate then sits on top of. The heavy timber (from memory) started out as regular solid wood in the early 90's, and then changed over at some point in the table's evolution to LVL style lumber.

A Diamond "Pro-Am" is made of plywood in a box shape. Almost all Diamonds in the "wild" are the Pro-Am. Usually only homeowners buy the Professional.

Both are rock solid. I have no issues with the plywood on a Pro-Am. I think that table is more solid than my Gold Crown 4.
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Yep, D'mond Pro's use that Timberstrand laminated for the frame. They build houses out of that stuff, super strong. As for the ProAm that plywood is super thick marine grade plywood. My only ProAm gripe is ball return, never a fan of br tables. IIRC you can custom order one with drops.
 
jax_joe said:
out of curiosity, what tournament had 150 tables?
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2026 WSPA state team
2026_Website_Banner.jpg

2026 WSPA TEAM STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS​

The 2026 Team State Championships will be held Thursday, February 5th through Sunday, February 8th at the Central Wisconsin Convention & Expo Center in Rothschild, WI. This event will be up to $30,000+ added and played on 140+ 7' Diamond pool tables with Simonis 860 cloth using Aramith Duramith Tournament balls.

With the additional tables and venue space, we are committed to offering a more enjoyable experience for players and teams by offering additional tables for play, shortened wait times between matches, and earlier-starting Second Chance tournaments.

This event is open to any player who has played four matches in a WSPA-sanctioned league for the current sanctioning season starting after June 1. Players who did not play in a WSPA-sanctioned league are unable to play in the Team State Championships.

(Singles State Championships will be held Thursday, March 26th through Sunday, March 29th at the Fox Cities Convention & Expo Center in Appleton, WI. Please stay tuned for entry forms for this event!)

While they state 140+ tables, they had a record participation this year so I think it was over 150 tables. Pool is very strong in our state, not much for 9' tables though other than a few big cities where they have them. Also that picture is just half of one hall, there is two halls full of tables.
 
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GoldCrown said:
I had the same problem. And I’ll bet my install was worse than Musky’s. I contacted Diamond. Said they’ll send a team and give a break on the price. I declined. Did use someone they call upon to help them out. I have to redo his work also. They authorize anyone that will set up for them. Table set ups are art work. There are not a lot of artists around. I was going to swap the Professional for a GCV7…. Backed off. No competent installers near me.
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Where are you located?
 
mikemosconi said:
This is my son’s anniversary table - yesterday when I was there I took a look under the table - the lumber and framing are built to last literally centuries. Something about these tables when you play on them everything just feels so solid and right. It was installed by Blatt’s top mechanic - they know these tables.
I know that the pockets are huge by today’s pro standards- but, IDK- everything made today feels and looks cheap compared to this - those solid walnut rails are incomparable - IMO. You run your hands over them and it is like nothing available today. I know this is a modern era where, perhaps, table portability for tournaments, etc. rules; but if you are one who appreciates true quality in build and materials- how do you beat this?

What would it cost to build and sell tables like this today- I look also at most of the furniture sold today- it is pure junk- Mango tree wood is touted in showrooms as true hardwood furniture- what happened to mahogany, ebony, cherry, hard maple, walnut, chestnut, oak ------good luck even finding furniture today that is a true hardwood build throughout- almost non existent to the average and even above average income group- any piece under $5,000 at a minimum is pure crap and $5,00 to $10,000 per large piece is not high end furniture today- I know because I am in the midst of fully furnishing my new home here in the NE - my wife and I have re- thought much of our furniture shopping and looking for true hardwoods in antique and high end consignment/ thrift furniture locations.

Diamonds may be the big thing today in pool tables- but you can never convince me that playing straight pool on the likes a Brunswick Centennial, Anniversary or GC 1,2,3 is not more satisfying to anyone with actual historical table playing experience than playing on modern tables.

They just ain't what they used to be and nobody knew what we really had back then- compared to what is produced today.
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Had anniversary myself and gold crowns and a Olhausen before that. All are good.

If you are going to play outside your home on Diamonds, nothing plays as good or with the same quirks as a Diamond. The banking short, cue ball hanging on super deep shelves, springy fast rails and tight pockets....it's a whole different game. So if you are practicing to compete, you get what you play out on.
 
SBC said:
Cancel your order and get a used Gold Crown for a grand or less...
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I agree. Unless you're a real pool fanatic or somebody with unlimited funds, you can get a good price on older gold crowns. I see them for sale often. You're going to get all the fun and enjoyment out of that table you could ever want and if you put a few bucks into it you can make it play really fantastic.

Just to throw this in, I've got a 9 foot gold crown sitting in the other room I paid $400 for it was like brand new. It was bought new and had never been in a pool room. When I recovered it I found two rows of staple holes meaning it had only been recovered one time.

The people were selling the house the new owners didn't want the table basically they just gave me the table to get it out of there. Not everybody is a pool player and they take up a lot of room.

I had to come back and add this caveat. That's not to say to just buy any table because it's cheap. There's a lot of really crap tables out there. As long as you stick with a good commercial quality table that's in good shape you check it out and the price is right you will have a lot of fun with the table. That's not to say sometime in the future you'll get your dream Diamond table but at least you'll have a table.

It probably goes without saying there's a lot of people on this forum with home tables that they'd be embarrassed to show a picture of. But they have a lot of fun playing on that table and wouldn't remotely be in the market for a $13,000 table under any circumstances. They're very happy.
 
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middleofnowhere said:
I agree. Unless you're a real pool fanatic or somebody with unlimited funds, you can get a good price on older gold crowns. I see them for sale often. You're going to get all the fun and enjoyment out of that table you could ever want and if you put a few bucks into it you can make it play really fantastic.

Just to throw this in, I've got a 9 foot gold crown sitting in the other room I paid $400 for it was like brand new. It was bought new and had never been in a pool room. When I recovered it I found two rows of staple holes meaning it had only been recovered one time.

The people were selling the house the new owners didn't want the table basically they just gave me the table to get it out of there. Not everybody is a pool player and they take up a lot of room.
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Rare to find one under 3grand these days. Still a good price if its decent and not beat up. I'd love to have a 4 with the heavier frame. Just don't have room for one now.
 
middleofnowhere said:
I agree. Unless you're a real pool fanatic or somebody with unlimited funds, you can get a good price on older gold crowns. I see them for sale often. You're going to get all the fun and enjoyment out of that table you could ever want and if you put a few bucks into it you can make it play really fantastic.

Just to throw this in, I've got a 9 foot gold crown sitting in the other room I paid $400 for it was like brand new. It was bought new and had never been in a pool room. When I recovered it I found two rows of staple holes meaning it had only been recovered one time.

The people were selling the house the new owners didn't want the table basically they just gave me the table to get it out of there. Not everybody is a pool player and they take up a lot of room.
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I remember back in the mid 70's I think, I picked up a Murrey 9' Gold Crown looks with pinned slate I think it was for $200.
Friend and I were sitting in a bar and this couple says they are moving the next day and need to sell this table before they leave. After about an hour we were down to $200 if we could get it out by the next day. Ended up being new condition, not a bad table, but dang those slates were heavy, I think they were 1 1/8" thick. Anyway about a yr later I got divorced and table stayed in the house, not sure what ever happened to it.
 
Kris_b1104 said:
Just saw that Matchroom has now partnered with CPBA cloth, so they will no longer be using Simonis cloth for WNT tournaments.

Has anyone played on CPBA cloth? And if so, how does it compare to Simonis 860HR?
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I like the cloth. To be honest, I doubt I could tell the difference between the top few brands of cloth in a blind test. I also doubt many others not at the top level could either.
 
muskyed said:
I remember back in the mid 70's I think, I picked up a Murrey 9' Gold Crown looks with pinned slate I think it was for $200.
Friend and I were sitting in a bar and this couple says they are moving the next day and need to sell this table before they leave. After about an hour we were down to $200 if we could get it out by the next day. Ended up being new condition, not a bad table, but dang those slates were heavy, I think they were 1 1/8" thick. Anyway about a yr later I got divorced and table stayed in the house, not sure what ever happened to it.
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That's one of the things there's some people have a pool table like that and they move or sell the house you can't just put this thing in the car and take it with you. Hopefully the new owners are willing to take it and maybe even pay you something for it. Most likely though the new owners will want that thing out of there cuz it takes up the entire room often their living room.
 
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