Need some advice. I would like to put an 8' table in my basement. I was thinking of the space in the upper right of the attached picture. I have a pole 12 1/2' from the side wall and a wall that's 14' from the right side and 12 1/2' from the side wall. Will I run into issues with the corner? :scratchhead: Appreciate your thoughts.
Do I have enough space for an 8' table??
- Thread starter Hoss.A
- Start date
Here is a link to a size chart from the Olhausen site. It's based on table size and cue length. I'm sure other sites have charts too. You can use a short cue for tight spaces caused by a pole or other obstacle.
http://www.olhausenbilliards.com/pages/room-chart
http://www.olhausenbilliards.com/pages/room-chart
Frankly, while 8' table sounds better than a 7' table, it's really not much larger.
It's sure not a 9' table and so few tournaments are conducted on 8' tables.anyway.
Personally, I'd rather have a sharp looking Diamond 7' table and have the pockets
sized to 4 3/8" to make it a real tough table and I'd put Simonis 760 cloth pulled as
tight as possible using Tournament Blue. Then I'd get a great table light using LEDs
and that set-up would be so much sweeter than an 8' table. If you can't go with a 9'
table, which obviously you can't based upon your space rendition, why pretend by
going with a 8; table. Instead, go with the toughest SOB 7' table set-up on a great
looking Diamond Table in Black, the cloth will look marvelous & use real tight pockets.
JMO,
It's sure not a 9' table and so few tournaments are conducted on 8' tables.anyway.
Personally, I'd rather have a sharp looking Diamond 7' table and have the pockets
sized to 4 3/8" to make it a real tough table and I'd put Simonis 760 cloth pulled as
tight as possible using Tournament Blue. Then I'd get a great table light using LEDs
and that set-up would be so much sweeter than an 8' table. If you can't go with a 9'
table, which obviously you can't based upon your space rendition, why pretend by
going with a 8; table. Instead, go with the toughest SOB 7' table set-up on a great
looking Diamond Table in Black, the cloth will look marvelous & use real tight pockets.
JMO,
No
It looks to cramped. I vote for a 7' Diamond with tight pockets and Tournament Blue Simonis. Look at all the Bar box tournaments that are available.
As for lights, I built my own box using the same bulbs as are in the Diamond Light.
If I was doing it over I would hang 4 of the 2'x4' dual bulb LED lights home Depot sells for about 50 bucks a piece. We put some in my wife's big sewing room and it light the place up big time!
They are good for some thing like 50,000 thousand hours and then you toss them and get some more! They plug into each other and run an extension cord on the ceiling.
When you get this set up going you will have lots of good friends!
It looks to cramped. I vote for a 7' Diamond with tight pockets and Tournament Blue Simonis. Look at all the Bar box tournaments that are available.
As for lights, I built my own box using the same bulbs as are in the Diamond Light.
If I was doing it over I would hang 4 of the 2'x4' dual bulb LED lights home Depot sells for about 50 bucks a piece. We put some in my wife's big sewing room and it light the place up big time!
They are good for some thing like 50,000 thousand hours and then you toss them and get some more! They plug into each other and run an extension cord on the ceiling.
When you get this set up going you will have lots of good friends!
I have an 8 footer squeezed into a room that's too small for it. It's worth the frustration in my opinion. If you are also a regular player outside of your own home it will help keep you in stroke.
Get a decent short cue and learn to use it.
Get a decent short cue and learn to use it.
I've always found that 5' of clearance on each side of the table is a good comfortable rule of thumb.
So, with the above in mind there would likely be some clearance issues at times, but nothing a short stick couldn't handle.
So, with the above in mind there would likely be some clearance issues at times, but nothing a short stick couldn't handle.
I would go for the 7' table so you can use a standard cue on all shots, why get used to a shorty cue if you dont have to? In fact players are now going with longer cues than the standard 59", short seems the wrong way. Part of your decision also depends on why you are buying the table. Are you a serious player and plan on getting prepared for competition or are you just a casual player? If you are going to compete what size tables will you be playing on? I would go for a good 7' table, preferably a Diamond but with standard pro-cut pockets. They are tough enough and do not force you to play a different game like tighter pockets would. If you were to go with tighter than 4 1/2" pockets casual players probably will not enjoy playing on your table if you entertain.
I always find this advice tricky. 5' clearance on each side is fine, if you know what the table outside dimensions are. Most people don't know and assume something like 8' x 4'. Then they get surprised when they find out they've got less room on the width they then they thought. And then they wonder why they bothered asking AZBilliards for help
Freddie
thats a personal choice.
Most hate playing with a short cue, I have to at my house and i hate it, you cant get any action with a short cue, and you will miss shots you would have made with a regular cue.
To be honest, if I'm just practicing I will move the CB, rather than grab the short cue most times.
sounds like you will have tight corners regardless of what size table you buy, so just buy the table you like and deal with it......
BTW 5 feet all around the table is the MINIMUM you would need, 5 feet still feels too tight if you're playing off the rail, but its workable.
I'm getting back into pool after a 20yr break. I'm a casual player and after getting my game back I could see playing some bar tournaments and perhaps a local tournament or two. Back when I was playing I just didn't dig playing on 7' tables. The local bowling alley has 8' tables.
I guess my thinking is this. If I can play 95% of the time with a 58" cue and use a shorty around the post and at the one corner I think I would be OK with it.
Sure appreciate everyone's input. It helps hearing others opinions.
I guess my thinking is this. If I can play 95% of the time with a 58" cue and use a shorty around the post and at the one corner I think I would be OK with it.
Sure appreciate everyone's input. It helps hearing others opinions.
Simonis 760 is probably not the cloth to use on a 7-footer. 760 is faster than 860. A couple years ago, Greg Sullivan of Diamond Billiards was exploring the possibility of having Simonis develop a slower "960" cloth for 7-footers, from the viewpoint that even 860 is too fast for 7-footers. http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=354656 [I wonder if that project is still proceeding.]
His 12 ½' width won't allow the use of a standard-length cue on some shots even with a 7-foot table.
As Freddie pointed out, most of those manufacturer charts are marketing BS designed to get you to buy a larger table than you might want. Here is better info and with an explanation of where the numbers come from:
http://billiards.colostate.edu/threads/table.html#size
The first thing you have to do is decide how much room you need by the flat wall side. I think you don't want to use a short cue there because you will be up against it fairly often. I think the minimum is to add six inches to your playing cue length and say that you need that much back from the nose of the cushion. Whether that's enough to make you comfortable really depends on you, your cue, and your stance. If you don't know that distance, you can't really come to any kind of conclusion. The link above gives one way to find that distance.
Once you have the distance, you can make a "playing layout" of the playing surface of the table (nose-to-nose, dimensions are in the link above) plus the cuing length all around (with rounded corners). Then you can put a scale drawing of that your the scale drawing of your room.
Then you need to decide how much short cue you can stand. Different people have different tolerances for that.
Here is a diagram for a 44x88 inch playing surface (normal 4x8) and a 64-inch cuing length:
![CropperCapture[61].jpg](https://forums.azbilliards.com/data/attachments/325/325921-e67df8d083690fdc4bc3774dc1cc6af8.jpg?hash=5n340INpD9 "CropperCapture[61].jpg")
And you may want to check my dimensions.
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Do you have enough room: yes.
Is this room in the orientation you suggest:: no
You should consider rotating the table so one <short> end of the table protrudes into the TV area. Then you have a goodly space.
He has a post 12.5 feet from the upper wall in the middle of the open span.
Correct. In a perfect world I could remove said post without my home collapsing. I'm considering placing a table in top half of the floor plan. That space is 32' long but there's a post and wall 12' 6" from the longest wall in a couple places. The wall begins 14' from the far right wall.
Some fanatics here have removed such posts and replaced them with steel beams.
From the diagram I did, if you do keep 64 inches of cuing space on the top and left side, you're going to need a 50-inch cue for the wall in the middle of the room. If that's the breaking end, it shouldn't happen too often.
EDIT! Oops. That would be a 30-inch cue. I don't think they make those, although you could play with a weighted shaft.
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I'd go with a 7 footer. It will look nicer in the space. 8 foot is just too much. You will have room for chairs, etc. And it won't look like you tried to cram a 10 pound ham in a 5 pound sack 
But, I would put the table in the same spot but turn it diagonal and run parallel with the longer wall of 12.5, thus, the only obstacle is the 11 foot wall on the edge, which would only affect when shooting right over the corner pocket, if you are shooting long rail or short rail shot, there is not a single obstacle.
Cut out a 3.5 x 7 paper table, (or actual table dimensions) or get a piece of CHALK and fit in the slot so you know what I'm talking about. Then measure out 5 feet from the left wall, and 5 feet from the top wall, and plop in the paper table on the floor, the only way you'll know for sure. You will see that no shot can't be made if shooting straight on from the short rail or long rail. Give it a try and see how it looks/fits.
But, I would put the table in the same spot but turn it diagonal and run parallel with the longer wall of 12.5, thus, the only obstacle is the 11 foot wall on the edge, which would only affect when shooting right over the corner pocket, if you are shooting long rail or short rail shot, there is not a single obstacle.
Cut out a 3.5 x 7 paper table, (or actual table dimensions) or get a piece of CHALK and fit in the slot so you know what I'm talking about. Then measure out 5 feet from the left wall, and 5 feet from the top wall, and plop in the paper table on the floor, the only way you'll know for sure. You will see that no shot can't be made if shooting straight on from the short rail or long rail. Give it a try and see how it looks/fits.
Here's the floor plan for a 7' table and 64 inches of "cuing space". I wasn't sure what the playing area is but this is for a standard "3.5" dimension.
It's clear that what we need is a new cue technology that gets down under three feet. Instead, the pros are going up past 60 inches.
![CropperCapture[62].jpg](https://forums.azbilliards.com/data/attachments/325/325944-0e335d00e567218589ef9047e4667848.jpg?hash=DjNdAOVnIY "CropperCapture[62].jpg")
It's clear that what we need is a new cue technology that gets down under three feet. Instead, the pros are going up past 60 inches.