Drop pockets or ball return?

philly

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Did anybody watch John Schmidt during his 14.1 challenge do one pocket drills trying to make all 15 balls in one pocket?
The pocket held at least 12 balls.
My GC III holds at least 10.
Difficult for a questionable opponent to cheat at one pocket on drop pockets.
Not that there are questionable people in the pool world.
 
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easy-e

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
We had it happen once, and reason was apparently someone, couple people dropped chalk down pocket.

Created perfect stopper for ball to get hind up.

That is why Diamond put doors on table bottom.
I've owned 4 Diamond Pro-Ams and have NEVER seen that happen. This is just you trying to find reasons to hate Diamond tables, we get it.
 

CocoboloCowboy

Cowboys are my hero's
Silver Member
Well just because you have not seen people drop thing down pocket holes, don’t mean it does not happen.

Maybe your OCD careful.
 

skip100

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Ball returns are convenient but for a home setup the look and sound of a drop pocket table seems like the way to go.
 

Jimmorrison

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
It was mentioned earlier, drop pockets can pretty much double the life of your table cloth. Considering how far I am from a qualified table guy, I wouldn’t go any other way
 

easy-e

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Well just because you have not seen people drop thing down pocket holes, don’t mean it does not happen.

Maybe your OCD careful.
I've seen people drop things in pockets. I've done it too. It's just never been a problem.
 

Black-Balled

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Speaking of Diamond tables, my poolroom just replaced some GC's with Diamonds.
They have returns but there is no place to store the balls you made in one pocket like the storage rack in GC's.
Is this true of all Diamond tables?
If so, it is a design flaw.
Diamond's solution is less than elegant.
Screenshot_20220524-134538.jpg
Screenshot_20220524-134316.jpg
 

boogieman

It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that ping.
Sometimes there is more joy in the slow things. Pour over fresh ground coffee, brewed loose leaf tea, etc. Collecting the balls from the pockets is a ritual.
 

muskyed

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have a Diamond professional, and it's drop for me. No trapdoors needed to get the junk out that shouldn't be in there. Can't imagine ever having to pull some balls out of a pocket before shooting another in, as so many will fit in one pocket. Also makes it really easy to clean when I vacuum the table as I can vacuum the inside of the pockets at the same time. Also really don't like bending over to get the balls out. Mine is very quiet. More so now actually than when it was put in, as I slipped a layer of 1/8" craft foam between the pocket and skirting. Without it, it would occasionally clunk when a ball went in. Had a Valley bar table years ago, talk about a mess, stuff was always getting stuck in it. Then there was the issue with the wife's cat at the time. For some reason it thought the inside of the table was a good hiding place when company came over. We all got a good laugh at it when playing pool and the cat would stare at us, looking out the ball return window. Sometimes at the end of a game we would have to send some more balls down the pockets to get the cat to move so all the balls would come down. Also, the amount of cat hair on the balls was hell. Just maybe that is really why I like drop pockets.
 
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Nyquil

Well-known member
From a pro AM owner. The ball return is convenient but your balls get marked up inevitably. You will get chalk/dust in your return track no matter how much you try to avoid it. This will get on the balls and can cause minor surface abrasion as they roll down the return lines into the gully. Ball polisher is a must have addition imho. Drop pockets your balls will look spiffy for much longer. I polished a set for a buddy went over to his house over a month later and they were in perfect shape. If you want your balls prestine all the time drop pocket is the way. If you don't mind the extra maintenance that comes with a gully system and prefer the convenience of the balls going to one place return system makes a lot of sense.
 
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