If Given the Choice...

[pt109]

Playing 9 ball the loose table favors the better player a lot. This is not even debatable all you have to do is play the game on different tables and you will see what happens.
I was in with Toby once and he was giving a guy the 7, 8 9 and they played on a tough front table. At the end of the night they were around even. The next night that table was being used and they played on another table that pretty much loose.

Here is the dynamic in play. A guy getting the 7 8 9 is not a great player to start with. What advantage will the looser table give him? He will have a balls go in that may have rattled on the tight table now and then. He isn't any smarter, he doesn't play any better safeties or kick any better he will just make a few more balls with the assistance of the easier table.

For Toby though the loose table turns him into a God. He may never miss and he can do things he couldn't on the other table. Like maybe like fire a ball down the rail and get out where on the other table it would have rattled and then put three more racks in back of that.

Both players will benefit from the loose table, just that the loose tables value though is much greater to the better player then to the weaker player. In some cases so much so as to have the game go completely off kilter in the favor of the better player.

If players play about the same speed, a tighter table will produce a much better match and may expose some weakness in one of the players.

Good post, IMO....loose tables favor the player GIVING weight.
If the game is even, tight or loose shouldn't matter.

 

[vrrdriver]

if I were the weaker player, I would want the easiest equipment available. I figure that my opponent will be running balls regardless, whereas the bigger pockets could come into play in my innings.

If I were the stronger player, I would want the toughest setup. I'm going to be running out, but my opponent could be intimidated by the triple shims, etc. My goal is to make it as difficult as possible for my opponent to win games, easy equipment doesn't go in line with this goal.