Is Buying a Pool Table Worth it?

[NaClBandit]

maybe I'm nitpicking but

IF you were a carpenter, would you want your own hammer?

A better analogy might be:

If you were a carpenter, would you want your own woodshop?



The hammer would be the cue I think.

I would LOVE a home table. Need a home first though.

 

[SlateHumper]

too many tables

How many of you own pool tables and never use them?
If you own a pool table how often do you use it?

I currently own six and don't shoot on one of them. Wanna buy one? or six?

 

[Black-Balled]

I'll add one more comment before I walk 10 steps to practice a bit ...excuse me now, the table's calling

Dave

That is the biggest benefit, IMO. If I want to hit some balls for 30 or 60 minutes, that is all the time it takes. No driving, waiting for the houseman to take my $ or give up on his balls

 

[SpeedStar]

When my wife and I first walked into our house with the realtor 8 years ago, I walked to the formal living room with 18 foot ceilings and started measuring. She asked if we had large furniture, my wife said no, we have to have a pool table.

I have had an Olhausen Grand Champion and now a GCIV. Having a table is a great thing if you are motivated to practice on your own, or have people to come over and play. I think you need to enjoy working on your own. I actually like this time as it gives great feedback and is a way of quickly getting away at a moments notice.

 

[uwate]

The last two houses I bought, I sat down with the wife beforehand and I asked her to write a list of wants. She had stuff like swimming pool, 2 or 3 car garage, one story, etc. I had one thing: Must have a room 17x24 min that will be my pool room.

I go hot and cold on using my table (currently a Diamond Pro). Sometimes it will sit covered for months, other times I use it every day for a week or two. A home table is really great for quick 15 min sessions but it can be hard to get the killer going when your playing by yourself. I find that I can get some intensity playing the Ghost but in many cases I hit a rack of balls, realize that Im just whacking them around the table and I get bored and quit.

 

[sibbyjaydee]

Worth it?

I own an over size 8' Olhausen table with simonis clothe and triple shimmed pockets, but It's in my garage. so living in Houston, and calculating the heat and humidity factor, the table gets used very seldom, except for maybe in the winter. My house is small, but my living room measures perfect for the table... 17x15. I'm contemplating having the table brought inside, but of coarse that would eliminate my entire living room. Worth it? Possibly, cuz I'm at the pool hall 5/6 days out of the week. Lately it's cost me 30/35 bucks a day on the 9' tables at the pool hall.
I'm the wife...so I won't have the nagging wife problem ..lol

 

[BooBoo]

Home Table

I have had a table in my home off and on for the last thirty years. I have moved a few times and the table moved with me. There have been a few of them over the years, but being a player, I always felt there was something missing when I didn't have one. The other point of a home table is the economics. Let's face it, it is not cheap to go everyday to a pool room and play. With me being retired now I save my pool money for my leagues. Unless your a member of a club where it only takes a quarter for the table, the tab can run up pretty quick. Not to mention the convenience of just wanting to hit some balls for a little while to work on something or just kill some time. It only hurts once, to buy the table (except for cloth every few years) and if taken care of properly will outlast you.

 

[Grilled Cheese]

Ok, here's a tip for getting the home-table motivation going...


When you're not playing as much as you'd like on a home table - it is because you don't have any goals or a mission. Do this. Take a notepad with you to the pool hall, tourney, league or whatever. During your competitive or semi-competitive play, you are bound to miss something or screw something up or find yourself in a position of difficult either in shotmaking or position play.


WRITE IT DOWN. Describe the shot, draw it out on the paper, be elaborate. Use diamonds to estimate position of balls as best as possible. The more photographic your memory the better, but don't assume you know exactly where the balls were, a little off changes the shot a lot.


Go home and practice this shot. It can be frustrating and difficult, but that's the best way to motivate yourself. If you're the type of person that dwells on a missed shot after you've left the pool hall, this is the ideal thing to do with a home-table. Beat that demon and turn a negative into a positive. Figure out that shot, or learn how to play position on it. Or, learn that there was no practical way and that a safety was the best plan....If you have a hard time making it or playing shape - figure out why. Is it the speed you miss shape with? Is it the angle of the cueball off the object ball? Is it pocketing it at a particular angle? Any one of those 3 can be corrected with an appropriate and common drill. Was it strategic error? Like playing short side vs. long side, or crossing the position zone rather than going down the line?


If you're not even motivated to learn something new at all, then your table is just that - an arena for you to bang balls around and reinforce sloppy stroke mechanics and poor pre-shot routines.

 

[Williebetmore]

That is the biggest benefit, IMO. If I want to hit some balls for 30 or 60 minutes, that is all the time it takes. No driving, waiting for the houseman to take my $ or give up on his balls

BB,
You are SOOOO right. Even when watching television with the wife, she doesn't mind if I shoot during commercials (I'm talking about shooting POOL, get your mind out of the gutter). I'll throw 5 or 6 or 7 balls on the table and practice rotation/9-ball runouts during the few minutes of commercial messages. It is GREAT to help get the feel of sitting for a while, then having to come to the table with your best stroke (something that is not usual for people practicing at home where they just get to shoot by themselves for long periods of time).

 

[mikepage]

I use it almost everyday.

I'm not sure 'readers of a pool discussion forum' is a representative sample of pool-table owners.

In fact, I'm guessing most of the home pool tables bought in the last decade are now oversized laundry tables, and their owners are reading fishing forums.

mike page <-- close to every day, but often for just 5 or 10 minutes.
fargo

 

[bsmutz]

I have two tables now, a 9' and a 10' snooker. I play on them pretty much every day for a couple of hours at least. I know for a fact that I would not have the skill or the drive that I have now if I didn't own a table. I agree that not everyone that owns a table uses them like us fanatics do. Many people buy tables for their kids or for playing with friends, not to improve their game or pursue perfection. The opportunity is there, the desire isn't. As most have mentioned, there is no more convenient way to improve for most people. Owning a pool hall would be the only improvement I could think of, but then you'd have to deal with the headaches associated. I'll stick with the home table.

 

[zeeder]

Owning a pool hall would be the only improvement I could think of, but then you'd have to deal with the headaches associated. I'll stick with the home table.

From everything I've heard, owning a pool hall is the worst thing you can do for your game. You end up spending all your time dealing with PH issues and none playing.

 

[Black-Balled]

...I'm the wife...so I won't have the nagging wife problem ..lol

Shame, that. I was gonna ask you to marry me. eWell, that, and the fact that I am already married too...

 

[Black-Balled]

BB,
... she doesn't mind if I shoot during commercials (I'm talking about shooting POOL, get your mind out of the gutter)...

Am I that easy to read? AZB has really gotten to know me through the years