Hey All,
For anyone interested, I thought I'd post some pictures of the table I've been playing on for the last 10 days or so while staying at a friend's place in Italy because it's unlike any table I've seen before.
Basically it's 9 feet long (though I'm sure you could get it in a 10) and heated, but with tiny pockets. Tiny pockets as in, well, even pocketing a ball is kinda tough - I've never played Russian Billiards but I bet this is what it would feel like. Table quality is subpar compared to a Verhoeven/Gabriel/Soregard, etc., but still nice to have in your house. The rails are great and give rebound/action like you'd expect, but the cheap, coarse cloth changes everything and it took me a few days to adjust (always been a slow learner). I somehow ran a 7 and a 6 on it, but I'm sure that was only because of the shorter length (is it just me or is the relationship between shorter tables and higher points earned not exactly linear?).
Anyway, just wanted to post something different for y'all. I asked my friend why he bought a table with pockets and he indicated this was the way he thought billiards in Italy was moving, but he's not really an onsessed fan of the game (like AZers!) so who knows. Some Google translating of Italian billiard club web forums seems to concur, though.
P.S. The images aren't showing up for me so I'm also listing links to them for anyone interested in clicking. Don't know why it's not working...
http://img14.imageshack.us/i/s7305197.jpg/
http://img198.imageshack.us/i/s7305203.jpg/
http://img26.imageshack.us/i/s7305206.jpg/
http://img24.imageshack.us/i/s7305207.jpg/
http://img24.imageshack.us/i/s7305208.jpg/
http://img32.imageshack.us/i/s7305209.jpg/
http://img9.imageshack.us/i/s7305211.jpg/
For anyone interested, I thought I'd post some pictures of the table I've been playing on for the last 10 days or so while staying at a friend's place in Italy because it's unlike any table I've seen before.
Basically it's 9 feet long (though I'm sure you could get it in a 10) and heated, but with tiny pockets. Tiny pockets as in, well, even pocketing a ball is kinda tough - I've never played Russian Billiards but I bet this is what it would feel like. Table quality is subpar compared to a Verhoeven/Gabriel/Soregard, etc., but still nice to have in your house. The rails are great and give rebound/action like you'd expect, but the cheap, coarse cloth changes everything and it took me a few days to adjust (always been a slow learner). I somehow ran a 7 and a 6 on it, but I'm sure that was only because of the shorter length (is it just me or is the relationship between shorter tables and higher points earned not exactly linear?).
Anyway, just wanted to post something different for y'all. I asked my friend why he bought a table with pockets and he indicated this was the way he thought billiards in Italy was moving, but he's not really an onsessed fan of the game (like AZers!) so who knows. Some Google translating of Italian billiard club web forums seems to concur, though.
P.S. The images aren't showing up for me so I'm also listing links to them for anyone interested in clicking. Don't know why it's not working...
http://img14.imageshack.us/i/s7305197.jpg/
http://img198.imageshack.us/i/s7305203.jpg/
http://img26.imageshack.us/i/s7305206.jpg/
http://img24.imageshack.us/i/s7305207.jpg/
http://img24.imageshack.us/i/s7305208.jpg/
http://img32.imageshack.us/i/s7305209.jpg/
http://img9.imageshack.us/i/s7305211.jpg/
Last edited: