I think the pocket angles were too wide which would cause balls to rattle.
Predator Pool Table
- Thread starter YoungAtHeart
- Start date
I've been hunting for that pocket pic I think Karl Boyes posted with a couple of balls in it. Was hoping to see this cupping.
Wow, that shelf is really shallow too.
That pink ball should have not gone in .
Good pictures, thanks for posting. I don’t see any rounding of the pocket face at least from these pictures.
Ps I’ll be the first to say most pictures of tables are deceiving simply due to the nature of photography.
And if you lead them to water you won't have to go outside in the middle of winter to fill the bucket.
Smarter not harder
These pictures also do a good job showing how cleanly the pocket faces align with the rubber pocket. No 1/2” mismatch like on many tables out there (all brands). However, does this mean this table can’t be ordered with bigger pockets?
I 100% respect his knowledge of tables, this is a respect thing, give it and you'll get it
But I think he and I are over that.I don’t know as much about table construction as some on this thread do, but I do know enough to know that the issue with the overly forgiving pockets on this Predator table, even though they were 4-1/4 inches at the mouth, can be easily solved by either 1) increasing the pocket facing angle in the throat of the pockets and/or 2) increasing the depth of the shelves of the pockets, by decreasing the radius cut outs on the slates. As pocket mouth measurements get tighter, the depth of the pocket shelf/throat automatically decreases. Either should be an easy fix for future tables they produce, if they so desire.
Perhaps they could produce two options for this table. The one as played on last week at the world championships for home use and pool rooms where more forgiving pockets would be desired, and an improved tighter version with deeper throats for pro tournament competition.
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I'll bow to the more knowledgable folks on this one but I'd lean toward the shallow shelf for the ease of how the tables played.
That pink Albin hit I think was at the limit of entry angle vs speed.
I see no problem with that ball rattling in that photo. The right edge of that 3 ball appears to be about an inch off the side cushion point when it makes contact. At pocket speed, it probably will go in, but shot at a harder pace, it like wouldn’t / shouldn’t.
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Im with the others and I think it was the depth of the shelves more then angle or opening measurements.
There are people on this site, myself for example who would never allow Glen near their house or table because of his behavior here on this site. He is known to do great work but I do not think it is big secret he is not so good with scheduling either. It works for him I guess.
Predator may have taken a similar approach that bonus ball did for the pockets. Small mouth, but favorable facing angles. This would require a fairly accurate hit, but the ball would rarely be spit out if it got within the points.
I personally didn’t see this table as easier than most other major events with brand new cloth. Every single event there is someone complaining that the ball hit the rail one or two diamonds from the pocket snd it still fell.
I personally didn’t see this table as easier than most other major events with brand new cloth. Every single event there is someone complaining that the ball hit the rail one or two diamonds from the pocket snd it still fell.
Even extremely tight pockets play considerably more forgiving the first or second day after installation of new cloth. By 5-6 days from installation, they’ll play considerably tougher, and after six months to one year, they’ll play brutally tough.
Of course, no pro tournaments are ever contested on anything other than newly installed cloth, so they don’t have to deal with it like we do, on tables in some pool rooms that have extremely tight pockets and worn cloth.
On the flip side of that, predicting how a cue ball will react coming off a cushion to spins and speeds, and how difficult it is to draw the cue ball a precise distance on new cloth, and how those playing characteristics will change virtually every day on a table over the course of a week long major tournament, is an added difficulty factor that pro players have certainly had to adjust to, but most of us only have to face for a very limited time frame every year or two, when new cloth is installed on the tables in our home pool rooms.
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TxBullDog
Registered
Table is very easy and pockets seem bigger then 4.5” . My friend played on the table and said it is much easier then a diamond pro cut and the equipment is way to easy for top players. He played in the WPC Daniel… He said it gave many players a chance against the top pro on predator table and that is why the final eight had several weaker players. Hopefully Predator can make the table more of a challenge since they have a deal with matchroom now…
A shallow shelf makes the pockets play bigger.
You would think they would have made those needed adjustments before using the table for a world championship, as opposed to after.
TxBullDog
Registered
Yup. Would love to see how it rates against other tables when you use this to really see how tough a table plays… I use this and Diamond always above 1.0…. Curious to see what predator tables come out with shelf depth etc… Table Difficulty Factor or TDF does work pretty good… https://billiards.colostate.edu/faq/table/tdf/