I have been playing 3C at the Greeley Colorado Senior Recreation Activity Center for the last year and a half, or so, since I retired. We are very fortunate to have one of the best tables in Northern Colorado, a heated Gabriels Imperator that was donated by a member a number of years back. The whole room is very nice, 4 pool tables including a couple of 4-1/2 by 9s and, I think, a 4x8 and a barsize table, plus 3 5x10 snooker tables, 2 of which started out life as billiard tables.
Well the snooker tables were rarely all in use at the same time, while the billiard table usually had more than 2 players sometimes more than 4. We developed ways to keep it interesting and get people chances to play without long waits. We started to play more "king of the hill" type deals with short 5 point games so we'd get guys on and off the table so everyone could play. Or 4-handed "scotch" doubles. But most of all we wanted another table.
So, a pitch was made to the powers that be that we convert one of the snooker tables that started out as a billiard table back to a billiard table. The good news was that they still had the billiard rails for the table, an older Brunswick (maybe a Sportman or Sports King). The tricky art was that it was going to live side by side with the Gabriels table so we had to try to get the best possible playability so it wouldn't suffer too much in the comparison and it would not be too much of an adjustment going from one to the other. And unlike the Gabriels it wouldn't be heated.
Since we didn't know how old the rubber on the billiard rails was we decided t replace it. We went with Klematch rubber since that is what Gabriels uses for their tables. We then took the somewhat radical step of choosing to use Royal Pro cloth. We chose that because the table would not be heated and everything we were able to read about Royal Pro said that its unheated playability was comparable to a heated table with a woolen cloth, like the Simonis 300 that was on the Gabriels table.
Well, after weeks of anticipation it is done and the "new" table came into use yesterday. So far it really meets our expectations very nicely. Balls coming in short to a corner back out steeper than on the other table but that is to be expected, as is a little slide off the third rail when the ball comes in at a shallow angle. But these seem to be what one expects on new cloth and rubber. As we continue to play on it it will be interesting to see what other differences emerge. But all in all so far it is all positive.
I dare say that we now have the best 3C establishment in Northern Colorado with a great European style table and an updated version of the best that American style tables offered back in the day. Plus we have a little library of billiard books and old AccuStat tapes that we've converted to DVD's, since VCRs are a vanishing breed. If any of you are in the area, drop in and play some billiards with us. It'll cost you a $3 drop in fee and $.25 for a cup of coffee. And you'll meet a nice bunch of guy who love the game, even though basically none of us is all that good.
I'll post some picture over the next couple of days.
Our next project is to put together some kind of video set-up so we can record our games for improvement.
Well the snooker tables were rarely all in use at the same time, while the billiard table usually had more than 2 players sometimes more than 4. We developed ways to keep it interesting and get people chances to play without long waits. We started to play more "king of the hill" type deals with short 5 point games so we'd get guys on and off the table so everyone could play. Or 4-handed "scotch" doubles. But most of all we wanted another table.
So, a pitch was made to the powers that be that we convert one of the snooker tables that started out as a billiard table back to a billiard table. The good news was that they still had the billiard rails for the table, an older Brunswick (maybe a Sportman or Sports King). The tricky art was that it was going to live side by side with the Gabriels table so we had to try to get the best possible playability so it wouldn't suffer too much in the comparison and it would not be too much of an adjustment going from one to the other. And unlike the Gabriels it wouldn't be heated.
Since we didn't know how old the rubber on the billiard rails was we decided t replace it. We went with Klematch rubber since that is what Gabriels uses for their tables. We then took the somewhat radical step of choosing to use Royal Pro cloth. We chose that because the table would not be heated and everything we were able to read about Royal Pro said that its unheated playability was comparable to a heated table with a woolen cloth, like the Simonis 300 that was on the Gabriels table.
Well, after weeks of anticipation it is done and the "new" table came into use yesterday. So far it really meets our expectations very nicely. Balls coming in short to a corner back out steeper than on the other table but that is to be expected, as is a little slide off the third rail when the ball comes in at a shallow angle. But these seem to be what one expects on new cloth and rubber. As we continue to play on it it will be interesting to see what other differences emerge. But all in all so far it is all positive.
I dare say that we now have the best 3C establishment in Northern Colorado with a great European style table and an updated version of the best that American style tables offered back in the day. Plus we have a little library of billiard books and old AccuStat tapes that we've converted to DVD's, since VCRs are a vanishing breed. If any of you are in the area, drop in and play some billiards with us. It'll cost you a $3 drop in fee and $.25 for a cup of coffee. And you'll meet a nice bunch of guy who love the game, even though basically none of us is all that good.
I'll post some picture over the next couple of days.
Our next project is to put together some kind of video set-up so we can record our games for improvement.
