Sports bars and rooms. Want a better Valley?

Johnnyt

Johnnyt

Burn all jump cues
Silver Member
If you gamble on a Valley bar box or like a tougher table and are tired of guys hitting the rail 6” from the pocket and making the ball and banking is inconsistent at best, you really should try this. Have your poolroom or sports bar try one set of Ridgeback rails on one of the tables. The standard Ridgebacks leave 4 ½’ corner pockets, but more importantly the rails play similar to a Diamond. You can also shim then a bit tighter or have Ridgeback extend them for you. I don’t recommend 4” pockets with Ridgeback rails in a humid room…for me it’s a little too tough, but to each his or her own. I will tell you this. Not many are going to run too many racks on 4” pockets with these rails in humid conditions. Even on a dry day if you want to run packs you better be a very high “B” player or above.

On my Valley the standard Valley rails were a joke. I could beat the 9-ball ghost w/o BIH without much trouble. I had them shimmed to a tight 4 ½” and it was still a joke. Then I bought a standard set of Ridgeback’s with 4 ½” corners and the table played a lot better and a lot tougher making balls. After about six months I just got so I could beat the ghost with BIH most of the time. W/O BIH I could beat it about 35% of the time.

Now I have the extended Ridgeback’s with ALL six pockets at 4”. I’ve almost taken the off and put the 4 ½” Ridgebacks back on, but I won’t let this beat me. Johnnyt
 
Johnny Since the valley doesn't have the deep shelves which set of rails would play most like the diamond w/ pro cut pockets?
 
Break8Run9 said:
Johnny Since the valley doesn't have the deep shelves which set of rails would play most like the diamond w/ pro cut pockets?
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I understand what you're saying about deep shelves on the Valley's. With the Ridgebacks on a Valley your not going get the ball back far enough to drop in most cases unless you play it like a Diamond. I am in no way saying you can make a Diamond out of a Valley but the pockets play about the same as far as I'm conserned. If you don't hit center pocket or Diamond pocket speed with the Ridgeback's you aren't going to get to the back of the Valley shelve to drop in. Johnnyt
 
Will it play like that with the original ridgebacks? Or with the 4" ones?
 
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Nothing personal JT but are they paying you to continually tout those rail sets? I'm sure there is some improvement over standard Valley rails but in light of your table setting I'm wondering how much of that improvement is perception. The couple of sets of Valley rails with Artemis I had also played better then the standard rails but not a night/day difference.
 
Break8Run9 said:
Will it play like that with the original ridgebacks? Or with the 4" ones?
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The rails on both the standard Ridgebacks are the same, just the 4" pockets get more rejections because I brush the rail ends more going into the pocket. The standard 4 1/2" Ridgebacks reject balls the same way because the pockets are cut the same (different than a Valley rail). Johnnyt
 
Dartman said:
Nothing personal JT but are they paying you to continually tout those rail sets? I'm sure there is some improvement over standard Valley rails but in light of your table setting I'm wondering how much of that improvement is perception. The couple of sets of Valley rails with Artemis I had also played better then the standard rails but not a night/day difference.
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I'm not making any money touting the rails. I paid retail price for my two sets and I don't know the owner outside of doing business with him. When a product works like it was said too I feel the need to let others know. I've been playing on Valley's for over 50 years and know how they play. With Ridgebacks on them they play much, much better. Johnnyt
 
I doubt many bar owners are going to want to go to tight tables that will slow down the feed rate of coins and cause customers to whine about the long waits to play. Not sure the average bar patron can appreciate tougher conditions either but would prefer to make balls and impress their girlfriends. May make a nice upgrade for BB owners like yourself though.
 
DogsPlayingPool said:
I doubt many bar owners are going to want to go to tight tables that will slow down the feed rate of coins and cause customers to whine about the long waits to play. Not sure the average bar patron can appreciate tougher conditions either but would prefer to make balls and impress their girlfriends. May make a nice upgrade for BB owners like yourself though.
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I forgot that the Diamond Smart Table has 5 1/4' pockets. I keep thinking they have 4 1/2" (maybe even 4 5/8") like other Diamonds. Your probably right that a Valley with Ridgebacks and 4 1/2" pockets would play too tough for a coin-op table for the average player. Johnnyt
 
Dartman said:
You should be :D

Now aside from the center ridge behind the rail what else is different between Rbacks and stock Valley rails?
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The rails are much more lively for one thing. Just touch the rail before the pocket at a little speed (not much) and it probably won't go in the pocket. As far as the angle/ degrees cut of the pocket opens you'd have to ask Ridgeback or Glen that. There is something different from standard Valley rails. Johnnyt
 
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