Tight 4.5 Inch Pockets Vs Loose 4.5 Inch Pockets

[garczar]

In my home spot we have GC4's(some are 4.5 and some around 4-1/8), Diamond bb's with LeagueCut(4.75) pockets and one D'mond 9' ProAm with ProCut(4.5) pockets. All the GC's were shimmed to achieve the size so they play pretty tough but 'gaffy'. Once the ball gets in the jaws it falls due to the short self. The 9' Diamond plays every bit as tough due to the shelf depth and the facing angles. If you hit any 'green' going in you jaw it most of the time. The D'mond bb's are beyond easy to play on, even with worn-in 860. The shelf 'might' be tad a deeper than the ProCut 4.5 but in no way are they tougher to pocket balls/play on. Unless you hit it horrible and get all facing you will rarely if ever hang one up on a 4.75 D bb. About a month ago i played a guy some 9b on a D bb and i literally tortured him. Won like 10 out of 12games. After coming off the other tables these were a joke. Everything fell in, even marginal shots that hit the facing. You have to hit it BAD to jaw a ball on a LeagueCut Diamond.

 

[Mensabum]

I think that the original Brunswick GCI got it right - the game was 14.1 and you had to develop a stroke and actually learn how to play the game correctly to be successful . ESPN and 9 ball changed everything - just be able to count 1-9 and the game became easy - so now they had to fool with pocket openings.
You cannot run 16 balls on 5 inch pockets if you don’t understand 14.1 but you can run 1-9 all day long on that same table with just a bit of pool knowledge- THIS is the true difference in the game today - it is not the pockets - it’s the game being played.

 

[Zerksies]

It depends on how the pockets angle was cut and also the shelf from the beginning edge of the pocket to the actual hole that the ball drops into.