Tight Pockets=tight Money

[cueman]

This was the point I was attempting (poorly, apparently) to make. The original poster was talking about how people want to "change the tables from the way they always were", but the way he remembers them isn't how "they always were". From Mosconi's point of view, for example, the game was changed when it was moved from larger tables with tighter pockets to smaller tables with larger pockets.

You notice I say 9 foot tables had the normal size pockets and not the tight pockets 10 foot table had. This is around 70 years of pool being one way and now changing. I aknowledged 10 footers were supposed to have been tight, but I have never seen an old 9 foot table with original rubber with tight pockets. Russian billiards has much tighter pockets than our triple shimmed tables do. But I bet it never becomes popular television. Another point is what is best for getting money into pool. When I was young Mosconi, Fats, Jimmy Moore, Caras, Crane and so on were on main channel TV with larger viewing audiences than almost all other sporting events. Get pool back to that and then we will have something. Will tight pockets help us get there. I doubt it. Old Has Been is right. I like his handle, because it is much better to be an Old Has Been than a Never Was.

 

[OldHasBeen]

Talk about large pockets !!!

Years ago I was at the poolroom that Mosconi ran 526 balls. It was in Pekin, IL. It was a 4 X 8 with the biggest pockets I have ever seen. I think the biggest feat is that he didn't scratch.
TY & GL

 

[sjm]

Years ago I was at the poolroom that Mosconi ran 526 balls. It was in Pekin, IL. It was a 4 X 8 with the biggest pockets I have ever seen. I think the biggest feat is that he didn't scratch.
TY & GL

Speaking of big pockets, I once played Breedlove on a super-loose table in NYC and he said the pockets were as big as bushel baskets. Just over a week later, I played Robles on that very same table, and he said the pockets were as big as sewers. Guess country boys and city boys talk differently, but they both know huge pockets when they see them.

 

[sixpack]

Tight pockets do not equal better strategy

I think this has been said differently, but I'll take a stab at it:

I am not fundamentally opposed to tight pockets. But disagree with arguments that they make the game more strategic.

I recently played in a pechauer event at Family Billiards in San Fran. The pockets were very tight and got me completely off my game. I'm not complaining about that, those were the conditions and I wasn't prepared, shame on me...But...I noticed that even the top players like Tony Chohan and Morro Paez usually just waited for other players to miss rather than putting much effort into a safety game. It makes the "B" player "strategy" of letting the opponent shoot at the 3-ball and mopping up with an easy 2 or 3-ball out work even against medium A players, even up to just about the very best in the tournament.

In my opinion, that's not really enhancing the strategic portion of the game.

Cheers,
Regas

 

[vapoolplayer]

......Bottom line is....don't sweat the small stuff...Just be happy your playing pool...I play on a table with 4.5" pockets, deader than dead rails, and slow cloth.....BUT.....you know what...Its just like a sore dick...You can't beat it...

i'm not even gonna type my own posts anymore, i'm just gonna cut and paste richard's stuff

great post

 

[sjm]

I think this has been said differently, but I'll take a stab at it: I am not fundamentally opposed to tight pockets. But disagree with arguments that they make the game more strategic.

Know where you're coming from, but I disagree. Super-tight tables will cause a player with a firm grasp of the percentages to play a little more defense and to play a few more two-way shots in pursuit of vicotry. The flip side is that super-tight tables place a greater premium on accurate position play than the looser tables. Still, I believe that, on the whole, the weapons on the sound strategists are more valuable on super-tight tables.