Two Spots On A Table?

DrCue'sProtege

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
i was watching the video of Efren and Earl from the 2001 Masters in Chesapeake and i noticed the table they were playing on had spots at both ends of the table. the table looks like a Gold Crown to me.

i dont think i've even seen that before, whats up with that?

Mike
 
Common

From my experience this can be pretty common. I do not know if it is anything more than marking the center of the Head and Foot strings.
Visual aid.
On a side note: A poolhall I frequent has a 5x10' Brunswick that is used for a daily Golf game. I think it has 4 or 5 spots at least.
 
i was watching the video of Efren and Earl from the 2001 Masters in Chesapeake and i noticed the table they were playing on had spots at both ends of the table. the table looks like a Gold Crown to me.

i dont think i've even seen that before, whats up with that?

Mike

Hey Mike..back in the day lots of tables sported 2 spots..they were used
for Straight pool (14.1 rack) and other games like Golf , Round the world
and for Breaking..in Staight pool if your CB was caught in the rack you
would spot it on that spot or if an object ball was..and alot of halls
put a spot in the center of the table as well..SA
 
Frequently spots are put at both ends to minimize the amount of play from the break box and allow for different conditions to pockets which may play differently.

I know in the pool hall I grew up in we had 2 spots on every table and one end you played most every game, on the other end you played one pocket and straight pool.

I also remember a game, but not the name of the game, where spotting a ball on the other end spot was required.
 
I put three spots on my table....head spot, foot spot and one dead center I do this for convenience when I practice. I use a permanent marker and leave a dot about 1/8 of an inch. Even using a black marker this mark fades and is gone after a year and a half.
 
When I started playing it was common to have two spots. Mine was supposed to have two but the installers only put on one. I put the other on myself. Another thing the current 9 ball rules have done.
 
When I was a young teenager back in the 1970's I seem to recall almost every table having two spots. If/when I get my nine-footer for my basement it will have two as well.

I now wonder why that second spot vanished... certainly not the additional cost of the adhesive dot thingy...
 
When I was a young teenager back in the 1970's I seem to recall almost every table having two spots. If/when I get my nine-footer for my basement it will have two as well.

I now wonder why that second spot vanished... certainly not the additional cost of the adhesive dot thingy...

It vanished because of the ball-in-hand-anywhere rules for 8 ball and 9 ball. Since these were the most popular games and in-the-kitchen shots were no longer taken except in One Pocket and Straight Pool, it wasn't deemed necessary to have two spots. When I took up the game seriously in the early '70s I only saw a table without two spots when the head spot hadn't been replaced due to wear.
 
I had a feeling it might have been related to the rise in popularity of ball-in-hand-anywhere but I wasn't certain. Thank you for the explanation.
 
if you see a pool room where there is no "2nd" spot.....they most likely don't play 14.1

if the last ball is left in the rack you put it on the spot....if the last ball and the cue ball are both in the stack, you spot the object ball on the 2nd spot and the cue ball goes in the center of the table.....which would explain the "3rd" spot! :)

G.
 
What an odd thread, IMO. Have we really gotten to a point in our sport where so many posters view the head spot as some kind of curiosity like the extinct Dodo Bird?

Fred <~~~ spotting on the center
 
if you see a pool room where there is no "2nd" spot.....they most likely don't play 14.1

if the last ball is left in the rack you put it on the spot....if the last ball and the cue ball are both in the stack, you spot the object ball on the 2nd spot and the cue ball goes in the center of the table.....which would explain the "3rd" spot! :)

G.
There are instances of spotting on the center. That's not one of them.

Fred
 
What an odd thread, IMO. Have we really gotten to a point in our sport where so many posters view the head spot as some kind of curiosity like the extinct Dodo Bird?

Fred <~~~ spotting on the center

Yeah Fred, the head spot has gone the way of the spot shot.

Remember when we used to actually practice spot shots and gamble on them as well? Who could make more in a rack of 15 balls for the do-re-mi?
 
We have four Gold Crown IIIs with Simonis 860. There are two "marked" spots on each table. The triangle rack is moved to the opposite end of the table each month to save wear and tear on the cloth.

The tables are in continual use for about three hours a day, five days a week and then casual play at other times. The cloth is about three years old and looks to be about six months old.

The room also requires people to use an old piece of table cloth about 6" square as a break pad. Seems like a pain but it does save the cloth when you consider the amount of use and the length of time this cloth has been on these tables.
 
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