steveharn said:I see Diamonds the most, probably because I'm from KY. Of course Brunswick and I see Olhausen down in FL. Does it really matter as long as the table is in good shape?
JoeyInCali said:I haven't met anyone who did not like GC I and II's.
Most I know do not like Olhausens.
Diamond tables are very nice but the old ones with the Chinese-made rubber banked short. The end rails cushion facings are also too flat on Diamonds imo.
Too tough of a table to shot rail shots imo.
I think the best table there is today is the Gabriel's table.
I like them, but I have met many one-hole players who do not like them beacause they are usually shimmed to get tighter pockets, rather than having longer rails.JoeyInCali said:I haven't met anyone who did not like GC I and II's.
Good call. I love the way Gabriel tables play, but they are pretty hard to find here in the states. Well, pretty hard to find with pockets anyway.JoeyInCali said:I think the best table there is today is the Gabriel's table.
JCIN said:Most of the guys I have heard talk or asked all seem to want the same things.
Consistent rails...they can play short or long as long as they do not change too much over the course of a session or tournament.
If the rail bolts are tightened down properly I can't imagine how table play would change during the course of a session or tournament except by factors such as heat/humidity which is not the table's fault.
LEVEL table...no roll when you lag a ball to the hole.
Tight pockets. Tighter the better.
Diamond is the leader by a wide margin in my informal polls. Gold Crowns next, never heard anyone say Olhausen or any other brand.
Metro if they can afford it.steveharn said:Brunswick seems to be very popular over there, WPC, etc. with the Metro table. The metal around the pockets would seem to be a knock on that table. Wonder if they prefer that table or if it was provided to them. Jay Helfert probably knows the most popular table over there since he spent several days over there visiting rooms.
steveharn said:I see Diamonds the most, probably because I'm from KY. Of course Brunswick and I see Olhausen down in FL. Does it really matter as long as the table is in good shape?
av84fun said:[/B]
Diamond deserves HUGE props for its marketing. At a tournament, I heard a road player (no sponsor endorsements) say he thought Diamonds were WAY better than GC IIs. LOL! What may be "the best" table is largely a matter of personal opinion but nothing is WAY better than a GCII.
I have a pro model Olhausen with ACCU-FAST cushions and love it. My table tech tells me that ACCU-FAST cushions are considerably more expensive than those used by Diamond.
He also tells me that in his CONSIDERABLE experience, many if not most pool hall operators do a poor job of keeping the rail bolts tightened up.
They do it only when the cloth is changed and that assumes that the tech takes the time to do it right.
I think that a LOT of opinions are formed about tables based on false assumptions resulting from improperly tightened rail bolts that can radically alter rebound behavior and worst of all, cause a given rail to be WAY more or less lively than the others on the same table.
I recently got eliminated from a local tournement (Diamond tables) when I thinned the 9 Ball into the side with JUST enough pace to send the CB to the foot rail and back to about center table but it rebounded all the way back to the opposite corner pocket for a scratch!! It seemed to almost GAIN speed off that side of the foot rail.
I just mention all this to point out that the rail bolts can and do have a huge impact on table playability.
Regards,
Jim