Sandcastle tables

[jtompilot]

WTF, I like tight tables but this is ridiculous.
Table 1. 3 3/4”
2. 3 7/8”
3. 4”
4. 4 1/4

 

[beltsander bill]

The old saying..tighter than two thumbs in one a.. comes to mine

 

[Mkbtank]

Yeah Dennis spears trapped me in a game of Banks on table
1! Lucky to be Even after two games and thankfully he had to take a break lol. Ridiculously tight.

 

[Kybanks]

Yeah Dennis spears trapped me in a game of Banks on table
1! Lucky to be Even after two games and thankfully he had to take a break lol. Ridiculously tight.

Better learn how to roll them banks on equipment like that! I've played banks on equipment that tight and actually enjoyed the game more. It's harder to get punished for missed banks.

 

[jtompilot]

Better learn how to roll them banks on equipment like that! I've played banks on equipment that tight and actually enjoyed the game more. It's harder to get punished for missed banks.

In 1P, Ed told me they run sixes on a regular basis. Yea, right, for a pro, maybe.

 

[lfigueroa]

WTF, I like tight tables but this is ridiculous.
Table 1. 3 3/4”
2. 3 7/8”
3. 4”
4. 4 1/4

I think this is silly.

You need to be able to work the CB a bit on most shots. These dimensions reduce the game to something it is not meant to be.

Lou Figueroa

 

[jtompilot]

I think this is silly.

You need to be able to work the CB a bit on most shots. These dimensions reduce the game to something it is not meant to be.

Lou Figueroa

I can live with 4 1/8 to 4 1/4. Those smaller pockets are practice tables to work on fundamentals.

 

[Kybanks]

In 1P, Ed told me they run sixes on a regular basis. Yea, right, for a pro, maybe.

I wouldn't want to play 1 pocket on tables that tight. 3.75" is way to tight. You dont have any room to cheat the pocket to move the cb.

 

[lll]

WTF, I like tight tables but this is ridiculous.
Table 1. 3 3/4”
2. 3 7/8”
3. 4”
4. 4 1/4

come on jim
you like a challenge

 

[NH Steve]

4-1/4 is plenty tight and still be able to play. Tighter than that is gaff if you ask me.

 

[cincy_kid]

I know most think 4.5 is too big but it's perfect imo.

 

[lfigueroa]

I can live with 4 1/8 to 4 1/4. Those smaller pockets are practice tables to work on fundamentals.

Not so sure.

There was a time I would practice with pool balls on a 10' Brunswick snooker table and could run more than a few balls. But I found, for whatever reason, that cinching balls with nothing but center ball had limited appications in real life.

Lou Figueroa
YMMV

 

[Richard S]

I bought a brand new Gold Crown IV in 2004. It came from the factory with 4 7/8" corner pockets. In the late nineties the Diamond tables with 4 1/2" corner pockets first appeared in the New Orleans area. The locals seemed to think that one had to play on the tighter tables to improve and legitimize their competition.

Note that the difference between the pocket sizes is 3/8". That's a difference of just under 8%. Is that significant?

I could tolerate 4 1/2 inch corner pockets - would actually prefer same. However, the one I got is the one I got. I've studied Dr. Dave's table difficulty chart and am trying to determine the level of shame I should be playing under.

Lou Figueroa is hyper-correct when he says the ultra tight pockets make the game something it is not meant to be.

Summarily, there's a case to be made for making 4 1/2 a standard minimum.

Incidentally, the hard opening at the rear of the corner pockets is 4". The pocket opening is determined by the cut and angle of the rail ends. Then there's the shelf depth ....

I'm 80 years old and can barely walk around my table. My hero is John Henderson.

 

[sorackem]

trying to determine the level of shame I should be playing under.

Richard S:,

For what it's worth, I appreciate that observation.
The concept you attribute agreement with Lou F was a point I remember and appreciated.
My friend whose table I get on periodically (Olhausen 9') keeps it in great condition; told me after I had spent 7 hours on it by myself (1st time playing in weeks) that the pockets were 4". (I don't know because he's the sort that could re-engineer his whole table and never mention it).

A week or so later I played him on the table and was banking like a maniac. His table banks like a Diamond on the clench. Played safe when needed and actually missed fewer shots than I feared I would but he probably took it by a game or two. ( I think his wife shoots better than him... - I have reason).

 

[lfigueroa]

I bought a brand new Gold Crown IV in 2004. It came from the factory with 4 7/8" corner pockets. In the late nineties the Diamond tables with 4 1/2" corner pockets first appeared in the New Orleans area. The locals seemed to think that one had to play on the tighter tables to improve and legitimize their competition.

Note that the difference between the pocket sizes is 3/8". That's a difference of just under 8%. Is that significant?

I could tolerate 4 1/2 inch corner pockets - would actually prefer same. However, the one I got is the one I got. I've studied Dr. Dave's table difficulty chart and am trying to determine the level of shame I should be playing under.

Lou Figueroa is hyper-correct when he says the ultra tight pockets make the game something it is not meant to be.

Summarily, there's a case to be made for making 4 1/2 a standard minimum.

Incidentally, the hard opening at the rear of the corner pockets is 4". The pocket opening is determined by the cut and angle of the rail ends. Then there's the shelf depth ....

I'm 80 years old and can barely walk around my table. My hero is John Henderson.

I have had the opportunity to play on two tables with itty-bitty pockets.

The first time was at a 1pocket tournament at a room across the river in IL. You just had to totally change your approach to the game, I was the only one to do that and I won that event. The second time was at the corner table to the side of the counter at the now departed Comet Billiards in NJ. All the locals waxed eloquent about this particular table, with 4" pockets, was the way a 1pocket table should be set up. I just nodded and beat them for about a week. They all tried to play a normal, conventional brand of 1pocket and I did not.

I have no doubt professional players can do amazing things on this kind of equipment, with their hyper-accurate play. But for the majority of us it's a no-go.

Lou Figueroa
a man's gotta know
his limitations

 

[jtompilot]

I have had the opportunity to play on two tables with itty-bitty pockets.

The first time was at a 1pocket tournament at a room across the river in IL. You just had to totally change your approach to the game, I was the only one to do that and I won that event. The second time was at the corner table to the side of the counter at the now departed Comet Billiards in NJ. All the locals waxed eloquent about this particular table, with 4" pockets, was the way a 1pocket table should be set up. I just nodded and beat them for about a week. They all tried to play a normal, conventional brand of 1pocket and I did not.

I have no doubt professional players can do amazing things on this kind of equipment, with their hyper-accurate play. But for the majority of us it's a no-go.

Lou Figueroa
a man's gotta know
his limitations

I just spent two days at Sandcastle just practicing because the was no action, the place was pretty dead. Ed didn’t even call in a ringer.

I spent the first day on the 3 7/8 table. In fortunately it seems whoever installed the new cushions didn’t fix the gaffe Brunswick corner angles. When I froze four balls along the long rail above the side pocket and smacked the first ball pretty hard, half the time the ball bobbled and hung in the corner.

The second day I spent 30 minutes on the 3 3/4 table. I gave up, you can’t play 1P on that table despite what Ed says. I ended up sticking to the 4” pocket table. At least it was playable.

 

[Thecoats]

I agree that anything under 4 inches impacts the style of play for me. I played a few One Pocket sessions on a snooker table and it was a lag fest. However, I knew I was stealing and he liked to bet it up, and for some odd reason he thought playing on the snooker table would give him an edge.

 

[jazznpool]

There's a place in Dearborn Heights in Detroit that had (or still has) a gaff table like that. Those kind of tables are there to skin the players by dramatically increasing game table time. Pockets under 4-1/4" should be boycotted IMO.

 

[Nick B]

4" pockets are fine like at a Matchroom event where the cloth is fresh and slides. For a conventional room with year old cloth it's brutal. Plus the table needs to be dead nuts straight or the tolerance will get you no matter how straight you shoot. Otherwise they are just gaffe tables.

 

[NH Steve]

If I remember correctly, they have one table at Southern Recreation an older Diamond with small pockets. I know I tried to avoid that table. It seemed like even though we were a crowd of One Pocket players, I was not the only one that tried to avoid it. Anyone know the pocket size there?