Pool tables

Hello and welcome to poolworld.net. We are a website designed and dedicated to bringing you the latest news and information on the world of Billiards or Pool. We cover many different topics like Pool Tables, Billiard Tables, Billiard Supplies, Billiard Equipment, Pool Cues, Cue Racks, Billiard lights, and Billiard Accessories.

Poolworld.net is a strictly informational website and we do not promote or endorse any one particular product or method. Please make sure to check back with this site often as we are continually updating the website to bring you the most relevant news on the world of Pool and Billiards.

A pool, or billiard table, can be found in all sizes and colors.. Generally, tables are rectangles twice as long as they are wide. Most pool tables are known as 7-, 8-, or 9-footers, referring to the length of the table's long side. Full-size snooker and English billiard tables are 12 feet long on the longest side. Pool halls tend to have 9-foot tables and cater to the serious pool player.

Pubs will typically use 7-foot tables which are often coin-operated. Formerly, 10-foot tables were common, but such tables are now considered antique collector’s items; a few, usually from the late 1800s, can be found in pool halls from time to time.

Ten-foot tables remain the standard size for carom billiard games. The slates on modern carom tables are usually heated to stave off moisture and provide a consistent playing surface.

The length of the pool table will typically be a function of space, with many homeowners purchasing an 8-foot table as a compromise. High quality tables are mostly 4.5 by 9 ft., with a bed made of three pieces of thick slate to prevent warping and changes due to humidity.

Smaller bar tables are most commonly made with a single piece of slate. Pocket billiards tables normally have six pockets, three on each side (four corner pockets, and two side pockets).

Billiard balls have been made from many different materials since the start of the game, including clay, Bakelite, celluloid, crystallite, ivory, plastic, steel and wood. The dominant material from 1627 until the early 20th century was ivory.

The search for a substitute for ivory use was not for environmental concerns but based on economic motivation and fear of danger for elephant hunters. It was in part spurred on by a New York billiard table manufacturer who announced a prize of $10,000 for a substitute material.

The first viable substitute was celluloid, invented by John Wesley Hyatt in 1868, but the material was volatile, sometimes exploding during manufacture and was highly flammable.

All types of tables are covered with billiard cloth (often called "felt", but actually a woven wool or wool/nylon blend called baize). Cloth has been used to cover billiards tables since the 15th century. In fact, the predecessor company of the most famous maker of billiard cloth, Iwan Simonis, was formed in 1453.

Bar or tavern tables, which get a lot of play, use "slower", more durable cloth. The cloth used in upscale pool (and snooker) halls and home billiard rooms is "faster" (i.e. provides less friction, allowing the balls to roll farther across the table bed), and competition-quality pool cloth is made from 100 % worsted wool.

Thank you for visiting poolworld.net. Please make sure to check back with the site often, so that you can stay up to date on all things pool and billiard related.

Pool table | Billiard tables | Learning Center | Site Map | Links | Contact | Home

Copyright © 2010