Pool tables an update

Pool tables are getting even more popular with multi coloured cloths, anything goes these days.
And there are more contemporary table designs that are more pleasing to the eye and fit in better with your decor. A well crafted pool table is still a very nice object although a tad bulky, also allow for the cue whilst planning a games room or when you select a table. Allow for 10 foot on both dimensionsto allow for playing room when playing, so if you have a 6 foot pool table your room size should be 16 ft by 13 feet to give some room round the table to manipulate the cue. 17 ft x 14 ft if you buy a seven foot pool table.

Pool Tables vary in price considerably. Pool tables are priced from $50 for 4 footers or up to $10,000 for the more exotic versions and the reason is is the playing surface, either MDF or slate. The wooden topped tables are usually the toy versions although there are some very nice wood topped tables that can come in 7 ft sizes,of sufficient size for even dad to play on and less costly than the slate table top types.

Proper pool tables are slate bed tables, no wooden topped table is the same as a proper pool table with a slate top. Slate varies in thickness depending on the cost of the table. Of course being made of slate they are very heavy. Depending on the size of the table the slate is made from one or up to 3 separate parts, to save carrying weight when installing the table. The one piece slate table is easy to put together, the multi slate tables will always need an installer to do it for you.

The support work for tables also come in a variety of materials from the traditional types made of solid timber or MDF to the brick outhouse style of steel tables made to stand up to the hurley burley of pool club life. The table to go for really depends on the use it is put to, with the wood or MDF tables for domestic use and the steel and aluminium framed tables are made for the clubs. The aluminium and steel tables being metal, lend themselves to outlandish paint jobs which you can see in the arcades especially but tables made for home tend to be straightforward stained oak or mahogany.

The games played on pool tables vary depending where you live in the world from the French which play on Carom pool tables which don’t have any pockets to 9 ball played in the America, made famous in the Hustler. The French game of Carom or carombole to give it its full name, is a form of billiards played for points scored by hitting either or both of the other balls on the table. The rest of the world play on tables that do have pockets, and the most popular games are 8 ball and 9 ball, with 8 ball you have to pocket your 7 balls and then the number 8 ball, and with 9 ball you have to pocket the number 9 ball to win.

Pool tables have a long history Pool tables are part of the larger family of billiard tables which have been around for a few hundred years and include snooker, carom and pool tables, and I’m sure they will be around for a lot longer as the game can be played by anyone and if you’re good enough, become a full time pro. So get practicing and I’ll see you at the pool hall.

New Games Table arrived

We have a new games table at Snooker Billiards Pool, the 7ft Scorpio 2-in-1 Pool/Air Hockey Reversible: Whats that you ask? Well it is a pool table and an air hockey table all rolled into one. And a 7 foot monster at that! On one side of the table is a blue cloth pool table with cues and pool balls and the other side is a Air hockey table. The really neat thing is you just swivel the table over and hey presto you have changed the game from one to the other. And you get a storage rail at the bottom of the table to keep all the air hockey and pool balls etc. You also get 2 full size pool cues and 2 1/4 American pool balls to gowith the 2 pushers and pucks for the air hockey.

Need a new Snooker cue case?

Hi, we have some new snooker cue cases you may be interested in , goto our page and see the new cases with room for your smart extender. They come in silver and black, see picture left. They are on special this month, check them out.

icWales - Snooker: Cue much embarrassment!

icWales - Snooker: Cue much embarrassment!: "Snooker: Cue much embarrassment!Nov 18 2006


Darren Witcoop, South Wales Echo

'come down to Rileys at 7pm and we'll have a game of pool.'
That was the challenge thrown down to me by none other than Jimmy White.
So I did, and as I entered the recently refurbished American Pool and Snooker Club, I realised I would be playing the man known as The Whirlwind.
Just what exactly was I putting myself through?
To be invited to play against the green baize legend that is Jimmy White is one thing."
But to face him in a frame alongside 200 watching spectators is another.
Granted, it may not be the Crucible, but any sizeable crowd is enough to unnerve a young rookie in any game.
So once the six-time World Championship finalist had done with the dignitaries, I was first up on the list to face Jimmy at Cardiff's City Road complex.
I was introduced by the compere and amid a small group of hecklers was about to face one of the most nerve-wrecking experiences of my life.
A few thoughts went through my head. Don't tense up and don't show your nerves.
But it was the blunt message of a friend of mine, who I have had many battles with over pub pool tables down the years, that kept flashing in front of my eyes.
He said: 'Whatever you do, don't miss the balls.' It seemed simple - or so I'd thought.
The cool persona which I try to present had clearly deserted me as my clammy bridge hand touched the table.
And there it was, a fluid pull back of the pool cue - and the white ball bounced, bounced, and bounced off the side of the table and on to the floor.
Cue howls of laughter.
A clearly red-faced journalist told Jimmy and the crowd it was a practice trick shot, it was all show for the cameras.
I think they all knew better.
Fortunately the second break-off attempt, by which time I was reaching record levels of perspiration, went according to plan.
By that, I mean I hit the ball and with ironic cheers that greeted it, I was off and running. After potting two red balls in succession, my confidence soared. Could I really beat the godfather of the current snooker generation?
The 44-year-old is regarded as the best ever player not to lift the world crown.
So could he fail again?
Well, actually no.
After a natural miss by yours truly, White came along and finished me off before I could get back to the table.
Two minutes later and after a handshake and a wry smile, it was all over.
'I wouldn't worry about the break,' said White, referring to my embarrassing first shot error as he tried to cheer me up afterwards.
'In fact, I've seen a lot worse on the circuit over the years.'
Somehow, I think he was being a little kind.
We are offering 10 readers the chance to win a free 12-month membership with Rileys American Pool and Snooker Club on City Road.
Just answer this simple question: What is Jimmy White's nickname?
The closing date is on Friday, November 24. Usual terms and conditions apply. Send your answers via e-mail to darren.witcoop@wme.co.uk or alternatively by post to: Darren Witcoop, South Wales Echo, Sports Desk, Thomson House, Havelock Street, Cardiff CF10 1XR

Pool Table News

British snooker vet wins U.S. Open 9-ball : Pro-Sports : Albuquerque Tribune: "A few hundred folks showed up to watch a billiards championship, and a chess match broke out.
And Allison Fisher proved she is still the grand master.
The world's No. 1 player came back from a 4-1 deficit Sunday night at Sandia Resort & Casino to beat Kim Shaw 7-5 and win her second straight U.S. Open 9-ball Championship.
The match between two British snooker veterans, playing on a table with tight pockets, featured plenty of defense and safety shots. Shaw seemed to have the upper hand early, winning two straight battles for the 1-ball. Her first win featured 11 shots at the 1-ball.
But Shaw, playing in her first tour final, gambled on a jump shot in the sixth game and gave Fisher an opening. Fisher regained the lead, twice running the table off her break.
'That's just her,' Shaw said of her opponent and the game's dominant force the past 10 years. 'She does that. It doesn't matter how far behind she is, she can win seven games like that.'
The billiards tournament moved this year from the bingo hall at Sandia Casino to the roomier convention center. And for the first time, the quarterfinal matches were taped for broadcast by ESPN. That meant exposure for more players.
'It gets more faces on TV; we go deeper into the field,' said Peg Ledman, the Women's Professional Billiards Association's director of operations. 'There are a lot of talented players here the viewing audience never gets to see.
'A lot of players here are on the fence, and it gets them some time on TV.'
'It's a good tournament this year,' said Albuquerque's Ramona Biddle, who went out in the early rounds. 'It's nice to get somebody new in the finals.'
While the rest of the field played quarterfinal matches on Saturday, Shaw played her quarterfinal and semifinal on Sunday. That meant she played three matches Sunday under the bright TV lights.
"I was probably fortunate to have three matches," Shaw said. "I was warmed up (for the semis)."
Fisher had her own challenges last week. On Monday in Charlotte, N.C., she had a two-hour cancer surgery on the skin around her right eye. "I had eight injections in my eye," she said.
The eye looked battered Sunday night.
"I still have a stitch in the corner of my eye," she said.
On Wednesday, Fisher still had a protective patch over the eye. On Thursday, she was in Albuquerque and won her first match of the tournament.
On Sunday, she was feeling the heat, down 4-1.
"I was sitting in my seat thinking `She's playing really well,' and I was thinking that I needed to start taking my time on my shots," Fisher said.
Fisher used a strong break to come back. And that's where Shaw fell short.
"My break let me down," Shaw said.
But she was upbeat after the match, saying she felt more relaxed in Albuquerque, even if she "never felt 100 percent comfortable" in the tournament.
Shaw was able to capitalize on her opponents' mistakes, and she knocked off top players Jeanette Lee and Karen Corr.
"I was more fearless," she said."

Snooker table news from New Straits Times - Malaysia News Online

New Straits Times - Malaysia News Online: "MOH Keen Hoe was introduced to snooker at the age of eight when he was barely as tall as a snooker table.

But that did not deter him and as he grew so did his thirst for the game, and was given his first lesson by his dad Loon Hong, who himself was a national billiards and snooker player.

Loon Hoong is best remembered as a double Sea Games gold medallist in billiards in the 1991 Manila and 1995 Chiangmai Games.

Being a son of a former national player, it was difficult for Keen Hoe to come to terms with the legacy of his father as many people were comparing him with his dad.

However, Keen Hoe looked at it as a challenge and has been successful so far in creating his own identity in the sport. His most memorable win thus far was winning the Asian Junior crown in Bangkok last year and potting the doubles silver medal in the 2003 Vietnam Sea Games.

Keen Hoe teamed up with his father for the billiards doubles in the Vietnam Games but lost in the first round.

Now he wants to go one better — to win a medal in the Asian Games.

Keen Hoe, 20, is one of the three snooker players who will be making their Asian Games debut in Doha. The others are Lai Chee Wei and Thor Chuan Leong.

He will be playing in the singles, doubles with Chee Wei, and the team event.

Keen Hoe, who has bagged one title this year — Asian snooker circuit in Thailand in May — however, knows it will not be easy. 'It will all depend on the draw. The clear favourites in Doha will be China, Hong Kong and Thailand,' said Keen Hoe, who was drafted into the national squad in 2002 when he was just 16.

'I hope to get a good draw, meaning a clear path in the early rounds. If it’s favourable, I sshould be able to reach the quarter-finals and from then on the real battle, I suppose, will begin."Although, it will be Keen Hoe’s first Asian Games, he is not feeling the pressure. "I have been playing on a regular basis on the Asian circuit and also in Europe for the past several years. The Asian Games is just another competition for me," added Keen Hoe, who is the current Malaysian No 1."I am not afraid of anyone. I will give my best and, hopefully, land a medal." "

Snooker table news Snooker in the USA

Day One at the 2006 IBSF World Snooker Tournament - Billiard, Billiards, Pool, Magazines: "Day One at the 2006 IBSF World Snooker Tournament
Pool, Billiards, and Snooker report
Snooker fever has hit San Jose, CA and it's wonderful because it's very cold in the Gateway Ballroom at the Doubletree Hotel.
All over the hotel, smartly dressed men , some as young as 21, some over 40 for the Seniors tournament carry long, thin, aluminum cases filled with their snooker cues, sporting vests, bow ties and dress trousers. They have little clips with metallic chalk ready to use for each shot in their pockets. They come from England, Japan, the Isle of Man, India, almost every ex-English colony. Some speak English, some don't, but it doesn't matter. They're all proper gentlemen, and they're all sweet as all get-out. They communicate through the sport, and they communicate well. And of course there are 3 US teams and 1 Canadian team, to keep our North American presence known, lest you think snooker is NOT an American sport.
For indeed it is, and it's growing every year. Thanks to the work of Executive Director Alan Morris of the US Snooker Association, who aims to bring notice to the sport in the US. More on him another day.
Indeed, as I watched matches today (there were 3 going on at one time; tomorrow and then on there will be, at certain times, 4), I saw some amazing shots, some amazing snookers, and some heartbreaking misses and failures to get out of snookers. Which, if the opponent chooses, makes the player stuck in the same situation again and again. Two subsequent misses and the player automatically loses. Talk about ruthless!
Of course not ever match is ruthless. One frame had an American player and a Scot battling it out until the final ball, when all of a sudden the game was tied, and a black ball ending had to occur. This means that the black ball is respotted on its opening spot and the cue placed in the opening circle.
The referee flips a coin, and whoever wins gets the first shot on the black ball. Of course it’s nigh impossible to get it in from there, so he almost always just has to set up a safety. Which he did. But it
was not safe enough. The Scotsman got the black ball in and won the match. Talk about exhilarating! I was holding my breath the whole time.
A few stragglers came in from the outside world, checking out the sport. They stick out, they do. Looking lost, as though in another world. As though completely bewildered. Maybe they’d heard that it was a sport like pool or 9-ball, and didn’t expect the whopping 12’x6’ table. Maybe they didn’t expect the showmanship and gentlemanly nature (believe me, a woman’s tourney is just as regal), unusual in most American sports. One guy was reading the rules of the game – so maybe he was really trying to learn. Whatever it was, it was enough to keep the sparse audience here, and I expect that as the days roll along, more and more people will come. And I’ll keep you posted.
ABOUT 2006 1BSF WORLD SNOOKER TEAM CUP CHAMPIONSHIPS:The DoubleTree Hotel in San Jose hosts to this international snooker competition, whose competition began today. Matches run at 10 am, 2 pm and 6 pm; admission is $5 for the regular matches, $8 for the semi-finals on the 25th and $10 for the finals on the 26th. For more information or to make reservations for the matches, please call Diana Slampyak, Press Officer, at 650.773.9633 or email her at dslampyak@comcast.net. "