What to Look for When Buying a Pool Table
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Categories of Puddle Table
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MDF & Slate Bed Tables
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American & British Spec Tables
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Sports Tables & Pool Dining Tables
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Delivery of Your Puddle Table
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Pool Tables Upstairs
Overview
A pool table makes a peachy addition to any space.
At home, it'll be the centrepiece of your games room, providing many hours of fun for your family, friends and visitors. At work, it makes a great lark in your break room, where your employees and colleagues can decompress over a lunchtime game or compete in the office tournament. And in your venue, it will open a new income stream, keep your customers entertained, and boost the profile of your business organization.
But with and then many models, styles and sizes to choose from, it can be a confusing purchase to make. Here nosotros'll guide y'all through all the considerations and choices, the measurements and the options, so yous can make the right decision.
The Harmani luxury pool table (From £9995.00) [ view in shop ]
Puddle Tables for the Home
If y'all take the infinite, a pool tabular array makes a keen centrepiece in your dwelling. Yous'll love existence able to practise at every opportunity. Once dwelling from piece of work, simply take hold of a bite to eat and rack up those balls. Casual players and social collywobbles might relish entertaining guests with a few drinks and a friendly tournament.
Your search for the perfect home pool tabular array should start with the range of MDF puddle tables available. These are fantastic value, well-made and many models provide a game experience that's almost as expert as a slate bed. Some MDF tables fold away to save space, or convert into a dining table, or fifty-fifty, in a multi games table, combine pool with other games like air hockey, foosball or table lawn tennis. Whilst ideal for families and children, they're besides suitable for other light-employ spaces such as shared houses or mutual rooms.
Serious players with deeper pockets will appreciate the functioning of a true slate bed table. Nether the cloth is a piece of honed, flattened rock slate, which gives true tournament-grade roll characteristics. If you are a serious histrion, perhaps in a pub squad or practicing for a tournament, and then slate is the bed material you need to wait for.
The Pureline MDF-bed pool & dining table in a habitation. (From £499.00) [ view in store ]
Pool Tables for Commercial Venues
For some time, the popularity of pool tables in pubs and confined has been on the wane. Only with the appearance of the metropolitan bar and the explosion of stylish arts and crafts drinks, games tables are making a comeback - helped along by some truly modern engineering science like contactless payment systems, which do away with some of the celebrated annoyances of operating a pool table by removing the need to store cash, and minimising whatsoever operator maintenance.
Pool tables tin exist a existent striking with your regular visitors, especially if you lot ready a friendly league or showtime a pub squad. You lot'll get plenty of returning visitors who will spend longer in your venue (spending more money on drinks or food) and people will beloved Instagramming their winning shots – and giving y'all free publicity in the process.
A money-operated Supreme Winner installed in a bar (From £1345.00) [ view in shop ]
Pool Tables for Your Office
A pool table makes a great addition to your office breakout surface area. It will go along your employees entertained, motivated and makes a great social centrepiece for lunch breaks. Read more about pool tables in office breakout areas here.
What's the Difference Betwixt Slate Bed & MDF Bed Tables?
The bed is the part of the puddle table that forms the playfield. Information technology is covered by a cloth and creates a flat, consistent surface on which to play. Slate beds give the best operation and game experience, and are made from existent rock slate. The slate is mined before being cutting to size and then advisedly honed to go far perfectly flat.
Some larger tables, like American 8ft or 9ft tables, feature sectional slate beds. This is a bed made of ii or three sections which are carefully joined by technicians during installation. Smaller tables, like British 6ft or 7ft tables, feature a unmarried piece of slate, making these easier to handle and install.
Part of a sectional slate bed is lifted into a table
MDF bed tables are more often than not aimed at home games rooms, and are ideal for fun games with friends or family members. The game feel isn't quite as good equally with slate, but the benefits include low-cal weight, low price and the addition of household-friendly features like folding systems and multi game systems.
Read more about the differences betwixt MDF and slate bed tables here.
What'south the Difference Betwixt British & American Tables?
British pool and American pool are dissimilar games. The basic rules are similar, just the tables play in different means. British pool tables tend to be smaller, commonly 6-foot or 7-foot. They have narrower pockets with rounded corners, and squared-off cushions. They're fitted with a woollen cloth that drags on the ball, making the game wearisome, steady and tactical. Virtually pub tables in the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland are British tables.
British (left) and American (right) billiard cloths
American tables tend to be larger, from 7-foot to 9-human foot. The textile is a depression-friction nylon and the pockets are wider, with sharp edges. The cushions are also sharp, giving a different kind of rebound. American pool tends to be fast and powerful, with plenty of long shots.
Game accessories differ too. American pool balls are larger, usually 2 3/8-inch in diameter. British balls are 2-inch in diameter. The cues are like, just the tips of American cues are bigger – usually over 1cm in width. British cue tips are smaller, usually somewhere between 7mm and 9mm across.
British (left) and American (right) pool cue tips
You can read more most the differences between American and British pool here.
How Much Infinite Volition I Need?
Puddle tables have up a lot of space, partly because they crave access from all angles with plenty of cueing room.
At 6ft-7ft in length, British tables are more than compact, and perhaps ameliorate suited where infinite is limited or where multiple tables are to be installed.
At up to 9ft in length, American tables need lots of infinite for a good game.
You should add the length of your cue to the depth and width of your table for a rough guide on space. So if you have a 6ft British pool tabular array with a playfield length and width of 82cm x 160cm, you will need a room of at least 372cm x 450cm if you're using a standard 57-inch (145cm) pool cue.
Learn more about the calculations you need to make in our detailed Pool Table Room Size Guide.
What Dissimilar Styles of Puddle Tabular array are Bachelor?
Slate bed pool tables come in all shapes and sizes, but they play very similarly. Apart from the differences between British and American pool discussed higher up, there's little game difference betwixt the styles, so y'all should base your option on what you similar the look of. Some of the more popular styles include:
Modern
Modernistic puddle tables are built to look at abode in any modernistic space. Subtle styling and minimalist shapes make these the option of many homeowners. A wide pick of finish and fabric options means that virtually can be adjusted to build your own dream table that matches your surround perfectly. Scan our modern American puddle tables.
An LA Pro modern American pool table (From £3395.00) [ view in shop ]
Dining
Pool dining tables are commonly modern in manner, but feature a very shallow cabinet. This is designed to give plenty of space underneath, so that chairs and legs can fit with enough of room for hungry dogs and maybe some footsie.
These tables are very popular in homes, as they are true dual-purpose, convertible pieces of furniture. Later on finishing your game, you can fit the tabular array tops and sit downwardly for a meal at the aforementioned table within minutes. Some high-end tables have unlike systems, like the VIP table which features a full rotating chiffonier, or the Chevillotte Very, which features special fold-out tops. See our pool dining tables hither.
A Phoenix slate bed puddle & dining table with matching benches (From £3695.00) [ view in store ]
Luxury
Luxury tables represent the well-nigh decadent materials and stylish designs available. If you lot desire your pool table to brand a statement and add a mic drop for proficient measure, you should start in our Luxury Pool Tables department.
The Houdini luxury slate bed pool table (From £8995.00) [ view in store ]
Traditional
Traditional pool tables feature ornate styling and natural build materials, including a range of wood timbers and veneers. Often they are decorated with carved legs or cabinet sides, creating an event intended to be reminiscent of the billiard lounges of yesteryear. Check out all the finest traditional American pool tables here.
A Chevilotte Perigord traditional slate bed pool table (From £12995.00) [ view in store ]
Outdoor
Outdoor tables are like in style and performance to their indoor siblings. The big divergence here is in the materials used. Normally, a specially-treated wood cabinet and legs are designed to exist resistant to the furnishings of weather, such equally rot or warping. Many are as well treated to exist resistant to UV rays, which tin can discolour paint and varnish, and all are fitted with weather-resistant cloths. You tin see our outdoor pool tables here.
A Fusion Outdoor puddle tabular array with glass comprehend (From £1999.00) [ view in store ]
Which Cloth Should I Choose?
Near slate bed puddle tables come with a material fitted. This will be fitted to the slate prior to installation. Y'all should expect prestigious brands like Hainsworth, Simonis or Strachan to be used, to exist sure of getting the all-time play experience. Equally mentioned earlier, American and British pool textile is quite dissimilar – your tabular array should come with the correct spec textile.
You may be able to asking an upgrade to a higher quality cloth. Near slate beds already come with a high quality fabric fitted, so an upgrade may simply be of interest if you are a professional or tournament thespian.
Y'all'll also be able to choose a colour. Well-nigh commonly, a handful of standard colours are included in the toll, with a wider range of 'premium' colours bachelor for a minor surcharge. The colour yous choose is entirely up to you and the environment you're matching your table to, although some enquiry indicates that blue cloths strain the optics least.
A swatch showing Hainsworth Smart cloth colour options (From £125.00) [ view in store ]
Most MDF tables have a cloth pre-fitted during manufacture. You lot may find you have a choice of cloth that changes with your called table stop.
What Other Options Are There To Consider?
Depending on the table y'all choose, you may get some other options to consider.
Pocket Style
Most British tables come with pockets that are linked via an internal ball render chute, returning balls to one end of the table afterwards potting. On a coin-operated table, the chute is split into two parts, one of which returns coloured balls to the ball drawer set for the next coin, and the other of which returns the white to the end of the tabular array ready for respotting.
The ball return system on a Club English pool table (From £1295.00) [ view in store ]
Many American tables come up with simple drib pockets. More than similar to snooker pockets, these simply fill with balls as they're potted, ready for recovery at the finish of the game. Some American tables may have brawl return options, only you should certainly check if this is a deal-billow for you.
Pes & Slate Adjusters
About all pool tables, even the most basic MDF-bed ones, crave level adjusters. These are often simple threads that allow y'all to easily adapt each pes of the tabular array to become information technology perfectly level.
Some high-end tables have slate adjusters, either every bit well as or instead of human foot adjusters. These allow operators to deport out very precise levelling at various points effectually the slate, to get the best possible results.
Folding Systems
Folding pool tables are limited to MDF-bed designs, mainly because the weight of a slate bed makes information technology very difficult to fold the table torso. Folding tables usually accept retractable legs that fit into the underside of the table, enabling you to slide it upwards against the wall or under a bed for storage.
What Commercial Options Are There To Consider?
As a commercial operator, you should definitely consider how you'd like to spec your tabular array. Most commercial tables have payments in return for game credits. Hither you lot accept iii bones options:
Mechanical coin mech.
Mechanical coin mechs are very basic. You insert the required coins into a slide, which is and so pushed into the tabular array. Once the coins take fallen through, the balls are released. After each ball is potted it goes into the brawl drawer where all are eventually collected during the form of the game, until the adjacent coin is inserted.
The benefits of mechanical coin mechs include easy maintenance. These are basic pieces of equipment that can be maintained with a few tools and an instruction transmission. Easily modify your price of play, collect coins or set to freeplay in the space of a few minutes. As they're fully mechanical, they also don't require mains electricity or a battery pack to operate.
A mechanical pool tabular array mech.
Electronic money mech.
Electronic mechs are more modernistic. Simply insert the coins, button a button and the balls are released. The benefits of electronic units include the opportunity to harvest data on how many games are played, and the ability to have whatsoever combination of coins to make up the toll of a credit.
You lot can as well easily reprogram the unit to change the credit price, and operation is much quieter than a mechanical mech. However, a power supply (either a mains supply or a battery pack) is required.
An electronic pool tabular array mech.
Contactless mech.
Contactless mechs are very new in the earth of pool tables, only are perchance the easiest to operate. Customers but tap their contactless cards or mobile phones to buy a credit instantly, which automatically releases the balls for 1 game.
The benefits are plenty. With no cash stored in the table, you don't accept to worry about security. The units are highly programmable, with options for marketing discounts, promo letters and enough more than. And the unit of measurement is linked to your bank account, so all takings are deposited directly into your account on a regular basis.
A contactless pool table mech.
Other commercial options.
You might as well want to consider other commercial accessories such as light meters, merely to become the best out of your venue'due south new table.
You can scan our selection of coin-operated pool tables here, read more about contactless pool tables here, or read about how much y'all tin await to earn from installing a coin-op pool table here.
Other Games
You can play other games on a pool table – not just pool!
A popular – and cheap – upgrade for a pool table is to buy a set of snooker assurance. You demand to brand sure they're the same size balls as your usual pool balls, then that they fit in your pockets and ball chutes easily. So you tin swap your puddle balls for a fun game of snooker whenever the mood takes y'all.
A fix of 2-inch snooker balls, suitable for a British pool tabular array (From £59.99) [ view in store ]
With a slightly larger outlay you can get a table tennis top. This simply sits on your pool table and creates a tabular array lawn tennis playfield, complete with a cyberspace. It'due south a swell fashion to get extra game fourth dimension out of your space.
A table lawn tennis peak on a pool table (From £159.00) [ view in store ]
You can besides play table bowls. This is a small-calibration reproduction of a set of bowls, designed to exist used on a pool table cloth.
A set of pool table bowls (From £269.00) [ view in shop ]
Accessories
Every new pool table comes with all the accessories yous need to get-go playing. This normally includes two cues, a set of balls, a triangle and some chalk. Depending on the table you choose, you might go extra accessories intended to help you bask your games and accept care of your table.
You tin can run into our full range of pool and billiard accessories here.
Delivery
So when yous've bought your tabular array, when tin you expect to get it? We concord a vast range of MDF bed tables, every bit well as a selection of popular slate bed tables, in stock, ready for dispatch. In these cases you should expect to receive your table within two weeks.
Nearly slate bed tables are fabricated to society, in which case the lead time can vary upward to ii months or so.
The Liberty Games van on an urgent commitment.
When the tabular array arrives, you need to ensure that you have space to receive it. We don't just hateful fitting it through the front door, but also conveying it along whatsoever corridors, around sharp bends or other difficult areas. If in doubt, send our sales staff a few images of the route for communication.
On some tables at that place is the option to have the table taken up or downward stairs for a surcharge. The charge applies to one flight (ie onto the adjacent floor).
Read more about our site-wide Gratis Delivery Promise here.
Installation
British slate bed pool tables come with an install choice. You lot can choose to install it yourself, or pay a pocket-size charge for our technicians to practise it for y'all. Information technology isn't a hard job, but manhandling a 6-human foot piece of slate can exist difficult if you don't have lots of helpers, and fitting the cloth tin be tricky.
Plumbing fixtures the cloth to a slate bed.
American puddle tables come with installation included. This is considering the correct joining of sectional slate beds is a complicated process and is best left to the professionals.
MDF-bed tables rarely offer installation, because these tables are designed to exist piece of cake to build at home. You should but need a basic tool kit and a couple of spare hours to put yours together.
Go Buy a Pool Table!
Now yous should exist fully equipped to choose the perfect table for yous. It's fourth dimension to doublecheck your measurements and buy the 1 that really suits your space from our vast online pool tabular array shop.
And every bit ever, if you demand farther advice, our sales staff are fix to assist you with your decision. Contact us now with any queries!
Source: https://www.libertygames.co.uk/store/pool_tables/buying-advice/buyers-guide/
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