Riley v BCE v Star

[wordsworth]

These three seem to be the official choices of tables at professional tournaments. Riley and BCE for UK evens and Star for Asian events. Which is the best? Personally if I had £8k (or thereabouts) to spare I'd get a Star table, mainly because I dislike the silver legs on the Riley tables. Plus I hear Stephen Hendry endorses Star tables.

Also, is there a site where you can look at prices (For wishful viewing only of course :snooker

[senga147]

Which table

The table of choice since 1992 for all UK tournaments is the RILEY ARISTOCRAT. Prior to that it was BCE Westbury, and for a couple of years prior to that Karnhem and Hillman. Since the demise of RILEY Leisure, BCE bought the name and now market both RILEY and BCE tables. The official status of each table is basically down to who pays the most money. The BCE Westbury is actually preferred by many professionals, but RILEY offered the most attractive package to World Snooker. Star are rumoured to be poised to take the contract at the next renewal. Whether this is correct remains to be seen.

The Star table is currently endorsed by Stephen Hendry amongst others, but bear in mind he endorsed the Riley brand for many years prior to that. I really think it is a case of `he who pays the piper calls the tune`

I have viewed the Star table but have never worked on one. They are essentially the same as the Aristocrat with a few tweaks, such as the slate liners being bolted through at the slate joint. The frame has an improved fixing and they use small ceramic under table heaters. Other than that they are the same.

[bongo]

I think the STAR table looks really good on TV.