Purchasing a table for home?

[royle1987]

Hi all,

One of my team mates at Snooker is looking to purchase a snooker table for his home use. However he his undecided on what table to purchase as its not something anyone does from day to day and knowing whether he has a good deal or not is hard to work out.

He has been priced about 4k for an Aristocrat fitted with steel block cushions etc

As said he doesnt know if that is a good price or not, also we had the discussion of whether having a top end table will actually benefit his game as he will never be taking it more serious than a Thursday Snooker League of Working Mens Clubs tables.

If anyone could point me in the right direction for snooker tables and what makes brands he should be looking at for an pretty amatuer level it would be appreciated

Cheers

Sean

[DeanH]

I would get your friend to contact Geoff Large (table fitter of 40 years) he is a member on here and always give good advise;
he also has a website where tables can be seen for sale - Geoff is not selling them himself but he allows owners to advertise their tables.

https://gclbilliards.com/

[pottr]

If you get one with steel blocks then you can't alter the template on the table.

If he's not at a decent level, he'll never enjoy it properly.

A non steel block table you can have set up with a re rubber to a more forgiving template.

4K for a steel block aristocrat isn't too bad... if it's one of the older UK ones then it's a very good price.

[fkhan]

B&W for me all the way. Cheap but quality.

[neilalex]

I'm interested in this because I have more or less the same issue/question. I'd prefer the look of an old table like a B&W and they are obviously great quality, but my understanding is that they would play very differently to something like an Aristocrat. Thing is, I'm a pretty ordinary player so what is the difference in how it would play and would someone at my level (rare 40 break type player) notice the difference? I have actually swapped emails with Geoff Large but I don't know from a playing perspective what the difference would be.

Apologies, Royle1987 but I felt we have the same issue pretty much.

[blahblah01]

But the tight pockets would make him better? He could go down a Club and moan about the easy pockets

[the_unrepentant]

B&W for me all the way. Cheap but quality.

As he said. I have a B&W with vacuum steel blocks and its bliss to play on. Probably 60 years old and some but if you are going 2nd hand, then its a serious contender for the money. I bought mine for £158! It turned out to be Bill Werbeniuk's old practice table!

[fkhan]

I hope to own one some day.

[royle1987]

Thank you for the comments so far chaps. Much appreciated

[thommo335]

If you get one with steel blocks then you can't alter the template on the table..

I never knew this.....

[perpetualboredom]

Can you clarify what you mean by ‘can’t alter the templates’? I had mine made about 3/4 inch tighter - a very noticeable difference, they were buckets before (old B&W with steel blocks)

[pottr]

Sorry, I was hasty with my language.

I mean if you get a table set up to tournament template with steel blocks you 'shouldn't' alter the template.

The whole point of pro playing conditions is to keep them that way...

You can cut em however you like, it's your money.

[neilalex]

Sorry to ask such a basic question but what is the approximate difference in size between a tournament set up and the 'average' club table?

[pottr]

It's night and day, it really is... Whatever anyone tells you or the bewildered on here might say... Those tables on the Telly are super tough and if you're not at the level, you'd hate to play on em.

Be brutally honest with yourself and how your ability is... If you're not making regular centuries then get a table with a fair to generous pocket set up... you'll enjoy it more.

The definition of regular century break player for me is, one a week or one every 30/40 frames.

You have guys in the club local to me who claim to be 'regular century break players'... They're not, they probably make 2/3 a year in a good year!

All of those great cueists 'in their own words' shudder at the thought of playing on one of the Star tables and they all try to book a certain table, all of the time, purely because the template is easy.

[neilalex]

That's excellent advice pottr, thank you. I would give my right arm to make a century break. I'll definitely opt for a 'club' size pocket. I'd love to actually make a century but ultimately I'd be really happy to be knocking in regular 40's 50's and so on and enjoying my ability to do so.