Billiard Standard Size

[Albertina Drybread]

Pooltables come in several different sizes. When you are shopping for a pool table for your home, it is understandable that it can be somewhat confusing to know what the standard size pool table is for home use.

The first thing to remember is there is no set standard size for a pool table. The most important aspect of finding the perfect size pool table for your home is choosing one that will fit the room where you want it set up. You also need to account for the pool cue length, so you do not end up hitting the walls!

A standard size pool table merely refers to pool tables ranging from 6 feet to 9 feet. Sometimes, you might see standard pool tables listed as regulation pool tables. As such, it is easy to see why people can get so confused about the differences between standard tables and regulation tables.

A regulation table is simply a pool table that complies with the requirement that regulation pool tables must follow a 2-to-1 ratio. This means that the pool table has to be twice as long as it is wide.

For example, a 9-foot regulation table is 4.5 feet wide and 9 feet long. An 8-foot regulation table must be 4 feet wide and 8 feet long. Both 8-foot and 9-foot pool tables are the most common regulation size tables.

The most popular standard size home pool table is a regulation 8-foot table, followed by the 9-foot regulation pool table. However, if you have less space, it is perfectly acceptable to get a smaller table or have one custom-built to fit into your home.

Your pool table, regardless of its size, must follow the regulation 2-to-1 ratio. Players find it harder to switch between a non-regulation table and a regulation table when the dimensions are off, even if only by a few inches.

There are also some other specific requirements, such as the height of the table has to be between 29.25 inches and 31 inches, the slates have to be at least an inch thick, and the rail width must be at least 4 inches but no more than 7.5 inches.

The size of the coin-operated billiard tables you find at your local pool hall or bar are typically called bar box pool tables. They are normally 7-foot tables with a playing area of 78 inches x 39 inches. Bar box tables often follow the regulation 2-to-1 ratio requirement, so they will be 3.5 feet wide and 7 feet long.

Even though pool hall tables are smaller than tournament tables, they are perfect for casual players who are not looking to go pro. They are also an excellent choice for your at-home game room when you are tight on space.

Pool tables are not limited to just 7-, 8-, or 9-foot tables. There are 6-foot tables, 10-foot tables, and 12-foot tables. You can even have a custom pool table built in any size you desire. The thing to remember is you should try to get a pool table that follows the regulation 2-to-1 requirement.

10-foot tables are often called oversized pool tables because they are one foot longer and a half foot wider than a tournament size table. Interesting, though, 12-foot tables are regulation-size snooker tables. So, if you want to learn how to play snooker, then a 12-foot table could be the size you need.

Now that you know more about pool table sizes, you know that standard size tables refer to tables ranging from 6 feet to 9 feet. However, standard pool tables can also include regulation size tables when they follow the 2-to-1 ratio, as well as be a tournament size table when the table is 9 feet long and 4.5 feet wide.

Cushions (also sometimes called "rail cushions", "cushion rubber", or rarely "bumpers") are located on the inner sides of a table's wooden rails. There are several different materials and design philosophies associated with cushion rubber. These cushions are made from an elastic material such as vulcanized rubber (gum or synthetic). The purpose of the cushion rubber is to cause the billiard balls to rebound off the rubber while minimizing the loss of kinetic energy.[citation needed]

On a carom table, the K-55 profile is used (with a somewhat sharper angle than pool cushions). K-55 cushions have cloth, usually canvas, vulcanized into the top of the rubber to adjust rebound accuracy and speed.[3]

Most bar tables, which get much use, use the slower, thicker blended felt because it is cheaper. This type of cloth is called a woollen cloth. By contrast, high-quality pool cloth is usually made of a napless weave such as worsted wool, which gives a much faster roll to the balls. This "speed" of the cloth affects the amounts of swerve and deflection of the balls, among other aspects of game finesse. Snooker cloth traditionally has a directional nap, upon which the balls behave differently when rolling against vs. running with the direction of the nap.[citation needed]

Sights, also known as diamonds (for their traditional shape), are inlaid at precise, evenly spaced positions along the rails of some tables (not usually on snooker tables) to aid in the aiming of bank or kick shots. There are six along each long rail (with the side pocket interfering with where the seventh one would go, on pocket billiard tables) and three along each short rail, with each of the four corners counting as another in the mathematical systems that the diamonds are used to calculate. These sights divide the playing surface into equal squares. Books, even entire series of books, have been written on geometric and algebraic systems of aiming using the diamonds.[citation needed]

Spots are often used to mark the head and foot spots on the cloth. Other markings may be a line drawn across the head string (or across the balk line with the "D", in British-style pool). Another case is the outline of the triangle rack behind the foot spot where the balls are racked in straight pool, since the outline of this area is strategically important throughout the game. In artistic pool, lines may be drawn between opposite sights putting a grid on the playing surface. Other grid patterns are used in various forms of balkline billiards. A recent table marking convention, in European nine-ball, is the break box.[citation needed]

Regulation 10 5-foot carom billiards tables have a playing surface (measured between the noses of the cushions) of 2.84 by 1.42 metres (9.3 by 4.7 ft) with a 5-millimetre allowance.[5] The standard height range of the table, measured from the playing surface to the ground is between 75 and 80 centimetres.[citation needed]

In the UK as well as a number of other British Commonwealth and European countries, the typical pool table is a 7 ft 3.5 ft (2.1 m 1.1 m), although 6-foot (1.8 m) tables for the pub and home market are also common. These are the sizes used by internationally standardized blackball and the amateur World Eightball Pool Federation, as well as informal pub pool.[7] The 7-foot size is also frequently used in North American amateur leagues, and are common coin-operated fixtures in bars and other venues. The playing surface for a 7-foot table is 76 by 38 inches (193 by 96.5 cm).[citation needed]

Pockets, typically rimmed at the back with leather or plastic traditionally have drop pockets, which are small receptacles below each pocket to contain the balls. More modern tables may instead employ ball return pockets, a series of gutters inside the table, which deliver the balls into a collection compartment on one side of the table, in a similar manner to the ball return on a bowling alley. On a coin-operated table, the object balls are deposited inside an inaccessible window until the table is paid again, allowing the balls to be released into the compartment, while the cue ball is usually separated into its own ball return, often utilizing a different sized ball. A possible result of drop pockets is that if too many balls go into the same pocket, it would fill up the receptacle and prevent any more balls from going in that pocket, requiring that some be moved out of the pocket manually before shooting again.[citation needed]

For tournament competition under WPA world-standardized rules (and league play under derived rulesets), the bed of the pocket billiard table must be made of slate no less than 1 inch (2.54 cm) thick. The flatness of the table must be divergent by no greater than 0.02 inches (0.51 mm) lengthwise and 0.01 inches (0.25 mm) across the width.[6]

The playing area of a tournament snooker table, as standardized by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) and the amateur International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF),[8][9] measures 11 feet 8.5 inches by 5 ft 10 in (3569 mm by 1778 mm) with a tolerance of 0.5 in (13 mm),[10] though commonly referred to as 12 ft by 6 ft, the nominal outer dimensions including the rails. Smaller tables, approximately 10 ft by 5 ft down to half size, are also sometimes used in pubs, homes and smaller snooker halls. The height from the floor to the top of the cushion is between 2 ft 9.5 in and 2 ft 10.5 in (851 mm and 876 mm).[10]

The playing surface of a good-quality snooker table has a bed of slate[14] and is covered with baize cloth, traditionally green, though many other colours are now available. The thickness of this cloth determines the table's speed (lack of friction) and responsiveness to spin, thicker cloths being longer lasting but slower and less responsive. The nap of the cloth can affect the run of the balls, especially on slower shots and shots played with sidespin applied to the cue ball. A snooker table traditionally has the nap running from the baulk to the top end and is brushed and ironed in this direction.[citation needed]

Other types of billiard tables are used for specific games, such as Russian pyramid which uses a '12 ft by 6 ft' table (similar to a snooker table but with much smaller pockets), and Asian four ball which uses a pocketless 8 ft by 4 ft table. Games such as bagatelle often had more than six holes, including straight through the bed in the middle of the table, a feature still found in bar billiards and bumper pool.[citation needed]

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