What To Look For When Buying A Pool Table

There are various sizes, styles, and types of pool tables for sale which makes finding the ideal table for your needs easy. Someone looking for a pool table for a home bar or a games room will likely have a different set of priorities to those of someone looking to equip an entertainment venue such as a bar or a social club.

While indoor pool tables are by far the most common - and the only feasible choice for enthusiasts or players of a higher standard of play - outdoor pool tables are readily available and provide a cost-effective and durable entertainment solution for business owners.

Outdoor tables are fitted with a waterproof felt and a body construction that is designed to deal with varying weather conditions (rain in particular). This waterproof table surface typically delivers a game speed faster than that of an indoor table which may not suit everyone.

Establishments such as bars or youth clubs with an external area are a great place for an outdoor table, with the robust build and material quality making them ideal for situations where players may not take as much care when using the table as is often the case in a bar.

Indoor tables use a table felt that delivers a higher standard of game play. In the home it is often as much a decorative addition to a room as it is a source of entertainment, while in a pub on an evening you will rarely find a pool table without a crowd of people around either playing or watching.

The 2 most commonly played styles are 8-ball (spots and stripes, yellows and reds) and 9-ball. While either game can be played on any pool table size, official competition sized 9-ball pool tables are much larger (7ft, 8ft and 9ft) than those used for 8-ball (5ft, 6ft and 7ft), with the balls themselves also being larger and heavier.

If you are looking to play both 9-ball and 8-ball (or other variants such as 7-ball pool) then you will need to ensure that the balls provided with the table are the spots and stripes style (which are also numbered) instead of the red and yellow which is more prevalent in the UK and other parts of Europe.

Ball pockets will either retain the balls (requiring each pocket to be manually emptied after a game) or funnel them internally through to a central ball collection area (automatic ball return). Tables that feature an automatic ball return will usually return the cue ball to a different section of the table to the rest of the balls.

Included accessories should include at the least the pool balls and triangle, but will usually also consist of 2 playing cues and chalk. Before ordering any table it is worth double checking exactly what accessories are included in addition to the style of balls as previously mentioned.

If your home or business isn't blessed with enough space to accommodate a pool table full-time then a folding pool table could be the solution. The folding mechanism involves rotating the playing surface into a vertical position, with the hinged legs at one end folding down, and those at the other end incorporating wheels to enable the table to be easily moved around while in this position.