There are a few things to consider when purchasing a pool table that have an effect on the price and quality of your table and therefore, your game. Note that the term “pool tables” refers to the table used to play billiards, snooker, and all other cue-sports similar to this. The differences between these games are the rules and sets of balls used, not the table itself.
Pool tables are constructed in a wide variety of sizes and there can be great variation in the quality and construction methods used. The main reasons for the range in sizes in pool tables for sale are simply that an authentic full-size table is huge and a consideration of the various costs of a full-size table. Pool tables are invariably a perfect rectangle with the width being half the length. A standard full-size English Billiards table measures 12′ long, and, therefore, 6′ wide! These days it is not difficult to locate tables measuring nine, eight, and seven feet long respectively, which are more realistically suited for people’s homes.
When buying a pool table it is important to consider the construction materials used. Of these the surface is by far the most important feature. If you’re after a basic, cheap table, new discount pool tables which use a wooden surface with cloth overlay can be found for less than US$400. However, if you are after a more authentic table, which will ultimately give you a much better game, then there is no substitute for slate. Any serious cue-sports enthusiast will not settle for anything less than a slate table which will not flex or suffer the deformities that wooden-surfaced tables are subject to. Slate is a very hard, dense stone which is quarried and cut into single, solid slabs the full size of the table, machined to near-perfect flatness and covered with cloth to make the surface of the table. Unless subjected to absolutely brutal punishment it will not chip, dent, flex, or be affected by moisture. The slab used for tables will vary anywhere between a full 2