Kelly’s Hot Game Room Thoughts: The Pro’s and Con’s of Cloth

I feel as though cloth is a big choice when buying your pool table. There are so many choices as far as colour and quality. I also feel that the consumer needs more information than what the sales person is usually willing to give! So here I have put together some basic information about cloth!

First we can talk about colour. I would say half of the people I sell pool tables to, choose some sort of green cloth. Most people just can’t get past playing on a different colour of cloth. They feel that it’s unnatural or un-traditional. Pool halls often choose green (what is usually referred to as Tournament Green by most cloth companies) in part because they tend to be dark places with the only light coming from the pool table lights. A bright green gives the place some colour. But this is usually not a good colour option for a home use table. For anyone who is showing a preference for green cloth, I will usually try and steer them towards a dark green or spruce green colour, both of which will satisfy their need for traditionalism and will complement most decors quite nicely.

The other half of the people choose all the rest of the colours. I have done almost every table in almost every cloth. Bright red, electric blue (on a original cherry table no less – come to my showroom and I will show whatthat looks like!) and every shade in between. I have done purple, golden, even orange, but only on the rails, with a blue bed. Interesting look! Right now, the NHL team logo cloth is popular, especially for re-cloths.

On to quality – this is a very broad topic. There are quite a few brands out there. Probably one of the most well known is Simonis. They have cloth on all the tournament tables you see when they play on TV. This is not a cloth that I will recommend for any home use, recreational pool table. Number one, there is an additional charge for it. Number two, it will wear very fast compared to other cloths. This is because when a ball is hit hard across the surface, it sometimes doesn’t just roll. It will ‘skip’ instead, which will cause friction burns between the ball and the cloth. This will cause little white spots on the cloth (and potentially the ball if you are using an economy set). If you ever have the opportunity to inspect cloth on a table in a pool hall, you will notice not only little white spots everywhere, you will also see 2 white lines in the shape of a V which is where the league players are breaking from.

The reason it wears much faster is because it has a higher nylon content. Something to remember when shopping around is that the higher the nylon content, the faster it will wear. Pool halls generally have Simonis cloth, but don’t forget they are usually replacing their cloth every year, if not more often than that. So if you aren’t planning to replace the cloth that often, I strongly recommend that you choose a recreational cloth. Unless you are currently practicing for the World Championships, then Simonis is right for you!

The reasoning behind a customer requesting Simonis or some other tournament cloth is usually because it will play faster. I’m not too sure why they think that this is such a great idea – perhaps faster play will make them a better player?! I will try and explain that faster play isn’t always desirable and that most recreational players will not be able to tell the difference between a recreational cloth which will last 5 times as long and a tournament cloth which might need replacing within the year.

When I have gone to competitor stores and shopped them, the number one thing they always recommend is upgrading to tournament cloth. Don’t forget, the reason for the upgrade (they are probably being paid on commission)! When you shop with me, I don’t recommend an upgrade unless you’re insisting or because it’s worth the extra (you really are practicing for the next World Championships)!

Which leads me to my next point – when it’s worth it to spend the extra on the upgrade. I believe that upgrading to stain-resistant cloth is worth spending the extra on. One of the most well known brands is Accu-Guard by Olhausen which is made for them exclusively by Hainsworth. Stain-resistant cloth can save you money in the long run. Although it has a higher nylon content and will tend to wear faster, any liquid you spill on it will wipe right off. Even water will leave a water mark on regular cloth, including Simonis! And absolutely nothing will take the stain out. Nothing. We have 2 different spray on cloth cleaners, neither of which will work. I had someone once who thought they could take their cloth off and have it dry-cleaned. It would have been less expensive to replace it! And I don’t believe a dry-cleaner could get the stain out! This is pool table cloth, not your dress shirt!

So if you have lots of parties or kids who drink liquids around your pool table, I will recommend upgrading to a stain-resistant cloth such as Accu-Guard. This is a worth-while upgrade! You can spill wine, beer, pop, juice, coffee, water – almost any liquid and it will just bead up and you can wipe it off with a micro-fibre cloth. You can even leave it overnight and wipe it up tomorrow morning! This doesn’t of course pertain to the table itself and I don’t recommend finding out just how much liquid you can spill on your pool table before it starts to seep though and on to the floor! But a little accidental spill will be wiped up easily and you won’t have unsightly stains on your cloth. Or spend your hard earned money replacing your cloth after every party!

So tell me, do you think tournament cloth is worth the upgrade? If you paid the upgrade I would love to hear from you!

Kelly’s Hot Game Room Thoughts: The Matchy Matchy Syndrome

Many customers have brought many different samples into my showroom to match to pool table finishes and/or cloth samples. I have had pieces of all different types of flooring including hardwood, laminate, carpet, tiles and cork as well as paint chips, pillows, curtains, upholstery, cabinet doors, pieces of a custom bar, counter tops, draw pulls – you name it, someone has probably brought it in. And you certainly want your pool table to match up with the rest of the decor in the room. That only makes sense! But sometimes it can be taken too far! Let me give you an example!

I had a customer in my showroom not so long ago. He was buying a pool table for his basement which was just being finished. He had a wood sample in his hand that was for some cabinets that were in the room. His concern was matching the finish. Totally understandable, because what you envision in your mind finish wise might not match what you think it does, so it’s better to bring a sample if you can. So I lead him to the finish chart and started pulling off what I think are going to be good matches (I will pat myself on the back here and say that the first sample I pulled off was almost exact!). So we bring them over to the counter and lay them all out and decide that Brandywine on Maple is the best match. He then goes on to describe the room, where he mentions that the cabinets are about 6 feet or more from where the table is going and that there are no windows in the basement. He then proceeds to take the pool table finish sample and his own sample outside to compare. Yes, out the door outside! When he comes back in, he shakes his head and declares “No match! They don’t match in natural sunlight!”. Hmmm…

Two things to consider when you are trying to match a finish with whatever else is in your room. First of all, unless it’s the floor, where the pool table is actually touching what you are trying to match, the odds of anyone who comes over to play pool detecting that they aren’t actually the same colour are slim to none. Cabinets that are at the other end of the room, even 6 feet away don’t have to match exactly. And if it is the floor that you are trying to match, remember that if they do match exactly it will probably look rather odd – the room won’t have any depth. Your best bet with flooring is to find a complimentary finish. That way your pool table will be enhanced rather than blending in with the surroundings!

On to the second consideration – natural lighting. So, if your basement doesn’t have any windows, why be so concerned if the finishes match in natural lighting?! Even if you do have windows, most people play pool in the evening, when it’s dark outside. Natural light makes playing pool very difficult – the shadows are totally different, not to mention sun reflection in your eyes will throw your shot off. So even if you play at high noon on a Tuesday in July (or at 6:30 when the sun slants in), chances are you will pull the curtains. Most people either have pot lights or a pool table light, both of which take light bulbs. We have a variety of pool table lights with lightbulbs in our showroom, so it would be better to try and match under that type of lighting. Other people have fluorescents and we have those too!

So remember that you don’t necessarily want to match exactly. You want finishes that complement each other, perhaps not too matchy! Find a finish that is similar to the grain pattern of your sample rather than the overall stain, but still in the same family of colours. And if you do decide that an exact match is needed, come and talk to me. Olhausen offers custom stain options and can match your stain exactly!

As far as other things to match like pillows, curtains, couches or even the cat, beware of having too much of one colour family in the same room. Some of the best game rooms that I have come across offer accent colours. If you have beige painted walls, mahogany finished pool table on a cream coloured carpet, all different shades of khaki in the decor, why not change it up a bit and put a wine or spruce green cloth on your table. As long as you like the combination of cloth and wood and it will blend with the overall look of the room, go with it!

What combinations are you thinking of? Do you want an exact match or something that will give some contrast?

Kelly’s Hot Game Room Thoughts: Pool Table Size

The most common question I’m usually asked when someone comes in to my showroom seeking information about pool tables is either “What is the standard size pool table?” or “What size pool table are they playing on when I see tournaments on TV”. My answer to them is usually something like this:

“The most common size pool table for home use is an 8 ft, but usually when you see a tournament on TV or pool tables in a pool hall, they are 9 ft tables.”

Most people figure they should be buying the size of pool table the pro’s are playing on or the most common size. This is a big misconception! The pool table size you should be purchasing is the one that fits in your room. Most houses these days aren’t designed with pool tables in mind. They tend to have long narrow rooms. The most common sized table that we sell is an 8 ft. The recommended room size for an 8 ft pool table is 13 feet 4 inches by 17 feet. This will give you plenty of room for full sized pool cues.

Everyone – at least 95% of the people that walk through my door – has a post. Everyone! We have shorter cues to accommodate that problem and offer 5 different sizes. Depending on where the post is, it may not be as much as an obstruction as you might think! The majority of play is lengthwise on the table and mostly in the middle. So for example, if the post was at one of the corners about 2 1/2 feet from the table, the only shots that it would effect would be where you are shooting directly in line with the post – plus the cue ball would have to be close to the rail. When you think about it that way, it won’t be often that the pool gods align just that way! Usually a short cue will do the trick, but occasionally there will be times when you need to have a “house” rule about shots made from that particular spot!

Now, that being said, that is the recommended size of room. There is a big difference between having a room with 4 walls that is slightly smaller than the recommended size than if you have for example a larger room and the space that you have allotted to your pool table is slightly smaller. I once had a customer in our showroom that was all in a tizzy because she would need a short cue for one area. When I probed a bit, I discovered that she was putting her pool table at one end of a larger room and that the area she was worried about wasn’t a wall at all but a couch! A wall is a different story altogether than a post or a half wall, a bar or a stairwell. All need different accommodations.

What I usually recommend to someone who is unsure of the size of table the should put into their room, is go home and tape sections of newspaper together in the shape of a 4 x 8 pool table. This way you can lay it out on the ground and can easily move it around to figure out where the table will fit and can decide from there if short cues will be needed and if so, what size.

Every once in awhile, someone will come in and decide they want a 9 ft table in a room that really should only have an 8 ft table. I usually try and discourage them from doing this. The game won’t be as much fun if every other  shot you will have to pull out a short cue. I would rather see a customer purchase an 8 ft table and have a bit of extra space around it for a spectator chair. They will have more enjoyment from their table.

Sometimes people will try and go down to a 7 ft table when they feel that the space is a bit small for the 8 ft. This is  a bit trickier, but depending on the situation (again, is it walls, posts, stairs or a couch?) I will usually encourage them to stay with the 8 ft. The 7 ft is only 1 ft shorter in the length which is 6 inches on either end and only half a foot smaller in the width which is only 3 inches on either side. The 7 ft table for some reason does feel really small and I don’t find I enjoy the game as much. But I leave it to the customer to decide for themselves!

So my advice to anyone thinking of purchasing a table but don’t know what size to buy is to measure the room! Once you are armed with this information you can then make an informed decision about what your options are!

If you have a pool table already, what size did you buy and does it fit in your room? Do you need shorter cues? If you are thinking of buying a pool table, what size is your room and do you have any obstructions in the way? If so, how much do you think they will effect the play?

Kelly Breard’s Blog: What Size Balls Do You Need?

When a customer comes into my showroom to shop for either a set of balls or a single ball to replace a lost or broken ball from their pool table, my first question is always “What size do you need?” Everyone always looks at me and says “There’s more than one size?!” Yes, in fact there are 2 different sizes of billiard balls – pool size which are 2 1/4 inch in diameter and snooker size which are 2 1/16 inch. You will need the correct size in order to play!

How to determine which size you will need? Not as easy as you might think unless you either bring me a ball from an existing set (and run the risk of loosing that ball!) or own a measuring device of some sort! And no, there is no “standard size” of balls – you either have one or the other. There isn’t a third size (unless you count an oversize cue ball, which only fits on a commercial coin-op table, and even then, only specific ones). And since I don’t live at your house or have magical powers of looking into your brain, I can’t tell just by looking at you what size balls you require! Yes, that’s right, I have been asked more than once “What size balls do you think I need?!” Really. More than one time I have been asked that question.

When I describe what to look for, to determine which size ball you should buy, these are the things that are a good tip off. When looking down at the corner pockets, they will seem more rounded if they are snooker size, more squared off if they are pool size. The rails themselves will be in a pointed V shape for pool size and have a flattened V shape (the flat surface will run perpendicular to the slate) for snooker size. The side pockets are usually a giveaway – they will have an almost 90 degree angle into the pocket and seem quite squared off for pool pockets as compared to a more rounded corner leading into the pocket for snooker pockets.

Another question I will ask is how old the table is, or when it was purchased. This isn’t a sure fire way of figuring it out, but quite a few tables back in the late 80’s to mid-90’s were 8 ft or 9 ft tables, but with snooker pockets. Especially if the table is an 8 ft or 9 ft and the customer already has snooker balls, I will guess that you will need the 2 1/16 inch size. It’s just a guess though, and I’ve been known to be wrong (don’t tell my parents that though!). General rule of thumb is that most 10 ft and 12 ft tables have 2 1/16 inch size balls.

Why do you want to purchase the correct size balls for your table? The answer is simple. Both sizes will work on both size pockets, but it would be kind of like trying to drive a car with the wrong size tires. The car would still go, but not as smoothly or as efficiently. When the ball hits the rail, it should be hitting the ball in the centre. So if you crouch down and look at the ball at eye level, the same amount of ball should be both above and below the rail. If you are using a ball that is too small, there will be more ball below the rail. If you are using a ball that is too big, there will be more ball above the rail. What this means is that the ball won’t react correctly when it hits the rail. It may “hop” when it comes in contact or just not deflect properly.

The good news is that when you’re shopping in my showroom, I have samples of both sizes and about half the time the customer can tell me just by holding them in their hands which size they need. This method doesn’t work when the person shopping hasn’t ever played pool on their table! The other good news is that both sizes are the same price. So if you do get home and discover that you bought the wrong size, just bring them back and we will exchange them for you.