Billiard table

In the modern era, all billiards tables (whether for carom billiards, pool, pyramid or snooker) provide a flat surface usually made of quarried slate, that is covered with cloth (usually of a tightly woven worsted wool called baize), and surrounded by vulcanized rubber cushions, with the whole thing elevated above the floor.

[citation needed] The bed table – the cloth-covered, horizontal playing surface – is, on high-quality equipment, made of solid, smooth slabs of slate, most often from Italy, Brazil or China.

The gap between slates is filled with a hard-drying putty, epoxy or resin, then sanded to produce a seamless surface, before being covered with the 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.

In artistic pool, lines may be drawn between opposite sights putting a grid on the playing surface.

[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.

[citation needed] The slate bed of a carom billiards table must have a minimum thickness of 45 millimetres and in tournaments recommended heating temperatures is 33–37 °C (91–99 °F), which helps to keep moisture out of the cloth to aid the balls rolling and rebounding in a consistent manner, and generally makes a table play faster.

[citation needed] There are only two sizes approved for tournament play by the International Olympic Committee–recognized sport governing body of pool, the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), and its various regional and national affiliates; under the world standardized rules of pool, these are the 9 × 4.5 ft and 8 × 4 ft models.

[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.

[citation needed] Regardless of table size, the WPA standard (sometimes informally called "American-style") table has wide, angular pockets that funnel notably inward, generally 1.75 to 2.25 times as wide at the opening as the diameter of the 2+1⁄4-inch (57 mm) balls, wider at the side (middle) pockets than the corners.

WEPF pool (sometimes informally called "British-style" or "Commonwealth-style") is played with 2 to 2+1⁄8-in (51–54 mm) balls, and this type of table has smaller, narrow pockets (the width is calculated as the ball diameter multiplied by 1.6, and is consistent at all six pockets), with rounded entrances and nearly parallel sides, like those on a snooker table.

[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.

[citation needed] 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.

A snooker table traditionally has the nap running from the baulk to the top end and is brushed and ironed in this direction.

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] Billiard table beds are commonly heated with electricity, in order to keep the cloth dry, and allow the balls to roll better.

[15][16] Queen Victoria (1819–1901) had a billiard table that was heated using zinc tubes, although the aim at that time was chiefly to keep the then-used ivory balls from warping.

The first use of electric heating was for an 18.2 balkline tournament held in December 1927 between Welker Cochran and Jacob Schaefer Jr.

The New York Times announced it with fanfare: "For the first time in the history of world's championship balkline billiards a heated table will be used..."[1]: 115, 238 [17] An electrically heated table is required under international carom billiard tournament rules 'in order to ensure the best possible rolling', although temperatures are not specified.

[15] Switching off a billiard table heater whenever it is not used can save more than 50% in energy consumption and costs; this can be done automatically with timers.

[16] The 2022 Russia–European Union gas dispute caused rising energy costs around Europe, making heating billiard tables almost prohibitively expensive.