Many people approach this in the wrong order. They overestimate how much the table will cost and underestimate how much they’ll spend on everything else and budget for the table first, hoping they’ll have enough leftover for the right cues, good light, a great set of balls, etc. And what you end up with might look okay in pictures but it doesn’t play well. What works best is for the pool table to serve its intended function within the room space itself. The optimal solution is the pool table that fits the room.
Clearance Comes Before Everything Else
Measure your room before you shop for any equipment, and account for cue stroke clearance. A standard 57-inch cue requires around five feet of clear space around the table on all sides. The Billiard Congress of America recommends a room size of 12’11” x 16’2″ to accommodate a 7-foot table and full-length cue. Note we said “room size” there, not “table size”. The 7- to 8-foot table question is probably the most pressing one, right after the “seriously, though, a table weighs how much?” issue. A good rule of thumb is that it’s best to go down a table size when making tradeoffs based on room dimensions. Make sure you can use a full-length cue for 90 percent of your shots.
Before placing the table, check the floor is level. After placing the table, level the table. Most used tables that aren’t too old have adjustable feet, and if you’re paying for professionals to install true slate you can pretty well bet they’re leveling feet, too.
Lighting is a Technical Requirement, Not Decoration
Poor lighting is a prevalent issue in home game rooms, and it’s free to remedy if you think ahead. You simply need a dedicated fixture low over the table, say, a three-light island pendant directly centred over the playing surface. You want to cast no shadows over the felt paired with as little glare as possible. Hang it 32 to 36 inches over the bed of the table.
The dartboard needs its own directional task light. Mounted above and slightly in front of the board works best. The shadow thrown across the scoring segments will mess with your aim more than anything else in the game will.
Pair both task lights with dimmable ambient room lighting. The ability to drop the room light and focus the play area is the key to success in this arena. It’s the closest thing to muscle memory the players will ever get.
Spend on Contact Points, Save on Everything Else
This is where most budgets go wrong. That mid-range table with high-quality felt and all the professional-grade accessories costs you less to buy and plays better than that expensive table with horrible cloth and cheap cues. The felt or baize is also often the most neglected part of the whole setup, so it’s the part that’s the easiest to upgrade and shows the most improvement. Better cloth plays faster; truer; and most importantly, doesn’t wear out as quickly.
The same principle applies to darts. Tungsten darts cost more but you can go down to 80% tungsten and still see major improvement in your play. They don’t have to be expensive and, in fact, even entry-level tungstens perform vastly better than mid-range brass.
Accessories. Starter kits are almost always bullshit. They put you onto all the crappy stuff that has a ton of margin for the supplier and they get you coming and going. Get a good cue. Get some good chalk. Get some good tips. But buy all that individually from a Swiftflyte billiard shop, not in a starter kit.
All you’ve saved in the long run might be what you would have spent on a dartboard surround that keeps your wall from getting waffled. Measuring to the toe line should either be 7ft 9.25in (236cm) from the face of the board or in true darts tradition; the measure of the available diagonal from the face to oche. Buy some thin, flexible 3M tape and mark the oche. Voila. It costs almost nothing and immediately makes the setup feel legitimate to anyone who plays more than occasionally.
Protect the Floor and the Walls
Using rubberized flooring or a heavy-duty area rug under the table is a great way to protect the subfloor from the pressure of the table legs and give the space a defined zone. The same goes for under the dartboard. A mat absorbs dropped darts and prohibits the floor from becoming a patchwork of small gouges over time.
Dartboard surround(s) are worth every cent. Foam or cork rings that mount around the board prevent stray throws from putting holes in the wall, and they add a finished, professional look without requiring any carpentry.
Store Vertically, Keep the Floor Clear
Wall-mounted cue racks help protect cues from warping by storing them properly and also help keep space free so that the room does not feel too cramped. A vertical rack that can hold around four to six cues and even offer a spot for chalk only uses about 18 inches of wall space. This allows you to free up your floor and remove the floor standing cue rack that eats into your clearance.
Zoning a room into a play area and a separate seating area can make the room feel less like a storage space. Even if you just push a couple of chairs against an opposing wall, it makes the room feel like there’s an intended use for it.
The whole point of a professional game room is to take friction out of playing the game. Get your clearance right, light it right, and make sure your investment goes toward where the game is being played.
