HOW TO SELECT A TABLE.
Never attempt it. Rather consult with and rely upon reputable manufacturers.
SIZE, SHAPE, AND STYLE.
In this country there are the standard size, which is 5 × 10 feet, and the popular size, which is 4½ × 9. Experts use the former, and the latter is preferred in many public rooms and clubs, as well as in most private houses, in the last of which the 4 × 8 also often finds a place.
Tables are of various styles and shapes, but mostly now without pockets, and with the broad rails at sides and ends beveled, ogee, or square. Those designed for ball-pool have six pockets usually, but sometimes only four. In addition there is the combination billiard-table, meant for both caroms and ball-pool at will.
Beds are of slate, and their tendency is toward greater thickness than was required up to a few years ago. This adds to the general stability of the table. Even for the 6 × 12, slabs now are often in three pieces, instead of four, thus insuring a smoother playing surface. Heavier slabs should have six legs instead of four, whether the table is 5 × 10 or larger. Many 4½ × 9’s have six.
Apart from its cloth and cushions, a table requires no special care beyond treating it similarly to any other piece of furniture, by keeping its framework clean and occasionally applying polish, which can be had of almost any furniture-dealer. When not in use, the table should be well covered up.
THE CLOTH.
There are various kinds and several grades. Buying the best will save money.
Almost invariably, it is the indifferent player or worse who, in or out of public rooms, finds most fault with cushions, balls, cues, leathers, or chalk. The experienced one has learned that usually, when all is not well with him at billiards, the fault is with himself or in his stroke. A less skillful performer will blame the balls when a sagging floor has thrown the table out of level, the table when a ball needs either truing or a holiday, the chalk or the leather when he is wildly throwing his whole body at the ball, and the cushion when diminished speed is really due to the influence of a protracted spell of damp weather upon cloth or ivory. One is sure to absorb moisture, and the other may.