Billiards has been played by Kings and Commoners, Presidents, Mental Patients, Ladies, Gentlemen, and Hustlers alike. It evolved from a lawn game similar to Croquet played sometime during the 15th Century in Northern Europe and France. Play was moved indoors to a wooden table with green cloth to simulate grass, and a simple border was placed around the edges. The balls were shoved, rather that struck, with wooden sticks called “Maces.”

The cue stick was developed in the late 1600’s. When the ball lay near a rail, the mace was very inconvenient to use because of it’s large head. In such a case, the players would turn the mace around and use it’s handle to strike the ball. The handle was called a “queue” - meaning “tail” - from which we get the word “cue.” 

Tables originally had flat vertical walls for rails and their only function was to keep the balls from falling off. They resembled river banks and even used to be called “banks.” Players discovered that balls could bounce off the rails and began deliberately aiming at them. Thus a “bank shot” is one in which a ball is made to rebound from a cushion as part of the shot. 

Billiard equipment improved rapidly in England after 1800, largely because of the industrial revolution. Chalk was used to increase friction between the ball and the cue stick even before cues had tips. The leather cue tip, with which a player can apply side spin to the ball, was perfected by 1823. The two piece cue arrived in 1829. Slate became popular as a material for table beds around 1835. Goodyear discovered vulcanization of rubber in 1839 and by 1845 it was used to make Billiard cushions. By 1850 the Billiard table had essentially evolved into its current form. 

Eight ball was invented shortly after 1900; straight pool followed in 1910. Nine ball seems to have developed around 1920. One pocket has ancestors that are older than any of these; the idea of the game was described in 1775 and complete rules for a British form appeared in 1869.

The term “Billiard” is derived from French, either from the word “Billart,” one of the wooden sticks, or “Bille,” a ball. While the term “Billiards” refers to all games played on a Billiard table, with or without pockets, some people take Billiards to mean carom games only and use pool for pocket games.

The mission of the BCA is to govern and/or promote competition and recreational participation in the sport of pocket billiards in the United States by establishing and disseminating information on game rules, instruction, equipment specifications and business operations. 

In cooperation with the BCA recognized amateur, professional and world governing organizations that promote and sanction tournament and league competition, the BCA shall strive to increase awareness of and participation in the sport to all people. Working with all integers world wide, BCA will perform its functions on a non-profit basis with the highest ethical standards and fair treatment of its members and the entire Billiards community. 

In short the BCA is the governing body of billiards that sets all the standards for equipment specifications and tournament play. Much like the NFL is to football or the NBA is to basketball.

So you’ll want to make sure that the table manufacturer you choose is a member of the BCA and builds tables that meet or exceed it’s standards. Furthermore you’ll want to make sure the dealer you choose is a BCA member and installs tables that meet or exceed the BCA specifications.

The size of room needed for a pool table depends on the size of table you buy. The most popular table sizes are 3.5’ x 7’, 4’ x 8’, and 4.5’ x 9’. As you’ll notice the tables are twice as long as they are wide. The BCA has set this standard for regulation size tables to ensure that all angle shots will be the same on any size table.

In addition to the table size you’ll need to allow room for cue sticks. A standard cue stick measures 57” in length. You need to add this measurement to both sides and both ends of the pool table since cue sticks are used all around the table.

To get a better idea on how the table will fit in your room. Use masking tape to mask off the playing area in the room. Then walk around the room with a broom stick as if it were a cue. You’ll quickly get the feel of what size is best for your room.

The reason for the different size tables is to meet different needs. Pubs are usually short on room so most commonly you will find 7’ tables there and pool halls want to stand out next to pubs so they usually have 9’ tables. The most popular size used in homes is 8’, it seems to be a comfortable fit for most rooms.

Some people try to fit a large table in a small room by using short cue sticks. Generally this is a bad idea. It’s better to use standard cues with a smaller table. It’s no fun to have a big table that can’t accommodate your friends standard cue sticks.

Cushions are the most important part of your pool table. They will determine how lively the table will play and for how long.

The industry standard and BCA approved cushion is a full profile K-66 cushion. K-66 refers to the shape of the cushion. Full profile means it is the full K-66 shape. Some tables use a slimmer K-66 looking cushion that isn’t suitable for tournament play. These smaller cushions won’t provide the action a K-66 cushion will.

Quality cushions will have canvas on top of the cushion profile as well as on the back. The canvas on the top of the cushion is known as the control fabric. It controls the action of the rubber for more accurate and consistent play. The canvas on the back of the rubber allows the cushion to bond tightly to the rail ensuring that it will not separate and come loose.

Over time a cushions lively play may diminish due to crystallization, if the formula is full of fillers instead of natural gum rubber. These cost cutting fillers will become hard in time and degrade the tables performance. The easiest way to tell if a cushion has filler is to drop a piece of it in water. If the cushion sinks it contains fillers. If it floats then it is truly natural gum rubber and is sure to give you years of lively play.

The rails are the second most important part of a pool table and will usually determine how long the table will last.

Rails can come in many diffrent widths, but the two most popular are 4” and 5 1/4”. A wider rail provides a meatier and more solid foundation for the cushion. Not to mention it looks better than it’s 4” counter part.

The rail should be made of two pieces of wood cross laminated together. Cross laminating is the process of gluing two pieces of wood together so the grain goes in opposite directions. This will resist warping and twisting and deliver maximum playability and longevity.

Both the rail cap and the rail base should be constructed of a hardwood. Together this will provide a solid mounting area for the cushion. Soft woods will give when the cushion is struck by a ball, but solid hardwoods will not, giving the table a livelier playing characteristic. Furthermore should the cushion ever need to be replaced, a soft wood usually chips and becomes unsuitable for regluing when the old cushions are removed.

In addition to beauty a hardwood rail cap provides the strength that will hold in the feather strip. Softer woods tend to spread over time allowing the cloth to pull out and become loose. Loose cloth can cause the cushion to separate from the rail and produce sluggish play.

A hardwood rail base is ideal to hold the cloth staples. Softer woods can chip, split and crack after multiple staplings. Hardwoods will not, allowing your table to be recovered many times over.

Diamond sights vs. round sights. There is no diffrence between these two sights other than diamonds are harder to install. For this reason you’ll only find diamonds on high end tables.

The rail should be mounted to the slate in such a way that a seamless bond is created. This allows for solid rebounds and vibration free play. There are many ways to mount the rails, some are better than others. The six most popular ways of mounting rails are lag bolts, threaded inserts, expansion bolts, tie plates, t-nuts, or floating nut plates.

Lag bolts are very coarse threaded bolts used primarily by contractors. It is a strong bolt that can provide a lifetime bond. However it was never designed for disassembly. After multiple reassemblies the holes will begin to strip out and the bolts holding power will diminish.

Threaded inserts are much like a lag bolt on the outside and can pop or slip out after time. When a bolt is tighten against them, the force of the bolt pulls against the insert and the insert pulls against the rail. At high torque the insert will begin to pull out of the rail.

Expansion bolts/inserts are commonly used in concrete work. As the bolt is driven into the insert it spreads and is forced apart. This works well in concrete because concrete will not separate. Wood on the other hand will bend and mold to the inserts. While this type of bolt will generally hold the rails on they will usually come loose and allow for unnecessary vibration and hollow sluggish hits.

Tie Plates are plates that screw to the rail with a threaded hole in the center. These plates are usually held on by three screws. A bolt screws into the center of them to fasten the rail down. The force of the bolt pulls against the plate and the plate pulls against the rail. Regardless of the size of bolt, the rail is only held down by the three screws that hold the plate. Tie plates can last a long time but still allow for unnecessary vibration and hollow sluggish hits.

T-nuts are the most common way to attach rails to slate. Prior to the laminating of the rail cap and base, a hole is drilled in the base and a t-nut is inserted. T-nuts allow for a very high torque to provide a perfect bond of the rail to the slate. The only down fall is that if they become striped or their teeth break there is no way to replace them.

Floating nut plates are the best way to attach rails. After the rail is laminated a wide slot is cut in front of the rail. A threaded plate is inserted into the center of this slot. The plate is then able to float in the slot and allows for infinite adjustment when aligning the rails to the table. The cushion is glued over the slot to hold the plate in place. A bolt comes up through the rail and in to the floating nut plate securing the rail to the slate. This plate is thicker and wider then a t-nut and allows the rail to be mounted to the slate with over three times the downward torque strength of t-nuts. This provides a virtually vibration free rail when struck with a pool ball. Greatly improving the play of the table and allowing the cushions to react for quiet, consistently accurate play.

Blinds hang down from the rail to cover the slate from view. This mostly cosmetic piece should not be overlooked though. They can give you insight into the tables quality.

Some tables attach the blinds with unsightly exposed screws, while higher quality tables use unexposed hardware to provide a seamless look. Exposed blind screws can snag a players clothing, while unexposed offers a cleaner more finished look.

Blinds held on with exposed screws may come loose from players bumping into them. Inspect the blind to make sure it is solidly mounted. A solidly mounted blind is a sign that the manufacturer has taken time to build a quality product.