The most expensive mistake when buying a second-hand billiard table

When you go to view a second-hand billiard table, you probably look at the cabinet first. At the wood, the legs, whether it looks good. That's understandable, because that's what you see. But that's not where the decision is made.

The decision is made under the cloth.

The playing bed is by far the most important part of a billiard table, and it's also the most expensive to replace. On a second-hand table, a new bed can quickly cost more than what you paid for the whole table. A beautiful cabinet with a bad bed isn't a bargain, then — it's a problem with a veneer layer.

The first thing I do when I'm standing at a table is feel it and tap it. Is it slate, or is it particle board? On older models you sometimes come across another hard natural stone, and that's fine. But if there's wood or MDF under that cloth, buying second-hand rarely makes sense: that material is already cheap when new, it has almost always already sagged or warped from moisture and the tension of the cloth, and it barely dampens vibrations. Playable for pure fun, but not for anyone who wants to play seriously.

That depends on the game. A pub-model pool table, with the ball return underneath, usually has around 2 cm of slate; competition models 2.5 cm or thicker. For snooker, 4 cm is the minimum, and for carom too. Bumper pool sits at 2 cm or at 4 to 5 cm — and it's precisely with that thin variant that it pays to also check the size, because those tables by no means always have competition dimensions. If you play in a club, you're not practising on such a table for what you'll encounter in competition.

Also ask how many pieces the slate consists of. Several pieces are not a flaw — quite the opposite: one large one-piece bed sags more easily under its own weight and is almost impossible to move. The rule of thumb I use: a pub model with 2 cm slate has one piece, a 9 ft pool table or snooker has three, a 12 ft snooker table has five, bumper pool has one, and carom has three.

Two things are almost always misjudged.

The first is the cushions. People look for cracks or crumbling rubber, but you can't see that at all: the cloth covers it. What you can do is press your thumb into the cushion. If it feels hard, or on the contrary very soft and slow to return to shape, they're worn out. And the best test remains simply playing: ask if you can hit a few balls and watch how they come off the cushion. That tells you more than any inspection. Worn cushions, by the way, are no reason to walk away — that can be fixed. Just factor the cost into your offer.

The second is the weight. On a 9 ft pool table the bed usually consists of three slates of around 90 to 105 kg each. Together that's 275 to 315 kg, and that's before the frame. A full 12 ft snooker table weighs around 1,300 kg including the cabinet. Does the table need to go upstairs and is there no lift or crane? That's something to figure out before buying, not after.

Small round holes in the wood, sometimes with a bit of fine dust underneath. Annoying, but treatable. It does lower the value and can mean extra work at installation, so factor that into your offer. But if this genuinely is the table you want, don't let it stop you.

The same goes for beer mats under the legs. On a snooker table that's completely normal and says nothing about quality. On other tables, which usually have adjustable feet, it can point to a broken or missing leg.

These are the things I check myself, in the order I do it. Since you don't want to remember all that on the spot, I've summarised it on two pages you can print out and take with you — with, at the end, all the dimensions, the space you need to play your shots, and the weights per table type.

And unsure about a table you've seen? Feel free to send me a few photos and the make. If I know the model, I usually know straight away whether it's worth it. It costs you nothing, and it may save you an expensive mistake.