Clancy's Tables n Tubs Pool Tables:

At Clancy's Tables n Tubs we have Pool Tables of every style and design to choose from. Stop in today and check out our inventory.

The Pool Table has been the center piece of game rooms for years.

Like many other sports, it's hard to pinpoint when and where the game of billiards originated. France, England and Persia are often mentioned as countries that possibly invented the game of pool, but each is debatable. We do know that the earliest version of the game of pool was played on lawns and was often compared to a form of croquet because the purpose of the game was to shoot balls through a course of hoops to knock over a cone shaped object. The game was then transferred indoors and played on the floor, but it was soon found to be hard on the backs of players who were continuously bending over. This is why the game of pool was eventually moved atop a table.

The problem with playing pool on a table was the balls kept rolling off, so wooden rails or bumpers were soon attached to the pool table's edges to keep the balls in play. The next modification occurred around 1600, with the addition of rubber strips to the wooden side rails. These rubber strips were used as cushions to give the balls added bounce when hitting the edges of the table. The rubber also served to protect the wood from chipping. A thin green wool/felt cloth was then added to cover the table to allow players a more accurate and precise shot. The colour green was originally chosen for pool tables because it represented the grass that the game originated on.

Players soon became bored with trying to knock over the cone, and decided to make the game more exciting and challenging by cutting two round holes in the ends of the table. To stop the balls from falling to the floor and getting damaged, the holes were blocked underneath by pocket style bags, which were sewed on in order to catch the balls. The object of the game of pool changed, it now consisted of knocking the balls into the pocketed holes. Over the years more pockets were added until eventually the six pocketed billiard table had fully evolved.

Like the sport of pool itself, nobody knows when the first pool table was built. However, the first record of a pool table dates back to 1470, when King Louis XI of France possessed one. King Louis pool table had no pockets, but it did have a hole in the centre of the table.

The first tables were mainly owned by monarchs and noblemen because the cost of having one built by a cabinet maker and imported was very high. However, the working classes often built their own crude versions of pool tables. Unfortunately because the table beds were made of wood they often warped within a few years. There was no standard size or shape to the early pool tables, and many early models were square, eventually changing to oblong (usually twice the length to width). By the 1500s, pool tables were common in taverns and public places throughout France.

In 1826, the pool table took a dramatic change as John Thurston of England invented the slate bed, giving the table a far smoother surface. Marble was used by some people but the costs were far too high. Billiard slate was a lot heavier than wood, and thanks to it pool tables were a lot sturdier. In 1845 Thurston was granted a patent and starting making the billiard cushions out of vulcanized rubber, cork and leather. Later on, the green cloth/felt pool table cover was also improved upon, and added to the new slate tables to produce a pool table similar to those used today.

Now there are hundreds even thousands of styles of Pool Tables on the market. See Ed at Clancy's Tables & Tubs today to see which style fits you and your game room.