GoSports Portable Billiards Table, 6 / 7 / 8 ft

What This Is

A billiards table that arrives ready to play and folds down afterwards. It exists for the very common situation where a room could hold a pool table but cannot surrender the space permanently.

Measure The Room, Not The Table

This is the mistake almost everyone makes. A pool table needs the length of a cue plus a backswing clear on every side, which is roughly five feet of clearance around the whole table. An 8 ft table therefore wants a room about 18 by 13 feet. If you have less, buy the smaller table: a 7 ft table you can actually shoot on beats an 8 ft table you have to shoot one-handed against the wall. Tape the footprint out on the floor before ordering.

What You Give Up Without Slate

Real tables use a slate bed because stone is flat and stays flat. A portable table uses a manufactured bed, and the ball will not roll as true. For family games and a basement tournament nobody will care. If you play seriously enough to notice the roll off a rail, you already know you want slate, and slate means permanent installation and several people to move it.

Level It Every Time

A folding table needs levelling each time it goes up, and on a carpeted or uneven floor that matters more than the table. Keep shims with it. Ten minutes with a level is the difference between a table people use and one that quietly annoys everybody.