Editing Billiard table (section)

==Pool tables==
[[File:CueBallOneBallNearPocket.jpg|right|thumb|A {{Cuegloss|Cue ball|cue ball}} and the 1 ball close to a WPA-style pocket. (The balls are the same size; the cue ball looks large due to [[foreshortening]].)]]<!--Replace this image; due to wide-angle lens, it makes the cue ball look much larger than the object ball.-->

A [[Pool (cue sports)|pool]] table, or pocket billiards table, has six {{cuegloss|Pocket|pockets}} – one at each corner of the table ({{cuegloss|Corner pocket|corner pockets}}) and one at the midpoint of each of the longer sides ({{cuegloss|Side pocket|side pockets}} or {{cuegloss|Middle pocket|middle pockets}}).

===Dimensions===
[[File:British-pool-table-pocket.JPG|thumb|alt=British Pool Table|A WEPF-style pool table, showing a cue ball and red and yellow balls close to the small, rounded, nearly parallel-sided pocket]]
Pool tables come in different sizes, typically referred to as {{convert|9|foot|m|abbr=out|adj=on|sigfig=2}}, {{convert|8.5|ft|m|abbr=on|adj=on|sigfig=2}}, {{convert|8|ft|m|abbr=on|adj=on|sigfig=2}}, or {{convert|7|ft|m|abbr=on|adj=on|sigfig=2}} tables. In all cases, the table is rectangular with a {{nowrap|2:1}} ratio (e.g. {{nowrap|9 × 4.5 ft}}).{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

There are only two sizes approved for tournament play by [[World Pool-Billiard Association]] (WPA): {{nowrap|9 × 4.5 ft}} and {{nowrap|8 × 4 ft}}.<ref name="WPA Tournament Table and Equipment Specifications">{{cite web |url=http://www.wpa-pool.com/index.asp?content=rules_spec |title=WPA Tournament Table and Equipment Specifications |access-date=27 December 2008 |publisher=[[World Pool-Billiard Association]] |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070202181203/http://www.wpa-pool.com/index.asp?content=rules_spec |archive-date=2 February 2007}}</ref><ref name="BCA Equip. Spec." /> For a {{nowrap|9-ft}} table, the playing surface (the dimensions between the noses of the cushions) measures {{convert|100|by|50|in|cm|sigfig=3}} with a {{nowrap|{{frac||1|8}}-inch}} (3.2&nbsp;mm) [[margin of error]] for either dimension. For an {{nowrap|8-ft table}}, the playing surface measures {{convert|92|by|46|in|cm|sigfig=3}}, with the same {{frac||1|8}} inch variance allowed.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

In the UK as well as a number of other [[British Commonwealth]] and European countries, the typical pool table is a {{convert|7|x|3.5|ft|m|abbr=on}}, although {{convert|6|ft|m|adj=on}} tables for the [[Public house|pub]] and home market are also common. These are the sizes used by internationally standardized [[blackball (pool)|blackball]] and the amateur [[World Eightball Pool Federation]], as well as informal pub pool.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.libertygames.co.uk/information/british_vs_american_pool |title=British vs. American Pool |access-date=30 April 2010 |publisher=[[Liberty Games]]}}</ref> The 7-foot size is also frequently used in North American amateur leagues, and are common coin-operated fixtures in [[Bar (establishment)|bars]] and other venues. The playing surface for a 7-foot table is {{convert|76|by|38|in|cm|sigfig=3}}.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

===Pockets===
Pockets, typically rimmed at the back with leather or plastic traditionally have ''drop pockets'', which are small receptacles below each pocket to contain the balls. More modern tables may instead employ ''ball return pockets'', a series of gutters inside the table, which deliver the balls into a collection compartment on one side of the table, in a similar manner to the ball return on a [[bowling alley]]. On a coin-operated table, the object balls are deposited inside an inaccessible window until the table is paid again, allowing the balls to be released into the compartment, while the cue ball is usually separated into its own ball return, often utilizing a different sized ball. A possible result of drop pockets is that if too many balls go into the same pocket, it would fill up the receptacle and prevent any more balls from going in that pocket, requiring that some be moved out of the pocket manually before shooting again.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

Regardless of table size, the WPA standard (sometimes informally called "American-style") table has wide, angular pockets that funnel notably inward, generally 1.75 to 2.25 times as wide at the opening as the diameter of the {{nowrap|{{frac|2|1|4}}-inch (57&nbsp;mm)}} balls, wider at the side (middle) pockets than the corners. WEPF pool (sometimes informally called "British-style" or "Commonwealth-style") is played with {{nowrap|2 to {{frac|2|1|8}}-in (51–54&nbsp;mm)}} balls, and this type of table has smaller, narrow pockets (the width is calculated as the ball diameter multiplied by 1.6, and is consistent at all six pockets), with rounded entrances and nearly parallel sides, like those on a snooker table. One tactical consequence of this design difference is that the jaws of the WPA-type pocket are often used exactly like a horizontal version of the backboard of a basketball goal, to rebound the ball into the pocket; this technique does not work on blackball tables, and even shots down the cushion into a corner pocket are more difficult.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

===Bed===
For tournament competition under WPA world-standardized rules (and league play under derived rulesets), the bed of the pocket billiard table must be made of slate no less than {{convert|1|in|cm|sigfig=3}} thick. The flatness of the table must be divergent by no greater than {{convert|0.02|in|mm}} lengthwise and {{convert|0.01|in|mm}} across the width.<ref name="WPA Tournament Table and Equipment Specifications"/>

===Scoring device===
Some pool tables may feature a mechanical scorekeeper on one side, which can be changed to denote points for games such as [[straight pool]] or [[Rotation (pool)|rotation]].