Snooker at the Crucible....

[P-Kasso2]

How much do those snooker tables at the Crucible cost?

They are immaculate pieces of workmanship...and big. And Welsh slate probably doesn't come cheap either.

So, realistically, if I wanted to buy exactly the same snooker table for the games room at P-K Towers, how much should I expect to have to fork out?

[Hiheels]

To you, sir? About two grand http://www.samleisure.co.uk/professional-snooker-pool-tables/ but you can get a bargain on eBay.

[P-Kasso2]

To you, sir? About two grand http://www.samleisure.co.uk/professional-snooker-pool-tables/ but you can get a bargain on eBay.

Just looked at your link, Heels, because two grand struck me as really cheapo...and, sure enough, those are pool tables...little diddlysquat pool tables compared to a massive full-size snooker table.

Right at the very end of the link there was a pic of one snooker table that was priced at (are you sitting down?) a cool £24,800 !

Two grand or twenty four grand? Big difference.

I don't know who makes the tables at the Crucible but obviously they are the pukka tables.

Any advance on £24,800?

[Hiheels]

You're right, I was obviously being very lazy at the time and didn't read the whole description 
You can get the right size here for less http://tinyurl.com/mhhfhzo I see they also do a range of snooker/dining tables, although I imagine you'd have to decide which you were going to do at any one time.

[P-Kasso2]

You're right, I was obviously being very lazy at the time and didn't read the whole description 
You can get the right size here for less http://tinyurl.com/mhhfhzo I see they also do a range of snooker/dining tables, although I imagine you'd have to decide which you were going to do at any one time.

Right, here we go...a full size (ie a proper size) snooker table measures in at 11 ft 8 and a half inches long by 5 ft 10 inches wide (which is 3.569 m x 1.778 m in kilometres, litres and kilobulbs).

Thanks for your new link, Heels, it gave some pretty impressive snooker tables...but me, being a dyed in the balk cushion purist, I prefer yer good old traditional English Classic snooker tables  over your chromed up Miami Beach Tarty look .

But, that apart, the top price on your link is still a pretty hefty one...£8,995.00 (but as that's 'inc' VAT, that's OK).

However, while my eyelids were glued to the riveting snooker action from the Crucible earlier I did manage to get a fleeting glimpse of a brand name on the side of the illustrious snooker table...I think it said Star Struck but it was a very swift camera swerve and I can't be sure.

Anyway I always thought that competition level snooker tables were exclusively made by a company called Riley?  Maybe Star Struck is a sub-brand of Riley? Who knows?

Do Riley still exclusively make and supply the Crucible's snooker tables still today?

The nearest to any cost ref that I can get is reading about someone who is selling a Riley table on the Net for three and a half grand...they are quoting the 'when new' price as having been a healthy £12,500 .

Doesn't say how old the table is so that could easily've been £12,500 in the year dot.

Whether that £12,500 price was ex or inc VAT it doesn't say either...but I don't really care because I am only trying to find out a vaguely decent-ish ball-park figure for the cost of buying a respectable full-sized snooker table of quality so Mrs P-K and I can practice our back spins during the long summer evenings.

Any further ideas'd be most gratefully welcomed.

[Hiheels]

I can't find whether Riley exclusively supply the Crucible, others may have more luck, but  on their site you can buy ex tournament tables at a range of prices http://www.riley-snooker-international.com/site/tables.php if you hover over the one you're after a menu slides out, then you can click on it for further details. The least expensive of those seems to be £7,500.

[P-Kasso2]

I can't find whether Riley exclusively supply the Crucible, others may have more luck, but  on their site you can buy ex tournament tables at a range of prices http://www.riley-snooker-international.com/site/tables.php if you hover over the one you're after a menu slides out, then you can click on it for further details. The least expensive of those seems to be £7,500.

Thanks Heels and your answers and they prompted me to do a little more light digging...which uncovered something of an international scandal.

Something is obviously a bit rotten in the world of snooker. The Chinese have taken over!

For years, the English snooker tables at the Crucible have had Riley's renowned trade-mark silver legs at the televised championships...but no more!

This year the legs have turned to gold as the stalwart Riley Company (who have been making perfectly decent snooker tables for the past 114 years) were unceremoniously booted out and a wily oriental new table supplier was appointed by the greedy greybeards who run World Snooker.

I knew that there has been massive growth in the Chinese snooker revolution over the last ten or fifteen years but I didn't know, until just now, that World Snooker [the governing body and promoter of the professional circuit] have announced that the upstart Star Tables (the largest billiards equipment manufacturer in China, based in Beijing and only established 1987) has now taken over as its official supplier for the new season.

This sudden decision signals the summary end of a 15-year agreement with Riley whose tables have been officially used since 1993.

Now, a new three-year agreement with the shadowy Beijing Xingwei Sports Goods Co lets them in to all ranking and invitational events worldwide for the next three years.

The professional players say that the two tables play pretty similarly and aren't over-concerned about the change-over.

One snooker pro who voiced his concern said he'd just spent thousands of pounds on a Riley table last year in order to prepare for major competitions and is understandably more than somewhat peeved to now be faced with competing on totally different tables.

Such things matter a lot to us snooker fans!

[S Bingham]

The tables used for all professional tournaments is the "Star" table, made in China. These are available fully fitted with all accessories for a mere £7,500.00

snookermania.co.uk/star-snooker-table.html
grovesnooker.co.uk/star/

World snooker would be doing a dis-service if they did not seek out alternative suppliers (to Rileys and BCE) who could provide the same quality at a lower price. I don't know the real reason as to the shift, but don't like people assuming "scandal" and "something rotten in the world of snooker".

But as you mentioned, the players (who are finely tuned to notice any drop in quality) didn't notice anything negative about the tables, and many actually preferred the Star tables.

[P-Kasso2]

Thanks again, SB... What a difference a year makes!

Last week, the Betfred Snooker finished at the Crucible...and I noticed that both the tables at the Crucible were Chinese-made and they both performed brilliantly! Absolutely brilliantly.

No complaints from me, none from the players. None from the BBC commentators and none from Betfred.

So these Star tables seem to be every bit as high quality as the play that took part on them.

And, if they are over ten grand cheaper, then who can possibly argue with that? Not me.

[Trish]

The tables maybe the same quality and much cheaper but on the eve of leaving the EU we should be buying British to secure jobs and. G D P .

[P-Kasso2]

The tables maybe the same quality and much cheaper but on the eve of leaving the EU we should be buying British to secure jobs and. G D P .

As a staunch Remainer, I agree totally Trish. Keep snooker balls British! That's what I say. Otherwise, next thing you know is we'll be seeing a Chinese snooker player knocking the Great Ronnie O'Sullivan out of the world championships!