Glass Top Pool Table review

A friend in Singapore sent me this video and asked my impression of this glass top pool table:

Here's what I told him:

As for the pool table, it is a clever thing, of course, but I think that, as a piece of furniture,

it would only fit in with a very modern/contemporary home. And, as far as how well it plays, I would have some serious reservations with it. First of all, since there is no cloth, I think that the small pieces of chalk, which are always present because of chalking the cue tip, would create havoc with slow rolling balls. On a cloth covered table, small pieces of chalk work their way into the cloth, leaving the playing surface smooth, but the glass has nowhere for the chalk to hide. It would get dirty very quickly with hand oils, smudges, etc. Very impractical. And I think it would reflect a lot more noise.

Finally, I am thinking that some shots, such as draw, jump, masse, etc, might be difficult without cloth, which creates the friction that is needed for these shots. I would think that if such advanced shots were possible, the demo video would show it. Also, if it played as well as a pro table, then they should have some pro testimonials, but I have not found any.

The price appears to be about 3 times what a professional grade tournament Brunswick sells for in the USA (list price), which is what I use here at The Fun House, and is the standard in the industry, the Gold Crown.

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