Why Are Pool Tables So Expensive? Where Your Money Goes

Pool tables are expensive because a proper one is built around a heavy slate bed that is ground almost perfectly flat, then delivered to your home and levelled by hand. The frame, cushions and cloth all have to match that precision. In our range, a genuine slate table starts at £1,449.00.

That's the short answer, so you can stop here if it's all you needed. If you're looking at a price tag and wondering what you'd actually be paying for, read on.

Where does your money go in a pool table?

Most of it goes on the slate, and on the specialist work of getting it level in your room. The decorative cabinet you can see is often the less expensive part.

Here's how the cost breaks down, using tables from our own range as examples:

Every component adds cost and quality, but the slate determines everything else. A heavy, precisely flattened bed needs a sturdy frame, a careful installation and cushions good enough to do it justice.

Why is slate so expensive?

Because your playing surface has to be flatter than almost anything else in your house.

The World Pool-Billiard Association's recommended equipment specifications say tournament slate must be at least 2.54cm thick. Along its entire length, the surface must stay flat to within 0.508mm, which is about half a millimetre across a bed long enough to lie down on. Tournament tables also need the slate divided into three equal pieces, supported by a wooden frame fixed underneath.

Achieving that accuracy in natural stone takes industrial machinery and patient craftsmanship. One US manufacturer explains how it builds its tables. The slate arrives already cut and ground flat, and each section is matched to its neighbours so the seams don't leave a ridge.

Then there's the weight. The 7ft Omega Classic weighs about 245kg, and the 9ft K-Steel Mark 2 weighs about 550kg. Every kilo has to be packaged, lifted and transported carefully to your door.

Forum discussions put it more bluntly.

On a Linus Tech Tips thread asking why pool tables are so expensive, several posters make the same point. A desk only needs to look flat, whereas a pool table can't have the tiny hills and valleys a rolling ball will find. Experienced players answering on Quora agree that the bed material and slate thickness are the biggest cost factors.

Why not just use wood or MDF?

You can, and it's much cheaper, but it won't stay flat. MDF is a manufactured board made from compressed wood fibres, so it can gradually bend in a way that stone doesn't.

Regulars on an AzBilliards thread comparing MDF and slate beds are blunt about it. One describes inheriting an MDF table that had sunk in the middle after years as a laundry station. He says it played like a giant soup bowl.

On the Linus thread, another poster warns that an inexpensive table develops high and low spots in the cloth after a few months or years.

So when you pay for slate, you're paying for a table that still rolls accurately in its tenth year, not just on the first evening.

What else adds to the price of a pool table?

The frame, the cushions and the cloth, each engineered to keep up with the slate.

The frame and cabinet

Your frame supports hundreds of kilograms and has to stop the slate shifting. Better tables use solid hardwood with traditional joinery, or a modular steel frame. The US manufacturer above says solid hardwood costs more and requires more skilled labour to finish properly, and you see that craftsmanship in the price.

The DPT Omega Classic is a useful illustration of where the money really goes. It keeps its price down with a veneered MDF cabinet, but it still puts a genuine, precision-ground slate bed underneath. The manufacturer economised on the outer box rather than on the surface your ball actually rolls across.

The cushions

Cushions decide how your ball rebounds from the rail. The WPA specification says they must be lively enough to send a firmly struck ball four to four and a half lengths of the table. A Yorkshire cloth and cushion manufacturer says its cushions use hand-tapped Malaysian rubber, selected specifically for its rebound.

Quality rubber keeps that consistency for years, which is a big part of a table's durability.

The cloth

Proper cloth isn't an inexpensive sheet of felt, and the quality of the materials is tightly specified. The WPA specification calls for cloth containing 80% to 85% combed worsted wool, with the remainder nylon. That Yorkshire mill weaves its worsted and woollen cloths in England, and you pay for that speed and accuracy every time your table is re-covered.

Why does delivery and installation cost so much?

Because a slate table arrives in pieces, and it only becomes a pool table once someone has levelled it.

Picture the situation. It's Saturday afternoon, your friends are arriving at seven, and your new table is sitting in the hallway in several heavy crates. Without an experienced team, you'd be risking an injured back, a chipped slate edge and a ball that drifts to one side all evening.

The US manufacturer above says a full installation takes about three to five hours with a two-person crew. The installers level the slate using shims, fill the seams with beeswax and stretch the cloth tight by hand.

Delivery is free to mainland England and Wales with us. Deliveries to Scotland, Northern Ireland and offshore areas are quoted separately.

Get the installation right and the first break of the night rolls perfectly straight, and your table stays accurate for years of competitive games.

Why does one slate table cost £1,449 and another £8,800?

Thicker slate, a stiffer frame, better cushions and a larger playing area. Here are three slate tables from our range compared side by side:

All three use genuine slate, so all three will play properly whatever your budget. The additional money buys you tighter tolerances, a more rigid base and cushions calibrated for serious players. The K-Steel Mark 2 is manufactured to EPBF specifications and was selected for the World Team Championships in Germany. For typical prices across the market, see the slate pool table buying guide. If you're weighing a coin-operated model against its freeplay twin, see the difference between pub and home pool tables.

I'd add one more reason from running this business. Pool tables are made in far smaller numbers than sofas or wardrobes, so fewer tables share the cost of the factory, the tooling and the specialist fitters.

When is a cheaper table the right choice?

When you'll play occasionally, or you're likely to move house soon. I'll be honest: you don't always need slate.

If your table is mainly for the children, or for a few family games over Christmas, an MDF or folding table may serve you perfectly well. It's lighter, it fits through an ordinary doorway and you can move it yourself. You can always upgrade to slate once you know you'll play regularly. For first-time players, see the guide to choosing a pool table for a beginner.

The forum regulars wouldn't agree with me, and on AzBilliards most of them simply say never buy MDF. But they play every week, and if you'll play every week too, buying slate means you'll only need to buy once. The full list of checks before buying a pool table covers space, access and delivery too.

FAQ

Is an expensive pool table worth the money?

It is if you play often. Slate keeps its flat surface for decades, so the higher price buys durability, while a cheaper bed can sag within a few years. If your table will mostly collect coats and shopping bags, save your money. To see how tables hold their value later, read about pool tables as an investment.

Do bigger pool tables cost more?

Usually, but not always. A bigger table needs more slate, more materials and more effort to deliver, so most buying guides say size pushes the price up. In our range, the SAM Royal Class rises from £5,999.00 for the 7ft to £8,499.00 for the 9ft. Yet the Sam K-Steel Mark 2 costs £8,800.00 in both its 8ft and 9ft sizes, so it's always worth asking.

The verdict

Pool tables are expensive because you're buying a precisely flattened slab of stone, a frame that holds it perfectly still and the skilled labour to level it in your room. You pay for that once, and in return your table plays accurately through decades of games nights with friends round. If you'll only play occasionally, a cheaper table is a perfectly sensible alternative.