I've been handling equipment orders for a chain of family entertainment centers for about six years now. Enough time to know better. But I'll be honest—enough time to make some expensive mistakes, too.
This is about my experience with Simonis pool table cloth. Specifically, the time I cost my company nearly $900 because I thought I knew what I was doing.
The Setup: Why This Comparison Matters
When you're ordering felt for a commercial pool hall, the decision usually comes down to two heavyweights: Simonis 860 versus Simonis 760. And then, on top of that, the color choice—specifically Simonis Tournament Blue versus anything else.
This isn't a theoretical marketing piece. I'm not going to tell you one is universally better. What I am going to do is walk you through the specific dimensions where these two fabrics differ, and where my assumptions cost me real money.
The four dimensions I'm comparing:
1. Playability & Speed
2. Durability & Wear
3. Installation Difficulty
4. Aesthetic & Color (The Tournament Blue factor)
Dimension 1: Playability & Speed — The Obvious Fight
Everyone talks about this first. The conventional wisdom is that 860 is faster, and 760 is slower. That's mostly true, but it misses the nuance that matters to your customers.
Simonis 860 is what you see at basically every pro event. It's a worsted wool-nylon blend that's tightly woven. Balls roll true and fast. On a well-leveled table, the pocket response is consistent. You can run racks without fighting the cloth.
Simonis 760 is a bit heavier—more wool, less nylon, a slightly looser weave. It's slower. Not dramatically so, but noticeably. For a casual player just getting a few games in with friends, they might not feel the difference. For a regular league player? They'll complain.
Here's where my mistake came in. I ordered 760 for a new table in our tournament room, thinking, 'Slower means more durable, right? Better for the business.'
I was half right and half wrong. The regulars noticed immediately. The feedback was, and I quote, 'feels a bit dead.' It didn't help that the rest of our tables were on 860. We created an inconsistency in the player experience.
The conclusion here: If your clientele includes serious or regular league players, 860 is the standard. Don't deviate just for cost savings. For bar tables or family fun centers where the play is lighter, 760 is perfectly fine—and the cost difference per table is maybe $30-$50.
Dimension 2: Durability & Wear — The Surprise
This is where my assumption got flipped completely.
Everything I'd read said the heavier cloth (760) lasts longer. In practice, for our specific context, I found the opposite. The 860 tables held up better in our high-traffic league room.
Why? Because 860 is denser. The tighter weave doesn't pill or develop those fuzzy slow patches as quickly when the cloth is under constant chalk dust and cue drag. The 760 started showing wear—a slight graying visible streak near the foot spot—after about 10 months. The 860 tables from the same period? Still looking sharp at 15 months and counting.
I only believed 'tight weave = longer life' after ignoring it and paying for a premature recover on one table.
Key takeaway: In a commercial setting where tables see daily use from a mix of skill levels, the denser 860 often outlasts the heavier 760. The heavier cloth wears down faster under consistent friction.
Dimension 3: Installation Difficulty — A Process Nightmare
I only make this mistake once. Our usual installer was booked, so we had a new guy for a table recovery. He was competent with standard cloth. Simonis is not standard cloth.
Simonis, especially the 860, has very little stretch. If you don't cut it right and pull it taut from the start, you're fighting it the whole way. The 760 has a bit more give—it's slightly more forgiving for a less experienced installer.
Our guy over-stretched the 860 and created a subtle ripple near the center pocket. It wasn't terrible—a casual player wouldn't notice—but for a Tournament Blue table in the featured spot, it looked unprofessional.
The entire resurfacing process:
1. Remove rails (which can be a project itself if you don't know how to disassemble a pool table properly—bolts hidden under trim pieces, etc.)
2. Remove old staples and cloth
3. Stretch and staple the new Simonis cloth (a two-person job for tensioning)
4. Re-assemble the rails and level the playing surface
We had to redo that one table. That cost $890 in extra labor, not to mention the week the table was off-limits.
Lesson: If you're hiring an installer, ask specifically about their experience with Simonis cloth. It's a different beast. The thin, low-stretch nature is great for playability, terrible for an amateur installer.
Dimension 4: Aesthetic & Color — The Tournament Blue Factor
When we ordered the replacement cloth, we made the switch from a generic blue-green shade to Simonis Tournament Blue. (I think standard Tournament Blue is roughly Pantone 19-4052 or close to it—at least that's the closest visual match I've found.)
The difference was actually staggering. The tables looked… more expensive. The color is a deep, rich blue that doesn't look washed out under fluorescent lights. Chalk marks are more visible, which some players hate (too distracting) and some professionals actually prefer (because they can see their spin better).
My point: The color choice isn't just decorative. It affects how players interact with the table. It affects the perceived value of your establishment.
We switched to Tournament Blue on three league tables. Customer feedback? They felt 'more like a real tournament setting.' We got unsolicited compliments. The $50 premium per table felt like the best money we spent that quarter.
The counterpoint: A pure green is more traditional and hides chalk marks better. For a bar that wants low-maintenance aesthetics, green is the smarter choice. But Tournament Blue says something about your commitment to the game.
The Final Verdict: When to Choose What
I can't tell you that Simonis 860 is always better, or that Tournament Blue is always right. Here's what my mistakes have taught me:
Choose Simonis 860 + Tournament Blue when:
- You have league/tournament play regularly
- Your clientele includes serious players or 'regulars'
- You want to project a premium, professional image
- You have an installer experienced with Simonis
Choose Simonis 760 (in green) when:
- The table is a social, bar-style table for casual games
- Durability is your primary concern (though, again, that's debatable for me)
- You have a less-experienced installer
- Budget is a primary constraint (but not the only one)
The biggest thing I learned? Quality directly affects how customers perceive your business. When I switched from the cheaper generic cloth to the Simonis Tournament Blue setup, our regular tournament attendance went up by maybe 20% over the following quarter. Not all due to the cloth, but the cloth changed the atmosphere.
Oh, and one more thing, for what it's worth: We get curious customers all the time asking about how to disassemble a pool table for moving or recovery. My advice: Hire a pro for Simonis. (frustration) But if you must DIY, label every bolt and rail corner. The number of tables I've seen reassembled backwards is painful.
That's my story. I still kick myself for that $890 day. But at least the knowledge stuck.