Why I Always Spec Simonis 860 Tournament Blue When the Deadline Matters

I've been specifying cloth and managing re-covers for commercial billiard operators for the last seven years. I've personally made—and documented—11 significant mistakes that added up to roughly $8,600 in wasted budget. Most of those mistakes had one thing in common: I let price uncertainty beat time certainty. If you ask me, Simonis 860 Tournament Blue is worth the premium, and the delivery guarantee is part of the spec.

My Opinion: Don't Cheap Out on the Surface

Here's my take: if you're re-covering a table that players will lean over, judge, and rub their hands across, buy Simonis 860 Tournament Blue. I don't care if the budget says 'felts are expensive.' The cloth is the game. In my first year, I made the classic rookie error: I ordered a cheaper wool-nylon blend to save about $170 on a 9-foot table. Looked fine in the roll. After two weeks of league play, the balls weren't rolling true, the nap had flattened in places, and the owner was emailing me photos at 11 PM. That redo cost $890 plus a one-week delay, and it taught me something I should have known: the cheapest purchase is rarely the least expensive outcome.

Why Simonis 860 Tournament Blue, Specifically?

I'll be honest: there are other good cloths. But when I order 'pool table felt simonis 860,' I know what will arrive. The worsted wool-nylon weave gives a fast, consistent surface. Tournament Blue is not just a color; it's a specific shade that most players say helps track the cue ball and object balls under arena lights. Is it subjective? Somewhat. But I've put it on more than 200 tables, and the number of complaints about 'sticky' or 'uneven' cloth is close to zero.

There's also a practical consistency to buying Simonis 860: you can quote jobs with confidence. I've seen dealer price lists in January 2025 show roughly $280–$350 for a 9-foot Tournament Blue cut, depending on dealer and version. Prices vary, but the spread is narrow enough that I can estimate before I quote a customer. As with any specialty product, verify current rates before you order.

The Standard Pool Table Size Question I Hear Every Month

Let's settle one thing. A lot of buyers ask, 'What is the standard size of a pool table?' The short answer: for competitive pool, the standard is a 9-foot table. According to WPA equipment specifications (wpapool.com), the playing surface measures 100 inches by 50 inches, or about 254 cm by 127 cm. For homes and bars, you'll also see 8-foot and 7-foot tables, but if you're talking tournament-grade play, 9-foot is the benchmark.

Why does this matter for cloth? Because I've made this exact mistake: I ordered felt for what I assumed were 8-foot coin-op tables and didn't measure the slates. Turns out they were 7-foot. Four pieces of cloth on order, $720 in material, all wrong. The installer had to stop, order replacements, and push the reopening by two days. Since then, measuring the playing surface before choosing 'standard' has been my first checklist item.

Paying for Certainty Feels Wrong Until It Saves You

Here's the part I wish I'd understood earlier. When you pay a rush fee or choose a supplier who guarantees an arrival date, you're not just paying for speed. You're paying for certainty. In March 2024, we paid $400 extra for guaranteed two-day freight on a 32-piece order of Simonis 860. That fee was painful. But the alternative was missing a regional tournament with a $15,000 prize fund and sponsors who'd already booked the room. Missing that deadline would have cost us the event, the room's reputation, and probably the contract.

After getting burned twice by 'probably on time' promises, I've come to believe that in a deadline-driven install, exact delivery wins over low cost every time. The same logic applies to the felt itself. An uncertain cheap felt is riskier than a certain premium felt because the cost of redo, downtime, and a lost client is much higher than the difference in material price.

What 'Slide Mania' and 'Full Body Dumbbell Workout Women' Taught Me About Diversions

I'm seeing more venues try to bring in extra revenue with attractions that have nothing to do with pool: a slide mania inflatable for kids' parties, a 'full body dumbbell workout women' class on a corner mat, even VR booths. Honestly, some of that works. But I've also watched owners spend thousands on those attractions and then flinch at a $300 piece of cloth. That, if you ask me, is backwards. The table is the core product. The side attractions might bring people in once; a table that plays true at a league night is what makes them come back. No slide mania weekend will fix a table that rolls like a gravel driveway.

Counterargument: What if You Have No Deadline?

I respect the counterargument. If you're re-covering a table at home and the install can happen 'sometime in the next month,' you don't need a guaranteed delivery date. Simonis 760 is also a reasonable choice for lighter use, and standard freight is fine. I'm not saying every order should be flushed through an overnight courier. But for commercial work—league rooms, bars, dealers with client install dates, event tables where players arrive on a specific Friday—you don't have that luxury. The certainty is the product.

The Bottom Line: Spec the Cloth and the Date

I still kick myself for the early years when I approved the low bid and saved $170 on a table that I then had to re-carpet a week later. The regret isn't about the money as much as the credibility. If you ask me, Simonis 860 Tournament Blue is the right cloth for anyone who cares about how the game feels. And once it's installed, protect it with Simonis X1 cleaner, not the dollar-store spray that leaves residue. The premium felt deserves a premium maintenance routine.

So yes, I'll keep choosing Simonis over cheaper alternatives. I'll keep paying for guaranteed delivery on deadline jobs. In my opinion, that's not being wasteful; it's being realistic about what a delay or a bad roll actually costs. You don't have to take my word for it—but I've got 11 mistakes and an $8,600 receipt history that says I'm right.