@Sureshot: No, it doesn't have to be foldable.
@Sohum: No, six foot isn't small to have a very good game of snooker. Most people can't go with twelve footers (you probably need reinforced floor of some sort for them as well; they're so big and heavy, they are bought in piece by piece and assembled on site!) I have played on a six foot table before and they're great fun! Anything less than 6ft is probably going to be a bit small for an adult to have fun with (5ft isn't too bad). The main differences between a 6ft and a toy like a 4ft is the cushion quality and the size of the balls relative to the cue tip. The balls that come with a 4ft table are far too small to impart spin, especially backspin, but 6ft tables' balls can generate a ton of spin, I speak from experience! They're also much heavier than 4ft ones and have a much more satisfying 'kiss' sound!
Also, I am looking for one with ball runners, as they don't break after a certain amount of time, unlike net pockets, especially if they're brass ones!
I am currently leaning towards this one:
as it is a Riley and looks so damn nice! Price is £229, but if I hear good things about this one:
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3353479/Trail/searchtext>SNOOKER+TABLE.htm
then I'll go with that one, as getting it from Argos will be far more convenient than having to send off for one (and as I've said before, I'm none too keen about high price internet transactions). You can hardly call £200 a crap cheapie form Argos, can you? Surely for that price you'd get a decent table? I just wish it said 'Riley or BCE' on it, that's a guarantee of quality when you get above a 5ft table. I also had a 6ft table when I was a kid, it was from Argos and cost around £120. Reasonably cheap, but it was one hell of a table!
Edit: I don't mind if the cues are small for the table; I'll be buying shorter cues anyway, as it's the only way the table can go in the room I have in mind. The cues, although shorter, have full size tips (within 1mm) and are basically a scaled down version of a professional full size cue. I'm fairly short myself, so I could use short cues (never thought I'd have a reason to be thankful about my height!!) I'm around 5.6.
Once again, thanks for your help.
MasterBlaster76 added 12 Minutes and 24 Seconds later...
So you've got two options:
2nd hand table, save yourself a ton of money, find one in good condition.
Buy a 6footer from a table maker, you'll spend more, but it will be the best you can buy.
Yeps, I've been on to a specialist, they can offer me a six foot table with almost professional standard cushions and cloth for £325, but I don't really want to spend much more than £200. The £220 Riley one would be pushing it as it is.
What's annoying is there are hardly any stores that seem to have these 6ft tables on display, so you can test them out. Does anyone know of stores in London that display 6ft tables? A local JJB to me had some out a while back and they looked good, but naturally, they've now gone and closed down! In fact, I've heard that all the JJBs in London are closing, which is a great shame. I asked Argos and they said they have a showroom in....Cardiff. A fat lot of use that is! I mean, you'd expect a major store like Argos to have at least one showroom in London as well, since that's the Capital city?
