The long room,
and the big tables.
Chinese 8-ball on nine feet of napped cloth, with pockets cut like a snooker table’s. The same balls you know from the pub, on equipment that will not forgive what a pub table forgives.
Drawn to the real measurements: a 2540 mm playing surface, exactly twice as long as it is wide, with the head string a quarter of the way up and the rack on the foot spot. The balls are the 57.15 mm set you have played with all your life. Almost nothing else about it is familiar.
“Great players, exciting matches and awesome atmosphere.”
Heyball is the game this room is built around, and the championship is why. Five editions have run since 2022 and the sixth is open for entry now, which is a harder thing to arrange than it sounds and a better guide to a club than any single night in it.
The tables
- How many
- 8 Heyball tables, in the long room
- Size
- 9 ft Chinese 8-ball
- Cloth
- Napped cloth over slate
- Rate
- $20 an hour, per table
- Cues
- On the wall by every table, with a rest and a spider. Chalk and balls included.
If you’ve never played
A Heyball table is a shock the first time. Shots you would make on a pool table simply do not go in, the pockets reject anything struck slightly off, and a frame between two beginners can take the best part of an hour. That is not a reason to avoid it, but it is a reason to know what you are choosing.
The scoring looks harder than it is. Seven values, and only one rule about the order:
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
A long room of them, and usually one free.