I disagree about the red label vs. the blue label tables. I have two red label Diamonds in my room and I prefer them over the blue label.The reason being the blue label rolls too much and just plays too long. Obviously that's me owning red label tables but I blame Diamond for changing the equipment so drastically. Why would you sell thousands of tables then suddenly change the rubber and pitch (angle) of the cut? For those old timers, remember how consistent the Gold Crowns played from room to room back in the sixties and seventies. That's because Brunswick didn't fool around with the table once it found what worked. You can actually go back to the Anniversary and Centennial that morphed into the Gold Crown. Diamond needs to keep its product consistent to maintain the tables play from room to room.
I have to agree with Jerry. I've only played on two Diamond tables here in the San Francisco bay area (at the Broken Rack in Emeryville). Based on the comments here I am certain they were red labels. They completely fit the description - bank extremely short, and the rails seem to inject juice into the ball (obviously it's impossible for the ball to come off the rail faster than it went in, but is feels like that because the rails absorb much less cueball speed).
I came up on Gold Crowns and needless to say the Diamonds gave me fits, the ratio of bed speed to rail speed was so different that I lost all speed control
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However, just like anything else, it's an adjustment. Once I got used to the table, which didn't take too long, I begin to like it for two reasons:
- Faster is better. You can do more on a faster table where the rails don't suck the life out of the cue ball, imo.
- I could pinch (shorten) and make some banks with an easy stroke that would never go on a GC. Again, more possibilities.
Anyway that's my fraction of a cent. I wish there were more diamonds around here and that I could try playing on a Blue Label.
I'm still happier on a well setup GC, but the red Diamond does offer more possibilities that a player can take advantage of if he/she adjusts properly.
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