I have searched the internet for various resources to find out the playing area required for a 8-feet pool table. While they are largely adequate, I thought it might be useful to also provide a little more depth based on my own experience. In so doing, I hope that you’ll be able to better make a call on whether an 7-feet, 8-feet or 9-feet pool table suits your entertainment room and your preference better.
Figure 1: Minimum Room Area & Extended Room Area
Play Area Determines Room Area
The minimum room area and extended room area is derived with reference to the edge of the play area and not the pool table itself since the maximum the cue ball can be is at the rail i.e. edge of the play area and not the edge of the pool table. Therefore, the dimensions of the entire pool table, in particular, the width of the pool table rail is not important in determining room area.
Using this logic, we can derive the minimum room area required based on the radius of a standard 58” cue (1.47m). This is usually sufficient for majority of shots, but you may experience difficulty for rail or near-rail shots because cueing room is limited for rail shots. If you can have slightly more space to space, go for the extended room area which requires a 61” or 1.55m clearance all round the play area.
The table below shows the various dimensions. For maximum comfort, the recommended room sizes are shown in orange but as I said, the minimum room area works fine as well based on my experience.
Figure 2: Dimensions of Play Area, Minimum Room Area & Extended Room Area
Actual Room Area Required is Slightly Smaller
The area of the room required is actually slightly smaller for two reasons. One, as can be observed in Figure 1, the edges of the minimum and extended room areas are actually rounded while the dimensions in Figure 2 are for a rectangular area. So you can place plants and furniture at those areas and yet not interrupt the game.
Two, as long as objects as below the height of 60cm they can cross the perimeter of the minimum and extended room areas until it starts to affect your standing position when you take a shot. It probably can take about 2 inches or 5cm off the recommended dimensions.
Good luck!