Billiard table ivory balls from warping. The first use of electric heating was for an 18.2 balkline tournament held in December 1927 between Welker Cochran and Jacob Schaefer, Jr. The New York Times announced it with fanfare: "For the first time in the history of world's championship balkline billiards a heated table will be used..." A pool table, or pocket billiards table, has six – one at each corner of the table () and one at the midpoint of each of the longer sides ( or ). Pool tables come in different sizes, typically referred to as , , , or tables.
Billiard table billiards. A recent table marking convention, in European nine-ball, is the . Pocketless carom billiards tables are used for such games as three-cushion billiards, straight rail, balkline, artistic billiards and cushion caroms. Regulation 10 × 5 foot carom billiards tables have a playing surface (measured between the noses of the cushions) of 2.84 meters by 1.42 meters (9.32 × 4.65 feet) with a 5 millimeter allowance. The standard height range of the table, measured from the playing surface to the ground is between 75 and 80 centimeters. The slate bed of a carom billiard table must have a minimum thickness