Last weekend I went on a date where I shot some pool at a pool hall, and I really enjoyed it. In fact, I've always liked pool, since I was a little kid and could barely see over the top of it.
After that date, I had one of those, "Holy shit, I'm an adult and I can buy one of these," moments. So at lunch and after work, I checked out a couple of stores.
It's amazing that you can buy tables that cost like eight grand. Expensive, but they're absolutely beautiful pieces of furniture. While I would never spend that much, I can appreciate the quality that you're looking at. Really looking hard at what's available, you can get a nice Brunswick table with leather pockets for around $1,500 or less. That seems reasonable to me.
My downstairs room is currently filled only with a bookshelf and the Jurassic Park machine, as I asked Stephanie to take the red furniture with her to Colorado (I think it would only keep fading in that bright sunlit room). When I got home I measured it out to scale on paper, then measured a piece of paper with the table and the minimum space around it.
Unfortunately, that room is about a foot too small length wise at each end for full-length cues (and if you know the room, believe it or not the "lengthwise" is the closet to kitchen direction). It's about two inches too short at each end for 48" cues, which might be workable.
In any case, I'm not gonna make any impulse buys on this. I'll let it marinate for awhile. Those dollars might be better spent on something more constructive, like a bike.