Pool Table Felt Colors: 29 Options from Championship & Simonis

One of the best parts of my job is watching someone's face when they walk into the showroom and realize we have 29 different cloth colors available. Most people think pool tables are green, period. Then they start imagining their game room in burgundy, or charcoal, or deep navy, and suddenly they're thinking about their entire room differently.

The felt color is the biggest visual statement a pool table makes. It's not a small decision. And I've made enough mistakes with color choices over 50 years to know that the way a color looks in a swatch doesn't always match how it looks across an eight-foot playing surface.

The Two Brands: Championship and Simonis

We work with two cloth brands: Championship and Simonis. Both are high-quality, professional-grade felts. Championship cloth is slightly more affordable and has a nice, smooth feel. Simonis is premium, used in tournaments and high-end establishments, and it's a bit faster and more durable. For most home players, Championship is excellent. If you're serious about your game, Simonis is worth the upgrade.

The color selection is essentially the same across both brands. We stock both in forest green, pool green, hunter green, slate blue, navy blue, burgundy, charcoal, black, bright red, and several others. That's where the 29 comes from, and honestly, if you want a color that isn't in our standard palette, we can special-order it through the manufacturer.

How Color Affects Your Room

Here's something people don't think about until they've already bought the table: the felt color changes how your entire game room looks and feels.

A traditional forest green or pool green table is timeless. It looks professional. It feels familiar. If your room is neutral, or if you're not sure what direction to go, green is the safe choice. I've sold green tables for five decades, and I'll sell them for five more.

But if your game room has style, you can make bold choices. A burgundy or charcoal table in a room with oak cabinetry and good lighting looks sophisticated and rich. A slate blue table in a modern, minimalist space can be stunning. Black felt is dramatic and hides dust, but it's reflective under certain lighting conditions.

The walls matter. If your game room has dark walls, a dark felt can disappear. A lighter color like slate blue or even bright red pops. If the walls are lighter, you have more freedom. A hunter green or navy feels grounded.

Popular Choices and Why

Forest green is still number one. It's what people grew up seeing in pool halls. It's forgiving. It looks good under almost any lighting condition. If you're unsure, go green.

Slate blue is my second pick for modern homes. It's darker than pool green, more sophisticated, and it doesn't feel as cliched. Players tell me it's easier on the eyes during long sessions.

Charcoal and black are trendy, especially from younger customers building game rooms. They look sharp, but you have to be prepared for dust visibility and the way they interact with your lighting.

Burgundy and bright red are for people who want their game room to make a statement. If that's you, you probably already know it.

Does Felt Color Affect Speed?

Here's something that surprises people: felt color doesn't actually affect how fast the balls roll. The nap of the cloth, the finish, the quality of the slate under it, that's what determines speed. A tournament-speed Simonis in forest green plays the same as a Simonis in slate blue.

What color does affect is how clearly you can track the balls. A darker cloth like navy or charcoal makes white cue balls stand out more. A lighter felt makes the contrast a bit softer. This is purely visual, not mechanical.

Some players swear that darker felts are faster because the balls seem to move quicker against them. That's an optical illusion. The balls are faster or slower based on the cloth grade and the installation, not the color.

Cloth Quality Affects Everything

The felt color matters, but the quality of the felt matters more. A cheap cloth on a cheap table is going to be stiff, wear unevenly, and snag. A Championship or Simonis cloth on a slate table lasts years and plays beautifully.

This goes back to something I tell everyone. If someone is selling you a "pool table" for under $1,000, it's almost certainly non-slate and using low-grade felt. Walk away. The cloth on one of our tables, from C.L. Bailey to Brunswick to Olhausen, is professional-grade. It's designed to take regular play and multiple re-clothings.

Choosing in the Showroom

This is where the in-person visit is essential. We have samples of all 29 colors available, and we can show you how they look on actual tables. You can also bring photos of your game room, and we can hold the color samples against your space to see the interaction with your walls and lighting.

One thing I always do is have customers look at the colors under different lighting. Daylight, artificial light, the light you'll actually be playing under. The color shifts slightly based on how it's lit. A sample that looks perfect in morning sun might look different under your game room lights at night.

Come see us at 1431 Leestown Rd. Every table we sell includes free delivery within 50 miles of Lexington, professional installation, and a full accessory kit. Pick your color in person, and we'll install it the day your table is delivered.

If you want to talk through colors before you come in, call us at (859) 255-7639. We're open Monday through Saturday, 10am to 6pm.