In this article I will discuss the differences between the two types of coin operation on pub type slate-bed pool tables: Mechanical and Electronic and the advantages and disadvantages of them both.

With the mechanical type, you place coins in the coin slots usually either a £1, £1.50 or nowadays more likely two £1 coins, then push the mechanism in to release the balls.

With the electronic mechanisms, you drop coins into a slot which either releases the balls or you press a button to do so. The benefit of this type of mechanism is that you can put a variety of coins in until the price of play is met – this can mean they take more money over a period of time, usually around 10%.

However, neither are perfect. The electronic ones can suffer from electrical gremlins with circuit boards fuses and motor faults, you also need to replace the battery packs every few months, and repairs can be expensive and time consuming.

The mechanical mechanisms are more reliable but can suffer from wear over time, also they need setting up properly, for instance if the adjustment is wrong it can be possible to retain the coins in the mechanism so giving free games. Once this happens all the players will know but not the owners of the table, reducing valuable income which goes towards running the pub or club or maintaining the table.

Having said all this the next generation is already here with card readers connected to the internet. At the moment these are expensive with many manufacturers taking a percentage of the money. Card readers can only be fitted to the electronic mechanisms. Prices will come down over time.

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