American Pool is the national billiards game in the USA and their full size table is the 9ft table, although most seem to come in 8ft sizes. They also have bigger pockets than their English cousins and also bigger pool balls. The American pool ball is 2 and 1/4 inch in diameter, which means the cue tips are also larger on American pool cues, typically 13mm. This larger cue tip is required for better control of the cue ball.

The cloth for American pool tables, and some English pool tables, are made with speed cloth, or cloth without a nap, unlike the English snooker table which does have a nap (the nap is a slightly raised surface on the cloth which has a direction; it is smoother or 'with the grain' going from the baulk end to the black spot end and coarser or 'against the grain' going from the black spot end to baulk). This means the ball does not deviate on the table when hit, unlike a snooker ball which, when hit slowly, can deviate slightly, depending on the direction of the 'nap'.