Local Firm Produces World Class Tables

Look out Brunswick. Here comes Forgie.

A small manufacturer in Ventura, Bill Forgie has been making world-class pool tables in the two years he’s been in business.

“Of all the tables I’ve seen in the last 15 or 20 years, his are probably more precise and better made than any other today,” says Terry Moldenhauer, a distributor. “Pound for pound, they’re the best on the market.”

Forgie learned his craft as an apprentice to Cap Porter, whose Renaissance tables are the most expensive in the world, selling for as much as $50,000. Forgie, wife Anna and two employees produce about 500 antique- and modern-style tables a year, with prices ranging from $2,500 to $3,500, a few hundred dollars less than Brunswick’s Gold Crown.

Forgie supplied the tables for 10 pool halls in the Los Angeles area last year and all 10 tables at Nicholby’s in Ventura, but he’s not out to become a mass producer.

“I don’t want to get too big,” he says. “I don’t mind growing, but big is a hassle.”

Jerry Matchin, owner of Stiix Billiards, is in no hurry to buy a Forgie. “I want to see a Forgie in five years,” Matchin says. “I’m reserving judgment until then.”

But Bill Forgie isn’t worried about his tables’ durability. “We’re trying to make a quality product and use good materials,” he says. “If we do, our tables should last a lifetime.”