Four!  Actually, that is all the people we had yesterday to move a pool table from our friends house (which just sold so we had to get it out this weekend) in Seattle.  For those of you who don't know, as I didn't until yesterday, pool tables are heavy... fucking heavy!  Here's a quick excerpt from a pool table manufacturer:

A pool table weight will vary between manufacture, style and thickness of slate. A good rule of thumb is to expect the table to weigh between 500-1000 pounds. This is about equivalent to 4-5 men standing in the same room. Better floor support will enhance the playability of the game. Floors that have minimal support will flex slightly as players move around the room. This will impact with the balance of the table over time.

So how did 4 people move a 500lb (give or take a hundred pounds) pool table?  Awkwardly!  First off, let me introduce the players; Me, my wife, our friend Shawn, and his wife Chrissy.  My wife is a bit under the weather and can't life heavy objects.  So that just leaves Shawn, his wife and I.  The heavy lifting was left to Shawn and I with Chrissy helping in the initial lift and stabilization when we had it standing up straight.

That brings me to how we actually moved it, seeing as we could not lift and carry it.  Once outside (we dragged it on its side up and out the back door) we laid it down flat and, to move it, lifted up one end and laid it down on the reverse side.  Basically, we end-over-ended it all the way to the truck.  Turns were tricky as we had to turn it while it was standing up straight then pivot on one corner.  Chrissy was able to stabilize and hold while Shawn and I lifted and pivoted one end.  All the while, my wife hurriedly moved 2 tarps along the yard as this was all going on.  Picture a large rock being rolled on logs; she was the one lifting up the last log and moving it to the first position.

This concert of awkwardness took about 2 hours and we were able to move a 500lb pool table from the back of the house to my truck.  Luckily, nobody got hurt and it didn't fall out of the truck on the way from Seattle back down to Portland.  Even luckier, it didn't rain; it was actually sunny and nice out.  Why is this lucky you ask?  Well first, it is Seattle and secondly, the forecast called for rain showers throughout the day.  Albeit, we did hit a small patch of rain near Olympia but the table was covered with a tarp and we had sun to dry it once that was over.

Long story short, I now have a pool table in the back of my truck in my garage and I now have to figure out how to get it out. 

A big thanks to Shawn and Chrissy for all their efforts and help.  Thanks to Angela for allowing us to come and take the pool table (for free I might add).  And thanks to my sweet, sweet wife who put all the pieces together and made this "move" more like a nice outing with friends.