Billiards Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
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2 Brief Glossary 3 Equipment 4 Types of Games 5 Pool in America 6 Championship Pool 7 Billiard games 8 More information 9 Links |
The game is generally regarded to have evolved from outdoor stick and ball games some of which evolved into indoor games (Stein & Rubino). Billiard cloth is typically green which reflects its origin (Shamos.)
The word pool generally refers to a pocket billiard games such as 8-ball, 9-ball, or straight pool. The word pool comes from poolrooms, where people gambled offtrack on horse races. They were called poolrooms as money was "pooled" to determine the odds. These rooms commonly provided billiard tables, and by association pool became synonymous with billiards. The terms pool and pocket billiards are synonymous.
Bank - Short for bank shot where the cue ball contacts a ball, the ball hits into a rail, and then that ball is pocketed.
Cue - Short for pool cue, or sometimes cue ball.
Cue Ball - A usually white ball. In most games the players start each shot by hitting their pool cue into the cue ball in an attempt to score points or pocket balls.
Cue Stick - A cue stick is usually around 5 ft. long which can be easily gripped with a tip which not only cushions the impact, but allows for spin to be transferred to the cue ball.
Kick Shot - Like a bank shot, except the cue ball contacts the rail before striking the object ball. Some people use the term bank shot for this shot as well.
Pocket - An opening in a table into which balls are shot. Also used as a verb to describe the act of a ball being sent into a pocket.
Pot - See sink.
Rail - Pool tables have elastic rails which are covered in cloth. They are also called cushions.
Sink - Same as the word pocket used as a verb.
Billiard balls differ depending on the game. In 8-ball, 9-ball, and straight pool, and related games, there are 16 balls. Eight of them are solid colored and numbered one through 8. Seven of them have a colored stripe and are numbered nine through 15. There is also a cue ball.
In snooker, there are 15 red balls, six colored balls, and cue ball. The balls are assigned the values two through seven, but are typically not numbered.
In games such as straight billiards, balkline games like 18.1, and three cushion, there are two cue balls, and a red ball.
There are many sizes and styles of billiard tables. Generally, tables are twice as long as wide. High quality tables have a slate bed. Pocket billiard tables typically have 6 pockets, three on each side. Tables are covered with billiard cloth which as mentioned above is typically green. Bar tables which get lots of play use slower cloth which can handle more usage. Good quality pool cloth is faster. Snooker table cloth traditionally has a nap and balls behave differently when rolling against the direction of the nap.
To evenly light a table, and eliminate distracting shadows, a proper table light should be used.
Cues are typically wood, but in recent years some other materials have been used. Its common for a cue to consist of two pieces to make it easier to transport it.
Cues vary in length but most are just under 6ft in length. They all taper from the butt of the cue where it is gripped to the tip which makes contact with the balls.
Cues vary considerably in quality, style, and price. A good quality cue typically is made from maple wood. Cues are not always for play. Some are very collectible.
Cues typically have a leather tip. This not only protects the shaft from the impact, but allows spin to be transferred to the cue ball. Spin can be used to control what happens when the cue hits a rail, or another ball. It can even be made to make the ball curve, or reverse direction.
Chalk is applied to the tip to increase friction.
The most popular billiard games are probably straight billiards and three cushion. Both require you to shoot your cue ball such that it makes contact with your opponent's cue ball, and the red ball. The best players developed the skill to drive both balls into a corner and were able to score large numbers of consecutive points once the balls were in the corner. The last professional tournament was held in 1879 (Shamos). Jacob Schaefer Sr scored 690 points in a single turn. Because the balls barely move, there was nothing for the fans to watch. Changes were made to the rules to add balklines and the player had to drive a ball past these lines after so many shots. Before three cushion, the championship game was 18.1 balkline. The lines were 18 inches from the rail. After a shot, one of the balls had to be driven past the balkline. A more elegant solution was three cushion billiards, which requires that besides making contact with the two balls, your cue ball must contact three rails. This is difficult enough that even the best players can only manage to average one to two points a turn.
The World Pool Association, or WPA holds an annual 9-ball tournament to determine a world 9-ball champion.
In many European countries snooker and carom billiards events are held to determine champions in those events.
This is an Article on Billiards. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Billiards Introduction and brief history
The term billiards refers to a group of games where balls are struck with a cue to score points, or knock balls into a pocket. The term is also commonly used to refer to a table with no pockets, where points are usually scored by making contact with certain balls. The term caroms, or carom billiards is another term for a billiard game with no pockets.Brief Glossary
Safety - An intentionally defensive shot. This is a perfectly legal in many games, and there are often rules restricting how this shot may be executed. For example, in many pool games you cannot shoot into a ball which is in contact with a rail when playing a safety.Equipment
Billiard Balls
Tables
Lighting
Cue
Chalk
Types of Games
As mentioned above there are two main styles of billiard games, carom and pocket. The most popular pocket games are 8-ball, 9-ball, and snooker. In 8-ball and 9-ball the object is to sink a designated ball to win. In 8-ball you must pocket, a group of balls, either the solids or the stripes before you can pocket the eight for the win. In 9-ball, you must shoot the balls in order from one through nine. In snooker, you score points by alternating shooting red balls, and numbered balls.Pool in America
In America, the most commonly played game is 8-ball. There are 15 balls, 8 of which are solid colored, and 8 of which have a colored stripe. The players use a single (usually white) cue ball to pocket balls. One player has solids, the other stripes. A player must make the 8-ball last to win the game. See the rules for 8-ball below. The table is usually 7 ft., 8 ft., or 9 ft. long, and has 3 pockets on each side. This games is most often played on coin operated tables that are 7 ft long. The second most common game is 9-ball. In both these no points are scored. The winner is the player who legally pockets the game winning ball. 9-ball is the current game which is played to determine the US champion in the yearly US Open event. There are also a number of prestegious professional events held yearly.Championship Pool
9-ball is the championship game in the US, and is played on 9 ft. tables. The US Open run by the Billiard Congress of America, or BCA plays 9-ball to determine a champion. A number of prestigious professional pool tournaments are played annually, and these are usually 9-ball tournaments.Billiard games
Carom Billiards
Pocket Billiards
Other variants
More information
Links