What do Mary, Queen of Scots; Napoleon; Abraham Lincoln; Mark Twain; and Fast Eddie from the 1961 film 'The Hustler' all have in common? They all played forms of pool. The game, defined by the practice of using a cue to hit a striker ball into other balls, originated in 15th-century Europe, and exists in many different variations. While top players practice for hours every day and can earn six-figure salaries, you can enjoy a casual game at home or in a pool hall even if you aren't an expert.
PoolManiac is a website dedicated to billiards free. Discover all the variants of this game born in the 15th century billiard French, English, American, and even snooker. It's a bit odd that cue sports are often played in bars, because casual players need all of their senses about them just to tell what's going on. And that's not even taking into account all the different types of billiards games there actually are.
When Pool Is -- And Isn't -- Pool
When elegantly dressed gentlemen in British television series such as 'Downton Abbey' retire after dinner to play a game that looks somewhat like pool, it's not actually pool; it's billiards, a game that does not involve sinking balls in pockets but rather striking them against railings and other balls. Another cue sport, snooker, was invented by British soldiers in India, and is played on a slightly larger table than pool, using more balls. Genuine pool, sometimes called 'pocket billiards,' uses a distinctive 9-by-4.5-foot table with pockets in the four corners and a side pocket at the middle of each of the two long sides.
Sep 09, 2019 Billiards games are considered to be in the classification of cue sports, or pool games. Some types of billiards games are: cut throat, eight ball, nine ball, pocket billiards or straight pool, and English billiards. English billiards was the main billiard game played in Britain from 1770 until 1920. Snooker became more popular in Britain after 1920. Both snooker and English billiards are cue sports. The following is a list of games drawn from a book entitled 'International Tournament Pool', publisher and author unknown, and are not in any particular order, in addition I have listed a couple of popular games that I have also seen that are not. Carambole or carom billiards is one of the more complex of the billiard games. When playing carambole, according to certain rules you have to hit another ball with your ball in such a way that it hits a third ball. This game requires precision from the players and also sturdily built billiard tables, with no pockets.
Behind the Eight Ball
The vernacular phrase 'behind the eight ball,' meaning in a bad position, originates from the classic pool game of 'eight ball.' This game is played with 15 numbered balls, seven solid and seven striped, and a black eight ball, initially assembled in a triangular rack. The object of the game is to sink all seven balls of your type, then the eight ball. If you accidentally sink the eight ball while one of your other balls is still out on the table, you lose. All shots must be called; in other words, you need to say which ball you are shooting into which pocket for the shot to count. Eight ball is featured in most pool tournaments due to the high skill required in making called shots.
Black Ball
Black ball is eight ball made easy. The main difference is that you do not need to call your shots in black ball. You can send your target ball careening wildly around the table, and if it lands in any random pocket it still counts. This variant on eight ball is popular for casual or friendly pool, or family gatherings.
Straight Pool for Straight Shooters
Straight pool uses 15 balls, starting in a triangular rack. To score, you can choose to sink any ball in any pocket, but you must call your shot, by specifying, for example, 12 ball in the corner pocket. You are awarded one point for each ball you sink. The player who has the highest score when the table is cleared wins. For a longer game, when only one ball remains on the table, you can re-rack all the balls and keep on playing until an agreed-upon score, such as 150 points, is reached.
Nine Ball and Numerical Order
The game of nine ball uses nine sequentially numbered balls starting in a diamond-shaped rack. The balls must be pocketed in order, using called shots. The player who successfully pockets the nine ball wins.
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Billiard or billiards may refer to:
Games[edit]
- A billiard, a type of shot in cue sports (see below)
- Billiards: cue sports in general, including pool, carom billiards, snooker, English billiard etc.; the term 'billiards' by itself is also sometimes used to refer to any of the following more specifically:
- Carom billiards (also known as French billiards), games in general (a chiefly non-British usage)
- Three-cushion billiards even more specifically, the most popular form of carom billiards worldwide (the most common specific usage)
- The specific game of English billiards (a chiefly British, Irish and Australian usage)
- Pool (cue sports) (pocket billiards) games, such as eight-ball and nine-ball, in general (a chiefly colloquial North American usage)
- See the list of cue sports for various other games with 'billiards' in their names; also more specifically:
- Bar billiards, a game combining elements of bagatelle and English billiards
- Electric billiards, an obsolete term for pinball (from billard électrique in French, in which pinball is today called flipper, a borrowing from English)
Mathematics and physics[edit]
- Billiard (number), the long-scale name used in most European languages for the number 1015 (called quadrillion in the short scale generally used in English)
- Dynamical billiards, the mathematical theory of particle trajectories within a closed reflective boundary
People[edit]
- Harry Billiard (1883–1923), Major League Baseball pitcher
- Maria Duchêne-Billiard (1884–?), French contralto of the Metropolitan Opera
- Cora Billiard Wickham Sibley (née Billiard, 1884–1976), American painter, and wife of Robert Pelton Sibley
See also[edit]
- Billiards World Cup Association, a governing body for carom billiards
- Billard, a French rolling stock construction company
- Bobbi Billard (born 1975), American model