billiards

billiards, any one of a number of games played with a tapered, leather-tipped stick called a cue and various numbers of balls on a rectangular, cloth-covered slate table with raised and cushioned edges. Games similar to billiards were popular in England and France in the 16th cent., and evidence even suggests that a billiardslike game was played in the 14th cent. The country of origin is disputed—England, France, Italy, Spain, and China have been credited by various historians with its invention. The game in its present form was probably fully developed by 1800. There are three main types of billiards: carom billiards, pocket billiards (also known as pool), and snooker. Carom billiards is played with three balls, a cue ball and two object balls, on a pocketless table; scoring is by caroms only, i.e., by causing the cue ball to strike the object balls in specified ways. Pocket billiards is played with 15 object balls and a cue ball on a table with six pockets; the essential object of the game is to cause the object balls to enter the pockets. Snooker is similar to pocket billiards, except that it uses 21 object balls and smaller pockets. There are many additional variations of the basic games, depending on the number of balls used, the positioning of the balls, the boundaries on the table, and the scoring. Among the variations are Chicago, golf, rotation, balk-line, and bumpers. William Frederick Hoppe is generally considered the foremost billiards player of all time.

or pocket billiards

Billiards game played on an oblong table having six pockets with 15 object balls and a white cue ball. At the beginning of play, the balls are arranged (racked) in a pyramid formation with its apex on a spot near the foot of the table. The first player breaks the formation by driving the cue ball into it; to continue play, he or she must hit a ball into a pocket. In the popular “8-ball” game, the first player (or team) to sink either the seven solid-coloured balls (numbered 1–7) or the seven banded (striped) balls (9–15), finishing with the black 8-ball, wins. In “9-ball,” only the balls numbered 1–9 are used, and they must be sunk sequentially; the player who sinks the 9-ball wins. Pool probably reached its present form in England and France by circa 1800; today it is most popular in North America.

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Any of various games played on a cloth-topped, cushion-railed rectangular table by driving small, hard balls against one another or into pockets with a long stick called a cue. Carom, or French billiards, is played with three balls, two white and one red, on a table without pockets. The object is to stroke the white cue ball so that it hits the two object balls in succession, scoring a carom (one point). English billiards is also played with three balls but on a pocketed table; it is scored in various ways. Snooker is another popular British billiards game. The principal billiards game in North America is pocket billiards, or pool. The Billiard Congress of America controls U.S. tournament play, including the U.S. Open Pockets Billiard Championship, regarded as the world championship.

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Golf billiards (also referred to as simply golf in clear context, and sometimes called golf pool or golf pocket billiards) is a pocket billiards game usually played for money. Unlike the majority of such games, it allows more than two people to play without compromises or rule changes. The game borrows concepts from the outdoor game of golf, which is historically related to the cue sports. It is usually played on 10–foot or 12–foot snooker tables as their size and structure are more appropriate (even in billiard halls in the United States where it is in fact more popular than snooker itself, according to the Billiard Congress of America).

Rules

The players each receive a numbered . Using some method such as , an order is established, and the players always shoot in that order.

The pockets are assigned numbers, clockwise starting at the top right corner pocket as viewed from the top (head) of the table, as the 1 hole (or 1 pocket) through 6 hole. The object for each player is to their own object ball in the 1 hole, 2 hole, 3 hole, etc., in ascending order.

The first player places their numbered ball on the . The player may then place the in as in snooker, or on a "D"-less American-style table, in (i.e., behind the ).

The player attempts to pocket his ball in the 1 hole. If they succeed, the object ball is again and they proceed to the next hole, otherwise it is the next shooter's turn, who also shoots the cue ball from the "D" or kitchen at their numbered ball on the foot spot, aiming for the 1 hole. An object ball not pocketed is left on the table.

Once all players have taken their first shot, players shoot with the cue ball wherever it lies after the previous shot. Note that it is possible for the first player to win the game without any other player getting to shoot.

If the player before the incoming shooter committed a , and the new shooter is (does not have a clear shot to his ball), the ball(s) in the way may be temporarily moved so that the shooter has a clear shot. These must be put back after the shot. This rule is highly unusual, perhaps even unique, in the world of cue sports.

The game is won when one player legally pockets his ball into the 6 hole.

Scoring

Players are assigned a certain predetermined value for each foul committed. These are known as "hickeys". Players owe each player the difference between their hickey count and that player's count. The game is also usually assigned a base value which is given to the winner by the losing players.

Fouls

• Pocketing a ball in the wrong hole.
• Failure to hit the shooter's ball first.
• Failing to accomplish at least one of the following:

#Contacting a with the cue ball after hitting the object ball.

#Contacting a cushion with the object ball hitting it with the cue ball.

#Pocketing one's object ball.

• Causing any ball to leave the table. If it is the cue ball, it is spotted by the next shooter on the D. Any other ball is spotted as close as possible to the foot spot.

"Around-the-world" variant

In New Hampshire, a local variant that has been subject to organized tournament play since 1947 in the Queen City Pool League, is called "around-the-world" or "roundy" for short. It differs from standard golf pool in several ways:

• The pockets, beginning with the same pocket as the standard game, are numbered counter-clockwise, and the table is a standard 4.5 foot by 9 foot pool table, not a snooker table, and ball-in-hand shots are taken from behind the head string, as there is no "D".
• All players use the same target object ball (the 1 ball).
• All of the object balls are racked in a triangle with the apex ball on the , and the game opened with a hard break (as in eight-ball); the 1 ball is played from where it lies after the break (unless pocketed on the break, in which case it is spotted back on the foot spot just as if it had been legally pocketed.)
• Scoring is simpler: 0 to 6 points, for the number of 1 ball shots successfully made, and there are no "hickeys"; whoever reaches 6 points first wins that . A consists of five games.
• Failure to contact a cushion with a ball is not a foul (as a consequence, particularly challenging can be set up).
• One may shoot at any ball, and use other balls to pocket the 1 ball; there is no requirement that the 1 ball be hit first or even at all.
• One may shoot at and pocket any ball other than the 1 ball into any (for no point award), and continue play; this is usually done to gain a better position on the 1 ball to pocket it in the necessary pocket. Balls pocketed in this manner are not returned to the table during the game. Pocketing the 1 ball into the wrong pocket remains a foul.
• If a shot fails to contact any object ball at all, the opponent may optionally require (in lieu of taking the turn) that the original shooter to re-shoot the shot from the original cue ball position (a subsequent failure ends the original shooter's turn, spots the 1 ball and gives the incoming player ball-in-hand behind the headstring) (Compare the in nine-ball.)
• Jump shots were banned in the tournament rules as of 1996 due to equipment damage concerns.

References