Billiards
This
article is about the various cue sports. In English, '"billiards"'
often denotes the gamut of cue sports (especially in North
American usage). Sometimes, however, "billiards" standing
alone will refer in particular to carom games played on
a pocketless table, as opposed to "pocket billiards" (or "pool")
and "snooker". However, in some dialects, "billiards" always
refers unambiguously to a specific game; for instance,
in Britain and Ireland, "billiards" denotes "English
billiards" exclusively. This article addresses the
broadest of these usages, and may use "billiards" or "billiard" generically,
as in "billiard balls", to refer to cue sports
in general.
A cue sport (sometimes "cuesport") is any game or class of games
of the family of cue sports (often generically called "billiards" in
American English) — games played indoors with a cue stick which is used
to strike balls, moving them around a cloth-covered table bounded by rubber
banks (or "cushions").
All cue
sports are generally regarded to have evolved into indoor games
from outdoor stick-and-ball lawn games, and as such to be related
to croquet and golf, and more distantly to the stickless bocce
and bowling. The word "billiard" may have evolved
from the French word billart, meaning "mace", an
implement similar to a golf club, which was the forerunner
to the modern cue. The term "cue sports" generally
encompasses the ancestral, pre-cue mace games, and even the
modern cueless variant, finger pool, for historical reasons.
Cue sports can be roughly
divided into the now rare obstacle category, which appears to have
been the earliest[citation needed], and which includes the obsolete
bagatelle and pin pool among many other variations, some with elaborate
structures (likely inspirational of miniature golf), and yet others
on a sloped table (the ancestors of pinball), up to the relatively
recent bumper pool (popular in the 1970s in home game rooms). The
object of such games varies from avoiding obstructions and traps,
to hitting them on purpose to score, to using them strategically
to score in some other way, such as by rebounding off them to reach
a hole in the table or trapping opponents' balls.
The early croquet-like
games eventually led to the development of the carom or carambole
billiards category — what most non-US and non-UK speakers
mean by the word "billiards" — These games, which
once completely dominated the cue sports world but have declined
markedly in most areas over the last few generations, are games
played with three or sometimes four balls, on a table without holes
(or obstructions in most cases, five-pins being an exception),
in which the object is generally to strike one object (target)
ball with cue ball, then have the cue ball rebound off of one or
more of the cushions and strike a second object ball. Variations
include straight-rail, three-cushion, balkline variants, Italian
five-pins, and four-ball among others.
Over time, a type of obstacle
returned, originally as a hazard and later as a target, in the
form of pockets, or holes partly cut into the table bed and partly
into the cushions, leading to the rise of pocket billiards, especially "pool" games,
popular around the world in forms such as eight-ball, nine-ball,
straight pool and one-pocket amongst numerous others. The terms "pool" and "pocket
billiards" are now virtually interchangeable, especially in
the US. English billiards (what UK speakers almost invariably mean
by the word "billiards") is a hybrid carom/pocket game,
and as such is likely fairly close to the ancestral original pocket
billiards outgrowth from eighteenth to early nineteenth-century
carom games. Snooker, though technically a pocket billiards variant
and closely related in its equipment and origin to the game of
English billiards, is a professional sport organized at the international
level, and its rules bear little resemblance to those of pool games.
A "Billiards" category
encompassing pool, snooker and carom was featured in the 2005 World
Games, held in Duisburg, Germany. Efforts have also been under
way for many years to have cue sports become Olympic competitions.
Billiard
balls
The number, type, diameter, color, and pattern of billiard balls differ depending
upon the specific cue sports game being played. In eight-ball, straight pool,
and related games, sixteen balls are employed: fifteen colored "object
balls" and one white "cue ball." In most parts of the world,
object balls 1 through 7 are solid-colored, and are respectively colored yellow,
blue, red, purple, orange, green, and dark red or brown.
The 8 ball is
solid black. Balls 9 through 15 are white, each with a single wide
colored stripe that matches the corresponding solid ball; the 9
ball has a yellow stripe, the 10 ball a blue stripe, and so on.
In the game of nine-ball, only object balls 1 through 9 are used.
Regulation balls are 2.25 inches (57.15 mm) in diameter and weigh
between 5.5 and 6 ounces (156 to 170 g). British pool (not to be
confused with the game of English billiards) also uses sixteen
balls, but they are not numbered, with the "suits" being
divided into reds and yellows instead of stripes and solids (and
shots are not "called" since there is no reliable way
to identify particular balls to be pocketed); the balls and the
pockets on the table are usually slightly smaller, though larger
than those of snooker (see below).
Some balls used
in televised pool games are colored differently to make them distinguishable
on television monitors. The 4 ball used in such games is colored
pink instead of purple, while the 7 ball is tan rather than brown.
The stripes on the 12 and 15 balls are colored to match, respectively.
Cue balls used for televised matches may also depart from the norm,
by having multiple spots or stripes on their surface so that spin
placed on them is evident to viewers. The spotted variant is colloquially
referred to as a "measle ball". Various brands of practice
cue ball also have spots, stripes, differently-colored halves or
even target-like rings. There is a growing market for specialty
cue balls (and even entire ball sets), featuring sports team logos,
cartoon characters, etc.
In snooker, there
are fifteen red balls, six "colour" balls (yellow, green,
brown, blue, pink, and black), and one white cue ball. The red
balls are typically not numbered, though the six colored balls
often are, especially in the US, and can easily be mistaken at
first glance for pool balls. Snooker balls are normally 2-1/16
inches (52.4 mm) in diameter.
In the carom
games such as straight-rail (a.k.a. straight rail or one-cushion),
three-cushion, and the challenging balkline variations, as well
as English billiards, there are two cue balls and a red ball. One
of the cue balls is typically white and the other one is either
yellow or white with a red dot. These balls are normally 2-7/16
inches (61.5 mm) in diameter.
Various specific
ball properties such as hardness, friction coefficient and resilience
are very important. Coin-operated pool tables historically have
often used either a larger ("grapefruit") or denser ("rock",
typically ceramic) cue ball, such that its extra weight makes it
easy to separate it from object balls (which are captured until
the game ends and the table is paid again for another game) so
that the cue ball can be returned for further play, should it be
accidentally pocketed. Modern tables usually employ a magnetic
ball of regulation or near-regulation size and weight, since players
have rightly complained for many decades that the heavy and often
over-sized cue balls do not "play" correctly.
The exacting
requirements of billiards are met today with balls cast from phenolic
resin. Historically, balls were often made of clay, and even ivory
for a period. In the mid-ninteenth century, in an uncommon show
of accidental environmentalism, the billiard industry realized
that the supply of elephants (their primary source of ivory) was
limited. They challenged inventors to come up with an alternative
material that could be manufactured.
John Wesley Hyatt
answered the call by inventing cellulose nitrate in 1870, branded
under the name celluloid, the earliest industrial plastic. Subsequently,
to fix the problem of cellulose nitrate instability, the industry
experimented with various other synthetic materials for billiards
balls such as bakelite and other plastic compounds. Eventually
phenolic resin became the industry standard and is virtually the
only billiard ball material used today in tournaments and by the
pros. A poorer material called polyester (under various brand names)
may also be used, with lower performance and less resistance resulting
in shorter ball and cloth lifetime.[citation
Tables
There are many sizes and styles of pool and billiard tables. Generally, tables
are rectangles twice as long as they are wide. Most pool tables are known
as 7-, 8-, or 9-footers, referring to the length of the table's long side.
Snooker and English billiard tables are 12 feet long on the longest side.
Pool halls tend to have 9-foot tables and cater to the serious pool player.
Bars will typically use 7-foot tables which are often coin-operated. Formerly,
10-foot tables were common, but such tables are now considered antique
collectors items; a few, usually from the late 1800s, can be found in up-scale
pool halls from time to time. 10-foot tables are the standard size for
carom billiard games. The slates on modern carom tables are usually heated
to stave off moisture and provide a consistent playing surface.
The length of
the pool table will typically be a function of space, with many
homeowners purchasing an 8-foot table as a compromise. High quality
tables are mostly 9-footers, with a bed made of three pieces of
thick slate to prevent warping and changes due to humidity. Smaller
bar tables are most commonly made with a single piece of slate.
Pocket billiards tables normally have six pockets, three on each
side (four corner pockets, and two side pockets).
All types of
tables are covered with billiard cloth (often called "felt",
but actually a woven wool or wool/nylon blend called baize). Bar
or tavern tables, which get a lot of play, use "slower",
more durable cloth. Good quality pool cloth is "faster" (i.e.
provides less friction, allowing the balls to roll farther), and
the best quality pool cloth is made from worsted wool. Snooker
table cloth traditionally has a nap (consistent fiber directionality)
and balls behave differently when rolling against the direction
of the nap. The cloth of the billiard table is typically green
reflecting its origin (originally the grass of ancestral lawn games)[2]
(and thus the name of the pool novel and movie The Color of Money,
echoing the color of American currency notes).
Rack
A rack is the name given to a frame (usually wood or plastic) used to organize
billiard balls at the beginning of a game. This is traditionally triangular in
shape, but varies with the type of billiards played.
Cues
Billiards games are played with a stick known as a cue. A cue is usually either
a one piece tapered stick or a two piece stick divided in the middle by
a joint of metal or phenolic resin. High quality cues are generally two
pieces and are made of a hardwood, generally maple for billiards and ash
for snooker.
The "butt" end
of the cue is of larger circumference and is intended to be gripped
by a player's hand. The "shaft" of the cue is of smaller
circumference, usually tapering to an 11-14 millimeter terminus
called a ferrule, where a leather tip is affixed to make final
contact with balls. The leather tip, in conjunction with chalk,
can be used to impart spin to the cue ball when not being hit in
its center.
Cheap cues are
generally one piece cues made of ramin or other low quality wood
with inferior tips of various materials (usually plastic). A quality
cue can be expensive and may be made of exotic woods and other
expensive materials which are artfully inlaid in decorative patterns.
Skilled players may use more than one cue during a game, including
a separate cue for the opening break shot and another, shorter
cue with a special tip for jump shots.
Chalk
Chalk is applied to the tip of the cue stick, ideally between every shot, to
increase the tip's friction coefficient so that when it impacts the cue ball
on a non-center hit, no miscue (unintentional slippage between the cue tip and
the struck ball) occurs. The quality of chalk varies greatly from brand to brand,
which can significantly affect play. High humidity can also impair the effectiveness
of chalk. Cuetip chalk is often not actually the substance typically referred
to as "chalk," but some proprietary compound, frequently with a silicate
base. "Chalk" may also refer to hand chalk, used to lubricate the cue
and bridge hand during shooting (many players prefer talcum powder or a slick
pool glove because of the long-term abrasive effect of actual carbonate chalk
on the shaft of the cue).
Eight-ball
In the United States, the most commonly-played game is eight-ball. On the professional
scene, eight-ball players who are on the International Pool Tour (IPT)
are the highest paid players in the world[citation needed]. In the United
Kingdom the game is commonly played in pubs, and it is competitively played
in leagues on both sides of the Atlantic. The most prestigious tournaments
including the World Open are sponsored and sanctioned by the International
Pool Tour. Rules vary widely from place to place.
Pool halls in
North America are increasingly settling upon the International
Standardized Rules. But tavern eight-ball, typically played on
smaller, coin-operated tables and in a "winner controls the
table" manner, can differ significantly even between two venues
in the same city. The growth of local, regional and national amateur
leagues may alleviate this confusion eventually. The goal of eight-ball,
which is played with a full rack of fifteen balls and the cue ball,
is to claim a suit (commonly stripes or solids in the US, and reds
or yellows in the UK), pocket all of them, then legally pocket
the 8 ball, while denying one's opponent opportunities to do the
same with their suit, and without sinking the 8 ball early by accident.
Nine-ball
Nine-Ball is a rotation game where only the 1 through 9 balls and cue ball
are used. The player at the table must make a legal shot on the lowest
numbered ball on the table or a foul is called. The game is won by legally
pocketing the nine ball (which can be done by striking the lowest numbered
ball first and then driving the 9 into a pocket). Nine-ball is the predominant
professional game.
There are many
local and regional tours and tournaments that are contested with
nine-ball. There is no particular governing body of Nine-ball.
Most places play with a version of "Texas Express", BCA
(Billiard Congress of America) or WPA (World Pool-Billiard Association)
rules. The largest Nine-ball tournaments are the independent US
Open and the World 9-Ball Championships for men and women. Male
professionals have a rather fragmented schedule of professional
Nine-ball tournaments.
The UPA (United
States Pool Players Association) has been the most dominant association
for the last few years but the IPT (International Pool Tour) is
taking over the top spot in men's billiards. Female professionals
have a steady professional circuit that is governed by the WPBA
(Women's Professional Billiard Association).
Three-ball
A variant using only three balls, generally played such that the player at
turn continues shooting until all the balls are pocketed, and the player to
do so in the fewest shots wins. The game can be played by two or more players.
Dispenses with some fouls common to both nine- and eight-ball.
One-pocket
One-pocket is a strategic game for two players. Each player is assigned one
of the corner pockets on the table. This is the only pocket into which he can
legally pocket balls. The first player to pocket the majority of the balls
(8) in his pocket wins the game. The game requires far more defensive strategy
than offensive strategy, much unlike 8-ball, 9-ball, or straight pool. It has
been said that if 8-ball is checkers, one-pocket is chess.
This statement
can be verified by watching a game of one pocket. Most times, accomplished
players choose to position balls near their pocket instead of trying
to actually pocket them. This allows them to control the game by
forcing their opponent to be on defense instead of taking a low
percentage shot that could result in a loss of game. These low
percentage shots are known as "flyers" by one pocket
aficionados.
Bank pool
Bank pool has been gaining popularity in recent years. Bank pool can be played
with a full rack (can be a LONG game), but is more typically played with nine
balls (frequently called "9-ball bank"). The balls are racked in
9-ball formation, but in no particular order. The object of the game is simple:
to be the first player to bank 5 balls in any order (8 balls when played with
a full rack). Penalties and fouls are similar to one pocket in that the player
committing the foul must spot a ball for each foul. This must be done before
the incoming player shoots.
Snooker
A pocket billiards game originated by British Officers stationed in India during
the 19th century. The name of the game became generalized to also describe
one of its prime strategies: to "snooker" the opposing player by
causing that player to foul or leave an opening to be exploited (see Glossary
of pool, billiards and snooker terms - "Snooker") .
In the United
Kingdom, Snooker is by far the most popular form of billiards at
the competitive level. It is played in many other countries as
well. Snooker is far rarer in the U.S., where pocket billiards
games such as eight ball and nine ball dominate.
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