Pocket billiards
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pocket billiards is the general term for a family of games played on a specific class of billiard table having 6 receptacles called pockets, or holes, along the rails, in which balls can be caused to drop from the playing surface as part of the aim of play. The contrasting class of billiards games, played on pocketless tables, are referred to generally as carom billiards.
Pocket billiards has become synonymous with "pool" and is almost exclusively referred to as "pool" today except by cue sports industry people, but the original "pool" game, skittle pool, was played on a pocketless table. The term "pool" comes from "poolrooms," where people gambled off-track on horse races. They were called poolrooms as money was "pooled" to determine the odds. Because such rooms commonly provided billiard tables, pool became synonymous with billiards, and eventually pocket billiards, by association. The billiards industry tried to distance itself from the term "pool" during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (largely unsuccessfully), due to the gambling connotations. The sport is now governed internationally by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), which has national affiliates such as the US Billiard Congress of America (BCA), and which represents pocket billiards in the World Confederation of Billiard Sports which in turn represents all forms of cue sports in the International Olympic Committee.
There are hundreds of pocket billiards games. Some of the more well known include eight-ball, nine-ball, straight pool, and one-pocket. The game of snooker is played on a table with pockets but is considered to be its own discipline of cue sport and is governed internationally by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association/World Snooker Association (professional) and International Billiards and Snooker Federation (amateur). There are also hybrid games combining aspects of both pocket and carom billiards, such as English billiards, American four-ball billiards, cowboy pool and bottle pool.
Pocket billiards is more popular than carom billiards in most countries of the world. Carom billiard games thrive in Asia, Europe and Latin America, but pool (especially in the form of nine-ball and eight-ball) is gradually taking over as the cue sport of choice.
[edit] Equipment
Pocket billiards uses different equipment from carom billiards. Other than the table having pockets, the balls for pocket billiards are generally smaller and range from 2.25 inches in diameter to 2.375 inches in diameter. (By comparison Carom billiard balls are generally 2-3/8 (2.4) in., or 61.5mm,[1] (English language version), Chapter II ("Equipment"), Article 12 ("Balls, Chalk"), Section 2; Union Mondiale de Billard, Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium, 1 January 1989 (official online PDF scan, accessed 5 March 2007). While UMB, the International Olympic Committee-recognized world carom billiards authority, permits balls as small as 61.0 mm, no major manufacturer produces such balls any longer, and the de facto standard is 61.5 mm. Amusingly, the cited document has a "cm" for "mm" typographical error, which would result in beachball sizes.</ref> in diameter.) Modern pocket billiard tables range in size from 3.5 by 7 feet, to 4.5 by 9 feet. Modern cues are generally 58.5 inches long for pocket billiards while cues prior to 1980 were designed for straight pool and had an average length of 57.5 inches, while carom billiards cues are generally 56 inches long.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- Shamos, Michael Ian. 1993-1999. The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards. ISBN 1-58574-685-1.
[edit] External links
- Directory of pool leagues around the world
- CueTable — Free layout diagramming webware for online communication, practice training and studies of strategy
- Inside Pool magazine — pool news and information
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| Pocket billiards (pool) | Nine-ball • Eight-ball • One-pocket • Straight pool • Bank pool • Rotation • Chicago • Cowboy pool • Golf pool • Kelly pool • Bottle pool • Baseball pocket billiards • Three-ball • Cribbage pool • more |
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| Carom billiards | Three-cushion • Artistic billiards • Five-pins • Balkline & straight rail • Cushion caroms • Four-ball • more | |
| Other games | Snooker • English billiards • Russian pyramid • Bumper pool • Bagatelle • Novuss • more | |
| Resources | Glossary • Techniques • Billiards table • Billiard balls • Cue stick • Rack • Players • Organizations • Events • Categories | |
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