Kelly pool
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kelly pool (also known as pea pool, pill pool, keeley, the keilley game, and killy) is a pocket billiards game with numerous variations, played on a standard pool table using fifteen numbered markers, and a standard set of sixteen pool balls. An early version of the game, kelly rotation, is the origin of the common expression "behind the eight ball".[1][2][3][4]
Kelly pool has long been associated with gambling. For example, in 1934, sports promoter and notorious gambler Jack Doyle's billiard establishment was raided and he, along with 14 patrons, were arrested for placing bets on kelly pool. The game accommodates players of a wide range of skill levels and is designed for group play, having a 2 player minimum, but being best suited for between 4 and 6 participants and able to host 15 players in all.[1][4][5]
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[edit] Behind the eight ball
"Behind the eight ball" (or "behind the eight") is a common idiom meaning to be in trouble, stymied or thwarted, in an awkward position or out of luck. It is often incorrectly assumed that the expression derives from the inability to use the 8 ball in a combination in the game of eight-ball—if the cue ball is directly behind the 8 ball a player has no shot route. In fact, the expression has been in use since at least 1919, and when eight-ball was invented in about 1900, there was no actual 8 ball played with; the game was played with seven balls of one color, seven of another and a black ball without a number. Moreover, eight-ball was little known until it was popularized in 1925 under the name B.B.C. Co. Pool by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, and was not added (under any name) to an official rule book until 1940.[1][6][7][8][9]
The phrase is actually from kelly pool, in which each player is randomly assigned a specific ball of the fifteen ball rack, which must be made in numerical order. The game ends when any player makes his assigned ball. When a large number of players are participating, players assigned balls numerically higher than 8—that is, balls that are behind the 8 ball in order—have little possibility of winning. This is a result of both the likelihood that random distribution will result in multiple players with assigned balls numbered lower than 8 having an opportunity to shoot first, and with such high number of players, that at least one of those players will come to the table with the opportunity to shoot at his own ball.[1][2][3][9]
[edit] Gameplay
The game itself accommodates players of a wide range of skill levels and is designed for group play, having a 2 player minimum, but being best suited for between 4 and 6 participants and able to host 15 players in all.[1][4]
The Billiard Congress of America (BCA) provides a long-standardized set of rules for the game.[4]
[edit] Set up
At the start of kelly pool, the numbered markers (commonly called peas or pills, and sometimes tally balls or shake balls) are placed in a specially made, narrow-necked container (called variously a bottle, pea bottle, pill bottle, kelly bottle, tally bottle or shake bottle) which is shaken to randomly distribute them. Each player then draws a numbered pea from the bottle. The number of the pea drawn assigns to that player the correspondingly numbered object ball, which that player must keep secret from his opponents. The object of the game is to legally pocket one's assigned, undisclosed ball (sometimes called one's "private number").[4][10]
At the start of the game a standard set of fifteen pool object balls are racked at the foot end of a pool table, with the apex ball of the rack centered over the foot spot. Viewed from the racker's vantage point, the 1 ball is placed at the rack's apex, the 2 ball at the rack's right corner and the 3 ball at the rack's left corner (as in the game of rotation); all other object balls are placed randomly. An open break is required with the cue ball, meaning that at least four balls must be driven to rails (as opposed to a safety break, such as is used for the opening break in straight pool and one-pocket).[4]
[edit] Rules of play
Kelly pool is a rotation game, meaning the lowest numerical ball on the table must be contacted by the cue ball on every shot. There are no called safeties in kelly pool; the legal pocketing (i.e., with no foul committed on the same stroke) of the lowest numerical ball on the table, permits and requires the shooter to continue play. When a ball is illegally pocketed it is spotted to the foot spot.[4]
If a foul is committed, there is no point penalty and the incoming player has the option of accepting the table in position, or requiring the offending player to continue shooting. However, when the foul is the result of jumping the cue ball off the table, or scratching it into a pocket, the incoming player has cue ball in hand from the kitchen (behind the head string), and retains the option of forcing the opponent to shoot. Whichever player ultimately shoots with cue ball in hand has the option of spotting the object ball to the foot spot if it is in the kitchen area.[4]
[edit] Scoring
There are two main scoring variations played. Under the first and simpler ruleset, the first player to pocket his private number wins. Under the second variation, although a player still wins by pocketing his private number, points are scored in various ways: 1) two points are given by each participant to the winning player for the pocketing of his private number; 2) a players receive one point for pocketing any other player's private number, and the person whose private number was pocketed is penalized one point (and can have a negative point total); 3) if a player whose private number is pocketed by another does not disclose this fact before a subsequent shot is taken, the non-disclosing player forfeits, immediately losing the game, and the player who made that ball is given two points instead of one. Where no player succeeds in pocketing his private number, gameplay ends when the last private number is potted, and the game is played again with all points values doubled.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Shamos, Michael Ian (1993). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards. New York, NY: Lyons & Burford, Pages 85, 128 and 168. ISBN 1-55821-219-1.
- ^ a b Ammer, Christine (1997). The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, Page 51. ISBN 0-395-72774-x.
- ^ a b (1977) From the Horse's Mouth. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Page 13. ISBN 0133315207.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i BCA Rules Committee (November, 1992). Billiards - the Official Rules and Record Book. Iowa City, Iowa: Billiard Congress of America, Pages 137-9. ISBN 1-87849-302-7.
- ^ New York Times Company (December 19, 1934). BILLIARD ROOMS RAIDED.; The Police Seize Jack Doyle and 14 Kelly Pool Players. Retrieved February 21, 2007.
- ^ Jewett, Bob (February 2002). "8-Ball Rules: The many different versions of one of today's most common games". Billiards Digest Magazine: Pages 22–23.
- ^ Ralph Hickok (2001). Sports History: Pocket Billiards. Retrieved February 22, 2007.
- ^ Billiard Congress America (1995-2005) A Brief History of the Noble Game of Billiards by Mike Shamos. Retrieved February 22, 2007.
- ^ a b Steve Mizerak and Michael E. Panozzo (1990). Steve Mizerak's Complete Book of Pool. Chicago, Ill: Contemporary Books, Pages 127-8. ISBN 0-8092-4255-9.
- ^ Laurance, Ewa Mataya; Shaw, Thomas C. (1999). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pool & Billiards. New York, NY: Alpha Books, p. 355. ISBN 0-02-862645-1.
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