You wanted to know what Billiards was...
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by user Alex Holowczak
The other day, there was a surprised response - that billiards wasn't pool, or snooker, for that matter. I think, therefore, that I should perhaps explain the difference between them.
I think you've got the hang of snooker... And I shalln't insult your intelligence by explaining pool.
But billiards isn't a different issue entirely.
Billiards began in probably the 16th century, not with a cue, but with a mace. The game eventually developed into a cuesuport however.
The rules of the game at basic level are quite complicated. There are three balls, a white, an off-white and a red ball. The red ball is placed on the black spot in snooker.
The first shot is done by "stringing." Both players simultaneously hit down the table, and whoever gets closest to the baulk cushion goes first.
The idea of the game is to score points, which can be done in many ways:
- Pot the red ball (red winning hazard) - 3 points
- Pot your own cueball (losing hazard) - 2 points if you go in-off your opponents cueball, 3 points if you go in-off the red
- Pot your opponents cueball (white winning hazard) - 2 points
- Hit all balls with your cueball - 2 points
- Fouls - 2 points (you can miss intentionally once in a row)
Cumulative scores count, so e.g. if you pot the red, then cannon your opponents cueball and go in-off, and the opponents cueball then goes in, you score 10 points. Note that the red gets respotted, but your opponents cueball does not.
It was the culmination of carombola (shortened to carom), losing hazard, winning hazard and no pockets that formed English Billiards.
You must score points to continue your break at the table. Match lengths can be any length - e.g. 1,000up would be first to 1,000 points.
You used to have almost a free reign over what you did - you could choose how you scored. But Billiards hit a problem. Tom Reece found a way to get the balls in the cradle cannon position. This meant that the balls-on were wedged together in a pocket, and you can essentially cannon them forever. He made a 6-week break of 499,175 this way. This outlawed the cradle cannon.
Billiards then went through a process whereby players kept potting reds off the spot forever. So they legislated against that.
Until the 1930s, this continued to happen before Walter Lindrum put the final nail in the coffin. After a World Record break of 4,132, he was simply too good. Lindrum sadly killed off the game he loved. He was so good, he once made a 50 break on grass in 30 seconds (without pockets!)
Professional billiards declined until it was revived in the 1980s, by which time it lost all popularity. Here are the rules that have now been introduced to stop repetition:
- Two successive top spot red pots result in the red going on the middle spot (blue spot). After the red is next potted, it returns to the top spot.
- After an in-off, you have ball in hand from the "D". You cannot hit back into baulk without hitting a cushion - you must strike up the table first. This is where the miss rule comes in - if both object balls are in baulk, and you have to hit away from them, then you can deliberately miss and concede 2 points. But your opponent cannot put you back in, as he/she could do after a foul.
- You can only play 15 hazards in a row. After that, you must play a cannon. If only the red is on the table, you may request that the opponents cueball be placed on the table. It is placed on the "brown" spot in snooker, i.e. the bottom spot.
- Touching ball results in a respotting of all the balls on the table.
The current World Billiards Champion is Indian Geet Sethi. The 2007 event will be later this year.
So that is Billiards! Ask any questions about the game you have, and I may be able to answer them! Billiards isn't my area of strength, I must admit, but I'll do my best!
