The brutal geometries of pocket billiards meant as little to Mazer as the men it broke or exalted.
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"It is my plan that we lift bass fishing up to public par with golf, bowling and pocket billiards," he wrote in the first issue.
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He wrote heavily researched historical plays about the tap dance master Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and Graham's uncle Paul, a one-pocket billiards champion better known as Detroit Slim.
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Thirteen thousand dollars was nothing to Isidor Mazer; he staked my grandfather at pocket billiards not for profit but because he liked to see smiles wiped from the faces of hotshots and fools humiliated.
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The term derives from the game kelly pool.Ralph Hickok (2001). Sports History: Pocket Billiards . Retrieved 22 February 2007.
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Technically a form of pocket billiards, snooker has its own worldwide sporting community separate from that of pool.
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Garlando is a company based in Italy that produces pocket billiards (pool), table football (foosball) and ping pong tables.
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These combine aspects of carom and pocket billiards, and are played on tables with pockets (often as s not targets).
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Tom Jennings (born 1951) is an American professional pocket billiards (pool) player and mathematics professor. He won US Open 14.1 Pocket Billiards Championships in 1976 and 1977, being the first player since Steve Mizerak to win consecutive championships. He won both titles while also a full-time mathematics professor at Middlesex County College in New Jersey.
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Utley J. Puckett (April 7, 1911 - June 22, 1992), best known as U. J. Puckett, was an American professional pocket billiards (pool) player.
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In October 2009 Pocket Billiards released their first full-length Studio Album (self-titled) at a sell-out show in the Black Box (Cathedral Quarter, Belfast). They subsequently performed at several 2010 Festivals in Northern Ireland including Pigstock, Sunflower Festival and Glasgowbury. In summer 2011 Pocket Billiards were invited to support The Specials at Belfast's iconic Belsonic Festival, a performance they were "pretty much born to play". In Autumn 2011 Pocket Billiards were nominated for "Best Live Act" in the first-ever Northern Ireland Music Awards that took place at Ulster Hall, Belfast on 2 November.
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Billiard Congress of America (1995-2005). General Rules of Pocket Billiards - Rule 3.4 . Retrieved December 21, 2006. Honolulu also follows the 1985 Vaso Amendment.
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William H. Clearwater (c.1911) William H. Clearwater (1875 - September 25, 1948) of Ellwood, Pennsylvania was the pocket billiards and continuous pool champion of the world.
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He is an inductee of the Billiard Congress of America's Hall of Fame, the International Pocket Billiards Hall of Fame, and the Albuquerque Sports Hall of Fame.
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Video Hustler (ビデオ・ハスラ一 Bideo Hasurā) is a pool (pocket billiards) arcade game released by Konami in 1981. Dynamo released the game under the name Lil' Hustler.
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Rubilen "Bingkay" Amit (born October 3, 1981) is a Filipino female professional pocket billiards (pool) player. Amit is the first Filipino woman to become a world pool champion.
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Stephan Cohen (born 14 August 1971) is a French pocket billiards player. In 2009, he won the Predator 14.1 Championship by defeating former world champion Mika Immonen of Finland.
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Horgan in 1912 John Gregory Horgan, Jr. (1866 - June 24, 1921, in San Francisco, California), nicknamed "the Banker", was an American professional player of pocket billiards and three-cushion billiards.
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The New York Times Company (August 12, 1973). Miss Balukas, 14, Wins 2d Pocket Billiards Title. Retrieved April 25, 2007.The Washington Post (then the Times Herald) (August 12, 1973).
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26 ("Pocket Billiards Index"). (Nine- ball did not appear until the 1967 edition.Official Rule and Record Book for All Pocket and Carom Billiard Games. 1967. Toledo, OH: Billiard Congress of America.
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It was reissued by Crown Publishers of New York in 1959. A second ghost-written book (which on some finer points contradicts On Pocket Billiards) was also published under his name.
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Mosconi authored an autobiography titled Willie's Game, published in 1993. He and a ghost writer authored an instructional book on pocket billiards entitled Willie Mosconi on Pocket Billiards.Willie Mosconi on Pocket Billiards In the book he offers advice on fundamentals, includes photographs and diagrams on shotmaking and provides straight pool strategies. The book was published originally [number 121 in the Little Sports Library series] by Ziff-Davis Publishing Company of Chicago & New York in July 1948.
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The game is played to 60 , in a rather elaborate scoring system, reminiscent of those used in snooker and English billiards, with points being awarded for various types of shots. Like both Russian and English billiards, which are also played on large pocket billiards tables, kaisa is a hybrid of carom and pocket billiards game styles. Kaisa is principally a recreational game, without professional players. However, the first kaisa world championship tournament was held in April 2010.
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Kim Davenport at 2006 Joss Northeast Nine-ball Tour event held at Tourning Stone Casino Kim Davenport (born November 15, 1955, McAlester, Oklahoma) is an American professional pocket billiards (pool) player, nicknamed "Kimmer".
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She has authored three books, The Ewa Mataya Pool Guide, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pool & Billiards, and Quick Start Guide to Pocket Billiards. She has also written monthly columns for Pool & Billiard magazine.
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In snooker, pocket billiards and billiards, players use topspin to keep the cue ball moving, including after it hits other balls. They get top spin by hitting the cue against the top of the ball.
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Ralph Greenleaf (picture by Ray Dessel) Ralph Greenleaf (November 3, 1899 in Monmouth, Illinois – March 15, 1950 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an American professional pool and carom billiards player. He was a twenty-time World Pocket Billiards Champion, who dominated the sport during his heyday. His obituary in The New York Times said of Greenleaf, in March 1950: "What Babe Ruth did for baseball, Dempsey did for fighting, Tilden did for tennis...Greenleaf did for pocket billiards.""Obituaries" The New York Times, March 1950.
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Ballbreakers is an American pocket billiards game show that began on the Game Show Network on July 18, 2005. The hosts were Sal Masekela, Ewa Mataya Laurance, and Adrianne Curry. GSN cancelled the show in 2006.
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He remained competitive in tournament and match play well into his 70s. In 1984, at age 74, Moore won the Legends of Pocket Billiards competition on ESPN.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (November 20, 1999). Jimmy Moore, Billiards champion.
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Jim "King James" Rempe James Rempe (born November 4, 1947, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, US) is an American professional pocket billiards (pool) player, and was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's Hall of Fame in 2002.
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Pocket Billiards are a Belfast-based 9-Piece Ska / Punk / Rock band who originally formed in 2001. The band fuse ska, reggae and dub with punk rock and heavy riffs, creating an energetic and powerful sound.
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Asian Pocket Billiard Federation (APBU) is the management of the Asian pocket billiards. APBU are associate members of the Asian region World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA). Asian Pocket Billiard Union is headquartered in Taipei City, Taiwan.
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James William Moore (September 14, 1910 – November 17, 1999), known as Cowboy Jimmy Moore, was a world-class American pocket billiards (pool) player originally from Troup County, Georgia, and for most of his life a resident of Albuquerque, New Mexico, best known for his mastery in the game of straight pool (14.1 continuous). An excellent athlete at various sports, Moore's many records in billiards include winning the Michigan State Billiard Championship four times, placing second at the World Championship five times competing against the best in the world such as Willie Mosconi, Irving Crane and Luther Lassiter, winning the United States National Pocket Billiards Championship in 1958, the National Invitation Pocket Billiards Championship in 1965 and the Legends of Pocket Billiards competition in 1984. Moore was also known for his straight pool exhibition work, as a formidable , and for his unusual pool style, which included both his flamboyant cowboy dress, and his rare form of cueing technique known as a . Moore also worked as a technical adviser for billiard-related scenes in television and film in such productions as My Living Doll, and the Jerry Lewis movie The Family Jewels.
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Artistic pool trick shot competitions on pocket billiards tables, inspired by artistic billiards, began in 1993 in the US at an amateur level and in 2000 professionally and internationally, featuring fifty-six pre-set shots to attempt.
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Tyrrell received many awards from local groups for his charitable and fundraising activities. He won many trophies as an amateur golfer, and was considered to be an exceptional pocket billiards player, playing exhibitions with many world champions.
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Kevin Uzzell is an English pocket billiards player. During the 2006 Men's World 9-Ball Championship he survived the group stages and the round of 64, but was eliminated in the round of 32 by Pat Holtz.
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He returned to pocket billiards in 1925 and regained the world title from Greenleaf who held it over 10 challenge matches in a row. His highest straight pool run is 238. Taberski died in 1941. He was 52.
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Erwin Rudolph Erwin Rudolph (December 30, 1893 - May 19, 1957) was an American pocket billiards player from Cleveland, Ohio and a four-time world champion. One of his great feats was running 125 points in 32 minutes (now eclipsed).
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Though he never had a job, he devoted his life to pocket billiards. He was always looking for a game, and it did not matter what game because he could play all games well."Cornbread Red, A Living Legend" , Bob Checaloski.
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The European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) is the European governing body for pocket billiards. EPBF is the European regional affiliate member of the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA). The federation holds the European Championships since 1980. and Euro Tour events since 1992.
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Pool Paradise is a 2004 pocket billiards video game, developed by Awesome Developments, and published by Ignition Entertainment, released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and GameCube. The game is the fourth game to be endorsed by professional snooker and pool player, Jimmy White.
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Before DiLiberto became interested in pocket billiards, he was a professional boxer. In 2006, he was inducted into Buffalo's Ring 44 Boxing Hall of Fame for his accomplishments in the sport. He is also known for having rolled a perfect game of bowling.
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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 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).
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The New York Times Company (August 11, 1975). West Takes U.S. Pocket Billiards Title . Retrieved May 2, 2007. In 1975 Balukas defeated Ries again in the U.S. Open semi-finals with a score of 75–15 in 15 innings,The New York Times Company (August 6, 1975).
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Chicago: Billiard Association of America. Cover, frontispiece and p. 26 ("Pocket Billiards Index"). Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, and calling itself "the Governing Body of Billiards", the BAA produced a concise, portable, inexpensive rulebook of carom and pool games that was to serve as the model for future BCA releases.
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Moore was inducted into the International Pocket Billiards Hall of Fame in 1982, the Billiard Congress of America's Hall of Fame in 1994,Billiard Congress America (1995-2005). BCA Hall of Fame Inductees: 1992 - 1996 . Retrieved on September 6, 2007. and the Albuquerque Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.
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According to Moore he immediately fell in love with the game; specifically, with the game of straight pool (14.1 continuous), at which he chiefly competed during his career, though not to the exclusion of all other billiard disciplines—Moore became national snooker champion, and placed second at the 1961 First Annual World's One-Pocket Billiards Tournament in Johnston City, Illinois. Straight pool was the game of championship pocket billiards competition until approximately the 1980s when it was overtaken by "faster" games such as nine-ball. In the game, a shooter may attempt to any on the table. The object is to reach a set number of points determined by agreement before the game—typically 150 in professional competition.
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On September 6, 2009, Viloria, who was in attendance at the World Cup of Pool, was chosen to perform the ceremonial break shot before the start of the final match. Because he never played pocket billiards before, Viloria miscued on his first attempt but achieved the shot on his second.
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Championship Pool is a 1993 sports simulation video game released for Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Mega Drive/Genesis, and MS-DOS. The pool (pocket billiards) game was developed by Bitmasters and released by Mindscape. The game was officially endorsed by the Billiard Congress of America.
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Hopkins, Miss Balukas Pocket Billiards Victors. Retrieved May 1, 2007. Balukas has more U.S. Open wins than any other player, male or female, the runner up for the men being Steve Mizerak with four. Her ball average over the seven U.S. Opens was in a different class than her opponents.
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A and the 1 ball close to a WPA-style pocket. (The balls are the same size; the cue ball looks large due to foreshortening.) A pool table, or pocket billiards table, has six – one at each corner of the table () and one at the midpoint of each of the longer sides ( or ).
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Moore Wins Title, $4,000 In Pocket-Billiards Tourney. Retrieved on January 19, 2008. In addition to competition, Moore served as a technical adviser for billiard-related scenes in television and film, including My Living Doll starring Julie Newmar and Robert Cummings in 1964, and the Jerry Lewis movie The Family Jewels in 1965.
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Billiard Congress America (1995–2005). General rules of pocket billiards: Rules 3.10, 3.18 and 3.19 . Retrieved March 15, 2007. When players pocket more than one ball on a single at any time, a situation often arising on the , they may shoot at any companion balls, but must pocket each in succession in any order.
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If a player during a Power Play or in the Power Zone, their points penalty doubles, and if the foul shot originated in a Power Zone and during a Power Play, the penalty quadruples. The most recent version of the Power Ball. The Power Ball looks similar to the 11-ball in pocket billiards but without the number designation.
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World Championship Pool 2004 (also known as 2004 World Championship Pool or simply World Championship Pool) is a sports simulation video game developed in 2004 by Blade Interactive and released by Jaleco for Windows PCs, as well as for PlayStation 2, and Xbox. The game features several variants of pool (pocket billiards), and simulated pro players.
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In 1875, this game combined with black pool to form snooker. In the United States, pyramid pool developed into fifteen-ball pool, a precursor to rotation and straight pool. Since the middle of the 20th century, the American version of pyramid pool has been known as basic pool or basic pocket billiards which now uses modern pool balls.
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Mosconi Beats Rudolph; Eufemia, Moore Also Score in World Pocket Billiards. Retrieved on January 19, 2008. That same year Moore played Mosconi at a challenge match in Kinston, North Carolina. It was not Moore's day as Mosconi posted a career highlight; a perfect match—150 balls in a row in one inning.The New York Times Company (September 18, 1993).
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Roberto Gomez (born October 5, 1978) is a professional pocket billiards player from Zamboanga City, Philippines. Known for 9-ball, he competed in the final of both the 2007 WPA World Nine-ball Championships, and the 2007 World Cup of Pool. Gomez was the first qualifier to reach the final of the WPA World Nine- ball Championships.
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High-quality tables have a made of thick slate, in three pieces to prevent warping and changes due to temperature and humidity. Smaller bar tables are most commonly made with a single piece of slate. Pocket billiards tables of all types normally have six pockets, three on each side (four corner pockets, and two side or middle pockets).
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Pocket Billiards released their second studio album "Last Chance to Dance" at Belfast's Mandela Hall on May 12, 2012. In July 2012 they toured Luxembourg, France, Basque Country and Catalonia. The summer of 2012 also saw the band return to some of Northern Ireland's biggest festivals, playing main stage slots at Pigstock, Sunflower Fest and Glasgowbury.
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FooBillard supports several kinds of billiard games: carom billiards (three-cushion billiards), snooker, and pool billiard (pocket billiards) in the eight-ball and nine-ball variant. FooBillard has a realistic physics engine and a computer opponent AI. It features an optional red/green 3D stereo view (requires anaglyph 3D glasses), a free view mode and an animated cue.
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Cigarette card of John L. Malone with pool balls. (1887) Fifteen-ball pool, also known as sixty-one pool, is a nineteenth century American pocket billiards game that developed from pyramid pool. Created by members of the Bassford's Billiard & Chess Rooms in Manhattan during the late 1830s or 1840s, it is the ancestor to most American pool games.
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Rectangular bumper pool table Bumper pool is a pocket billiards game played on an octagonal or rectangular table fitted with an array of fixed cushioned obstacles, called bumpers, within the interior of the table surface. The surface of the table has the same cloth covering as a standard pool table. Unlike most types of billiards tables, there are only two pockets.
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He did however win the National Pocket Billiards Championship held in Chicago at Bensinger's Billiards in 1958. The tournament was a challenge match, marathon straight pool to 3,000 points between Moore and Luther Lassiter. It was a tight competition, with Lassiter leading at one point 1,800 to 1,512. Moore battled back and eventually won with a final score of 3,000 to 2,634.
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Taberski was born in 1889, and first made a living by selling milk door to door. He began practicing pool at 13 years of age, playing 30 minutes a day when his working hours were over. In 1915, at age 26, he turned pro after attending the New York City pocket billiards championship. In 1916 he became world champion by defeating Johnny Layton.
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He also held the three-cushion championship title three times during 1910. In 1912 he was defeated in pocket billiards by James Maturo of Denver, Colorado, in Philadelphia by a score of 150 to 136. In 1914 he defeated Charles R. Morin in three-cushion billiards for the national championship. De Oro was inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame in 1967.
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Television This Week; of Special Interest. Retrieved May 1, 2007. During 1980, Balukas again competed in the Men's division, in the World Open Pocket Billiards championship hosted at New York City's Roosevelt Hotel. She was defeated in the second round at the hands of Steve Mizerak with a score of 150–93.The New York Times Company (August 20, 1980).
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Pat Fleming at 2004 Glass City Open in Toledo, Ohio Pat Fleming (born 1948) is an American professional pocket billiards player and the founder of Accu-Stats Video Productions. Fleming is the fifty-third inductee into the Billiard Congress of America's Hall of Fame, recognized in the Meritorious Service category on June 12, 2008. His Total Performance Average statistical analysis is a standard metric for professional performance.
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Harold John Worst (1929 - June 16, 1966) was an American three-cushion billiards champion. He won the three cushion billiard championship in Argentina in 1954, the youngest player to compete at his level. Harold is the winner of 51 major billiard championships. Also he was equally skilled at pocket billiards and Worst dominated play to win the All-Around titles in both the 1965 Johnston City.
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The WPA World Nine-ball Championship is an annual, international, professional nine-ball pool (pocket billiards) tournament, founded in 1990, sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), and principally sponsored and organised by Matchroom Sport (who provide the event's official website, under the less specific name World Pool Championship). It is divided into men's, women's and wheelchair Divisions. Since 2010, it is held in Doha, Qatar.
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Midnight Pool is a sports simulation video game by Gameloft Montreal. The pool (pocket billiards) simulator was originally released for mobile phones. Versions with enhanced graphics were later released for Windows, WiiWare, and iOS and under the name Midnight Pool 3D for phones and the N-Gage platform. It is part of Gameloft's Midnight series, which includes Midnight Bowling, Midnight Casino and Midnight Hold'em Poker.
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The Dartmouth College Billiards Club promotes play and the education of pocket billiards to the Dartmouth community. The organization practices once per week, Wednesdays at 8pm. Biweekly 8-Ball and 9-Ball tournaments are held along with one Master Tournament with a grand prize at the end of each quarter. Additionally, the group actively seeks to improve the pool hall located at the bottom of Dartmouth's Collis Center.
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The Snap Magazine (originally titled Make It On the Snap, and not to be confused with several later magazines using the word "Snap" in their titles) is an American pool (pocket billiards) periodical that was published in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The magazine has been described in various venues as "the best of all pool publications" (BilliardMemorabilia.com) and "among the best billiard publications ever" (Billiard Scoop).
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Tyler Edey (born February 29, 1980) is a Canadian pocket billiards player. He reached the first place at the 8-Ball Championship. During the 2006 WPA Men's World Nine-ball Championship he survived the group stages, the round of 64 and the round of 32, but was eliminated in the round of 16 by Liu Cheng-chuan. This performance secured him a spot in the 2007 edition of the tournament.
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The 2010 WPA World Nine-ball Championship (also known as the World Pool Championship 2010) was the professional nine-ball pocket billiards (pool) championship, sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) and organised by Matchroom Sport. It was held from 29 June through 5 July in Doha, Qatar, hosted by the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation. Qualifying tournaments were held from 25 through 29 June in the same city.
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William Joseph Mosconi (; June 27, 1913 – September 17, 1993) was an American professional pool player from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Between the years of 1941 and 1957, he won the World Straight Pool Championship an unmatched fifteen times. For most of the 20th century, his name was essentially synonymous with pool in North America – he was nicknamed "Mr. Pocket Billiards" – and he was among the first Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame inductees.
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Black pool, originally known as everlasting pool, was a form of pocket billiards (pool) mainly played in the late 19th century, first being recorded in 1862. This game was derived from life pool but lacked the pooling of bets and players had unlimited lives. It had as many as players with an additional that was placed on the . A player is paid a life (stake) from the opponent whose ball was potted.
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Hard Knuckle is a 1988 Australian post-apocalyptic action television film (later released on home video) about a young boy who tries to get a pool player back on track. It was part of the Tomorrow's News series. It is one of the only films to feature in any detail the Australian pocket billiards game devil's pool (which features a series of upright pins, similar to large dominoes, as targets and obstacles).
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States that double-hits and push shots are general fouls in all billiard games. I.e. they are covered by the General Rules of Pocket Billiards as established by the World Standardized Rules promulgated by the WPA/BCA, et al., and based on centuries of certain fouls being universal to all cue sports. ; and (possibly, depending on how serious the game is) accidentally (or otherwise) moving a ball with a hand, the of the cue, etc.
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He won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship in 1993 against Thomas Hasch of Germany. Thus, he became the first Asian to win a world title in pocket billiards. In 1995, he won the International Challenge of Champions against Japan's Takeshi Okumura, a player who won the world nine-ball the year after he did. Three year later, he won the gold medal in the eight-ball event of the Asian Games.
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Steve Cook (December 31, 1946 - October 21, 2003), was an American professional player and instructor of pocket billiards (pool). He is best known for the extremely challenging game of one-pocket, which Cook described as "the pool game for and creative abilities." He was nicknamed "Cookie Monster", and due to his unassuming appearance hiding world-class talent, "the Clark Kent of one-pocket". Cook was inducted into the One Pocket Hall of Fame in 2005.
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In 1983, Reyes took on Pepito Dacer in the finals of the Philippine Professional Pocket Billiards Championships, which was played in rotation. The finals were played in race- to-39 and the players competed over 11 racks on a weekly basis. On the seventh week of play, Reyes defeated Dacer 39–32. During the 1980s, when Reyes was considered a top-class player in his homeland but not yet internationally recognized, he went to the United States to hustle.
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Mosconi pioneered and regularly employed numerous trick shots, set many records, and helped to popularize pool as a national recreation activity. During the 1940s and 1950s, the pocket billiards game most often played in competition was called straight pool, or 14.1 continuous, a form of pool considered by most top players to be more difficult than today's fast tournament game nine-ball. Mosconi set the officially-recognized straight pool high world record of 526 consecutive balls in 1954.
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As a child, Fleming had a keen interest in statistics. At the age of nine, when he began learning the game of pocket billiards, he made detailed records of his runs, how much he played, and his practice time. His love of statistics is how he came to create the Accu-Stats score-keeping system, which is still used today to measure the accuracy of pool games. Pat Fleming played straight pool in the 1970s and early 1980s.
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Pitchnut board Pitchnut is a wooden tabletop game of French Canadian origins, similar to carrom, crokinole and pichenotte, with mechanics that lie somewhere between pocket billiards and air hockey. Unlike with pichenotte and carrom, there are no records of pitchnut being mass-produced; all existing boards are handmade (primarily by Lee Larcheveque). Pitchnut is a registered trademark of Lee Larcheveque. The game is common on the farming villages near Coaticook, Quebec, Canada and in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States.
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Luther "Wimpy" Lassiter. Given his skill and prominent road partners, Moore's name began to be known in the billiard world. In 1940, the World Pocket Billiards (straight pool) titleholder of that year, Andrew Ponzi, sought out Moore looking for a challenge. At the match ultimately arranged, Moore first beat Ponzi out of $80 playing nine-ball, and then beat him at his own game of choice, straight pool, with Moore scoring 125 points to Ponzi's 82.
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Russian pyramid game setup, with the s in a triangle at the of the table, and the in front of (up-table of) the (). Russian pyramid, also known as Russian billiard (, , ) is a form of pocket billiards played on a modified snooker table with narrower pockets. It is popular across Eastern Europe as well as countries of the former Soviet Union/Eastern Bloc. A variant with colored balls modeled on those of pool is known as Russian pool.
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Baseball pocket billiards is a game, meaning a player must call the ball to be hit and the intended pocket on all shots but for the . Any incidental balls pocketed on a successful called shot count in the player’s favor but must be spotted to home plate if unsuccessful. Each player is allowed nine at the table, played in succession, in which to score as many runs as possible. The game ends when all players have completed their rounds.
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After he bought a pool table and practiced a couple months, he did! As his game developed, he used his pool earnings to support his business enterprises. When he became an accomplished pocket billiards player, Staton made several appearances on "Wide World of Sports" and "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson", "The Merv Griffin Show", the Steve Allen show, and was interviewed by David Frost. Bill Staton also appeared on the TV show "I've Got A Secret".
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Corey Deuel (born November 20, 1977 in Santa Barbara, California) is an American professional pocket billiards (pool) player from West Jefferson, Ohio. Nicknamed "Cash Money", he is an accomplished tournament competitor, having won the US Open Nine-ball Championship in 2001, as well as many other major titles. As of January 2008, Deuel is the second highest ranked pool player in the US by the United States Professional Poolplayers Association. He regularly represents the US in the Mosconi Cup.
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WEPF logo The World Eightball Pool Federation (WEPF) is an international pool (pocket billiards) governing body overseeing international (principally British, Commonwealth, and continental European) tournaments and rankings in eightball pool (a game similar to eight-ball but played with red and yellow unnumbered balls instead of the stripes and solids numbered balls). WEPF competes for authority and membership with the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), which produces its own tournaments and slightly different rules under the game name blackball.
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Whilst in Los Angeles for the 1966 World Pocket Billiards Championship, Chenier suffered a stroke prior to the tournament that affected his speech and the left side of his body. That left him unable to compete for a short time. However, in spite of his failing health, he still managed to successfully defend his North American Snooker Championship in April 1970. He was a commentator for the Canadian television series Championship Snooker which was broadcast in 1966 and 1967.
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The OED defines it as generally "any of various types of billiards for two or more players" but goes on to note that the first specific meaning of "a game in which each player uses a cue ball of a distinctive colour to pocket the balls of the other player(s) in a certain order, the winner taking all the stakes submitted at the start of the contest" is now obsolete, and its other specific definitions are all for games that originate in the United States. In the British Empire for most of the nineteenth through early twentieth century, pool referred specifically to the game of life pool. Although skittle pool is played on a pocketless carom billiards table, the term pool later stuck to all new games of pocket billiards as the sport gained in popularity in the United States, and so outside the cue sports industry, which has long favored the more formal term pocket billiards, the common name for the sport has remained pool. The OxfordDictionaries.
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Alejandro "Alex" Salvador Pagulayan (born June 25, 1978) is a Filipino Canadian professional pool (pocket billiards) and snooker player. His nicknames are "the Lion" and "the Killer Pixie". This latter nickname was given by the great Cliff Thorburn, former World and Canadian Snooker champion. Alex has a third, more recent nickname of "Mungo" (a favorite Filipino dish) given to him by Rick McCallum, former Wayne State University Pocket Billiard instructor and friend from the Hall of Fame Billiard room in Warren, Michigan.
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Stefano Pelinga (born May 1964) is an Italian professional pool (pocket billiards) player from Rome. He is best known as a multi-year international artistic pool champion, as both an individual and team captain. He has also served as an officer for the Polizia di Stato (Italy's national police) for 27 years, retiring from police work in 2011, then moving to Las Vegas, Nevada to play pool full-time. Pelinga has served as a board member of the International Artistic Poolplayers Association (IAPA).
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World Pool-Billiard Association logo The World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) is the international governing body for pool (pocket billiards). It was formed in 1987, and was initially headed by a provisional board of directors consisting of representatives from Japan, the United States, Sweden, and Germany. , the WPA president is Ian Anderson of Australia, and the organization is headquartered in Sydney. It is an associate of the World Confederation of Billiards Sports (WCBS), the international umbrella organization that encompasses the major cue sports.
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Bankshot Billiards 2 is a Sports simulation video game developed by PixelStorm, as a sequel to Bankshot Billiards. It was released on November 22, 2005 on Xbox Live Arcade. The pool (pocket billiards) simulator offers nine different game modes including nine-ball, eight-ball, Euro eight-ball (blackball), cutthroat, 14.1 continuous (straight pool), three-ball, trick shots, "Time Trial" (speed pool), and golf. It offers a wide range of graphic customization including table style, felt color, wood grain, ball set, and cue stick.
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Danny DiLiberto (born February 19, 1935 in Buffalo, New York) is an American professional pool player, nicknamed "Buffalo Danny". A veteran player from the Johnston City era, a teacher, an author, and today working as a commentator for Accu-Stats, DiLiberto is an active member of the pocket billiards community. He was elected into the One Pocket Hall of Fame in 2004 for his "outstanding contribution to the legacy of the game of one pocket"."2004 One Pocket Hall of Fame", OnePocket.org.
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Willie's father Joseph Mosconi owned a pool hall that the family lived above. Joseph Mosconi was strongly opposed to Willie playing pocket billiards, preferring he become a Vaudeville performer. He tried to keep his young son away from the game by hiding the billiard balls, but Willie improvised by practicing with small potatoes from his mother's kitchen and an old broomstick. The young Mosconi was a prodigy and his father soon realized that his son's talent could help earn money for their growing family.
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Shane Van Boening (; born July 14, 1983) is an American professional pool (pocket billiards) player from Rapid City, South Dakota, a former number 1 in the US rankings published by the UPA Tour. Van Boening is hearing-impaired and uses a hearing aid, but it has not limited his pool ability."Shark in Pool" , by Tony Burns, Keloland TV, June 21, 2007. Retrieved June 22, 2007 He has received praise for his attitude towards the sport, partially for his behaviour during matches, and for eschewing alcohol.
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Novuss players at the Baltic Children's Olympics, 2006 ' (also known as ' or ') is a two-player (or four-player, doubles) game of physical skill which is closely related to carrom and pocket billiards. Novuss is a national sport in Latvia. The board is approximately square, typically made of wood, has in each corner, and lines marked on the surface. The board is usually placed on a stand, but may be placed on a barrel or other surface that allows the pockets to hang down properly.
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Until the late 1980s, the game (with some rules differences) was a form of pocket billiards, known in English as Italian skittle pool, and was principally played in pubs, with an object ball that was smaller than the two cue balls. Professional and regulated amateur play today exclusively uses pocketless tables and equal-sized balls. Professional competition began in 1965, and play is centered in billiard parlors, with players competing in provincial, regional, and national federations. The pocket version is still favored by some in amateur play.
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The layout of balls in sinuca brasileira Sinuca brasileira (Portuguese for Brazilian snooker), often simply called sinuca, is a cue sport played on a snooker table, using only one instead of snooker's fifteen, with the normal six of the standard set of snooker balls. Each ball carries the same basic value as in snooker. As with other pocket billiards games, a white is used to the red and other coloured balls. The game is played almost exclusively in Brazil and is little known outside this region.
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Various novelty pocket billiards balls There is a market for specialty cue balls and even entire ball sets, featuring sports team logos, cartoon characters, animal pelt patterns, or other non- standard decorations. Entrepreneurial inventors also supply a variety of novelty billiard games with unique rules and balls, some with playing card markings, others with stars and stripes, and yet others in sets of more than thirty balls in several suits. Marbled-looking and glittery materials are also popular for home tables. There are even blacklight sets for playing in near- dark.
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The New York Times Company (March 27, 1954). Lassiter Takes Title; Tops Crane to Capture Crown in Pocket Billiards. Retrieved on January 19, 2008. Moore's runner-up streak continued in the 1956 World Championship held at Judice's Academy in Brooklyn, New York. He clinched second place, to Willie Mosconi's now almost ubiquitous first, with a 150 to 50 score over Al Coslosky of Philadelphia in 15 innings, a win over Richard Riggie of Baltimore, 150 to 121, with an inspired run of 107 balls, but a loss to Lassiter, 150 to 70 in 7 innings.
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American rotation, abbreviated AR or AmRo, is a pool (pocket billiards) game. It is a modern, tournament-oriented, , variation on traditional rotation pool (or 61), devised to increase the degree of difficulty of the sport. It is the "flagship game" of the American Billiard Club (ABC), a division of CueSports International (CSI). The game was established by US professional pool player and instructor Joe Tucker in February 2013, and is contested in a pro–am American Rotation Championship Series of tournaments, with national championship held several times annually at varying locations.
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Billiard balls in a rack A rack (sometimes called a triangle) is a piece of equipment that is used to place billiard balls in their starting positions at the beginning of a pocket billiards game. Rack may also be used as a verb to describe the act of setting billiard balls in their starting positions (e.g. "to rack the hairy balls"), or as a noun to describe a set of balls that are in their starting positions (e.g. "a rack of balls", more often called a pack or a pyramid in British English).
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The WPA World Ten-ball Championship is a professional ten-ball pocket billiards (pool) tournament sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association. The event has been held in the Philippines since its inception, with events played in 2008, and 2009, before missing 2010, and played in 2011. The event was resurrected in 2015, by boxer Manny Pacquiao, campaigning to the World Pool Association for the event to be moved from Metro Manila to General Santos. An event for 2018 was announced in June 2018, but was postponed to 2019.
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A second-grader at the time, according to her mother, Peggy, she did her homework and took a nap before appearing at the scheduled match. In advertisements for the match, Balukas was billed as "the Little Princess of Pocket Billiards." She was described by a reporter present as "a little girl with honey-blond hair...wearing a short yellow dress and green leotards...who resembles a young Shirley Temple." To great applause she edged out her opponent, Roland DeMarco, a pool enthusiast and the President of Finch College. The final score was 50 to 42.
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The origin of snooker dates back to the latter half of the 19th century. In the 1870s, billiards was a popular activity amongst British Army officers stationed in India and several variations of the game were devised during this time. One such variation originated at the officers' mess of the 11th Devonshire Regiment in 1875, which combined the rules of two pocket billiards games, pyramid and black pool. The former was played with fifteen red balls positioned in a triangle, while the latter involved the potting of designated coloured balls.
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The obituary source incorrectly says "1992". The 1991 victory made him one of only two players to ever win both the Stardust and Legends one-pocket titles. Aside from competing professionally, Cook served as the manager and house pro at Varsity Billiard Room in Tampa from the early 1970s to 1996, In this capacity, Steve did as much as he could to promote the game of pocket billiards. An example was that here he was, a world champion one-pocket player, and he would give one-pocket lessons at Varsity Billiards for $10.00 per hour.
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The American Poolplayers Association (APA) is a governing body for amateur pool (pocket billiards) competition in the United States. The APA conducts pool leagues and tournaments in the disciplines of eight-ball and nine-ball with a unified ruleset. The organization was founded in 1981 by professional pool players Terry Bell and Larry Hubbart, with roots dating back to the National Pool League (NPL), founded in 1979. The APA bills itself as the largest pool league in the world with a membership of nearly 250,000 players in the United States, Canada, Japan, and China.
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The 2012 WPA World Nine-ball Championship (sometimes called the World Pool Championship 2012) was a professional nine-ball pocket billiards (pool) championship, sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) and organised by Matchroom Sport. It was held from June 22 to 29 in Doha, Qatar, hosted by the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation. Qualifying tournaments were held from June 20 to 22, with the Al Sadd Sports Club hosting both qualifying and final tournaments. British Darren Appleton won the championship defeating China's Li Hewen 13-12 in the final.
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John Roberts, Jr and Edward Diggle English billiards, called simply billiards in the United Kingdom, Serves as a good example; the book refers to English billiards simply as "billiards", from cover to cover. where it originated, and in many former British colonies such as Australia, is a cue sport that combines the aspects of carom billiards and pocket billiards. Two (historically both white, with one marked with a dot, but more recently one white and one yellow) and a red are used. Each player or team uses a different cue ball.
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The generic term pocket billiards is sometimes also used, and favored by some pool-industry bodies, but is technically a broader classification, including games such as snooker, Russian pyramid, and kaisa, which are not referred to as pool games. In most parts of the world, it is commonly referred to as just "billiards", analogous to the term "bowling" being commonly used to refer to the game of ten-pin bowling. There are also hybrid games combining aspects of both pool and carom billiards, such as American four-ball billiards, bottle pool, cowboy pool, and English billiards.
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Hustling is the deceptive act of disguising one's skill in a sport or game with the intent of luring someone of probably lesser skill into gambling (or gambling for higher than current stakes) with the hustler, as a form of both a confidence trick and match fixing. It is most commonly associated with, and originated in pocket billiards (pool), but also can be performed with regard to other sports and gambling activities. Hustlers may also engage in ""-- distracting, disheartening, enraging, or even threatening their opponents--to throw them off. Hustlers are thus often called "pool sharks".
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Snooker is a pocket billiards game originated by British officers stationed in India during the 19th century, based on earlier pool games such as black pool and life pool. The name of the game became generalized to also describe one of its prime strategies: to "" the opposing player by causing that player to foul or leave an opening to be exploited. In the United Kingdom, snooker is by far the most popular cue sport at the competitive level, and major national pastime along with association football and cricket. It is played in many Commonwealth countries as well, especially in Asia.
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A (knocking the cue ball into a pocket or off the table) is subject to special penalties, covered below, and results in the incoming player receiving . The general rules of pocket billiards apply, including typical fouls, such as striking the cue ball twice on the same shot, striking an object ball instead of the cue ball with the cue stick, knocking an object ball off the table, etc. Such fouls end the shooter's turn without further penalty. The incoming player does not have cue ball in-hand, but takes the table as it lies (after balls are spotted).
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Vilmos Földes (sometimes transliterated as Foeldes or occasionally Foldes; born 16 December 1984) is a Hungarian professional Pocket billiards (pool) player. Based in Pécs, Hungary's fifth-largest city, Földes competed in the 2006 WPA World Nine-ball Championship in which he survived the group stages and the round of 64, but was eliminated in the round of 32 by Luong Chi Dung. In the 2007 World Nine-ball Championship he reached the semifinals but was defeated by Daryl Peach.Gomez, Peach face off in World Pool Championship Földes has also competed in the World Pool Masters Tournament.
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The pack is not racked at the behind the as it would be in snooker, but, unlike in any other form of pocket billiards, racked in the middle of the table on the . Games competed over for ITV's Tenball series featured best of five matches. However, unlike in regular snooker, the first potted colour in a break associated the score for every colour potted in that break thereafter, rather than the score of the colour that the ball that was potted. The series also promoted similar to pool if a foul was played, or could receive ten points for each foul shot.
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Pagulayan also has expertise in the pocket billiards game of snooker, and his capabilities helped his Philippines team to win the Snooker Gold Medal at the 2005 SEA Games (held in Manila, Philippines) with teammates Joven Alba and Leonardo Andam. After the team's 3-2 win against Thailand at the Makati Coliseum, Pagulayan emerged as a triple gold medalist.23rd SEA Games Winners and Losers, Editorial, The Sunday Times, December 11, 2005. Retrieved June 18, 2007 Pagulayan (center) and Francisco Bustamante (left) at the 2004 US Open Nine-ball Championship signing autographs Very skilled players in nine-ball have the tendency to sometimes pocket four or even five balls on the .
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He has made many contributions to cue sport, but his most notable contributions is the creation and continuing development of Accu- Stats Video Productions, based in Butler, New Jersey. Accu-Stats Video Productions has been videotaping more than 1,000 tournament matches and preserved performances by the world’s greatest pool and billiards players since the mid-1980s. Fleming started the enterprise to document matches for statistical analysis. (An Accu-Stats Total Performance Average is now a widely known and recognized measure of pool performance levels.) Fleming started to offer videotapes of those famous performances and players for sale to players and fans of pocket billiards.
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The game is played in several rounds, with two players (or potentially with two teams of players alternating turns or shots during their turn). During the first round, white pieces are placed on the first row, and black on the last. White opens the game. (To neutralize the advantage, the pie rule can be used, allowing the black player to choose to switch places after the first move; this is similar to the in the pocket billiards game nine-ball.) A player takes their turn by flicking one of his pieces with the index finger to shoot it at one or more of the opponent's pieces.
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Lunar Pool (known as in Japan) is a video game that combines pool (pocket billiards) with aspects of miniature golf, created and developed by Compile for the Nintendo Entertainment System and MSX, in which each stage is a differently shaped pool table. The object is to knock each ball into a pocket using a cue ball. There are sixty levels to choose from, and the friction of the table is adjustable (thus the lunar reference in the title, along with Moon-related background imagery within the game). The Japanese Lunar Ball appeared on Famicom clone systems and pirated multi-game cartridges, such as the Power Player Super Joy III.
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It was not until 1965 at the National Invitation Pocket Billiards Championship, seven years after his last first- place finish, that he would repeat as champion in a sanctioned tournament. At that contest held at the Riviera Terrace in New York City, along the way to first place and the prize of $4,000, Moore defeated: Onofrio Lauri 150 to 117; Joe Balsis 150 to -3; Cisero Murphy 150 to 96; "Champagne" Edwin Kelly 150 to 83 in 3 innings; and the ever-present Luther Lassiter, 150 to 41 in 4 innings. The runner up in the tourney was Joe Balsis.The New York Times Company (November 1, 1965).
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Actua Pool is a sports simulation video game developed by British company Gremlin Interactive as part of their highly successful Actua Sports series of sport simulators of the mid-to-late 1990s. Actua Pool, a pool (pocket billiards) was originally released on the Microsoft Windows platform and the Sony PlayStation home console in 1999; these versions were also published under the name Pool Shark. The game was very well received, praised for its realistic physics engine and challenging AI opponents, although the game spawned a sequel which was not as successful. In 2007, Actua Pool was ported to the Nintendo DS handheld game console.
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Full setup Baseball pocket billiards is played with 21 numbered . Since a standard set of pool balls is numbered 1 through 15, sets of balls numbered 16 through 21, known as "baseball sets", have been marketed specifically for the game, along with the oversized triangle racks needed for proper . The balls are racked at the end of a pool table, with the of the triangle centered over the ("home plate"). Viewed from the racker's vantage point, the 1-ball is placed at the triangle's apex, the 2-ball at the right corner, and the 3-ball at the left corner, similar to that of rotation.
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Meals in these rooms were delivered from service pantries and through an extensive system of dumbwaiters from the kitchens which occupied fully half the fifth floor. As the demand for lunch service only transformed into today's full-service, full-day schedule, the kitchen was moved and several of the dining rooms were converted to other uses, principally meetings and banquets and also a new gym. The Game Room, now a members only room, was formerly a private dining room but now contains pocket billiards tables, games tables, a bar and a large collection of hunting trophies. The first floor rear is now a large and elegant main bar and gathering area for members.
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As of 2010, the Riviera had a near-monopoly on championship-level North American and international amateur pool (pocket billiards) tournaments held in the United States, aside from the Florida-based U.S. Amateur Championship. The hotel's convention center hosted the Billiard Congress of America, American Poolplayers Association, Valley National 8-Ball Association and American Cuesports Alliance pool leagues' annual international championships, and various related events. BCA scheduled their 2011 and 2012 amateur championships at the Riviera, as well as the 2011 professional U.S. Open Ten-ball Championship. BCA moved their 2013 events to Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino VNEA announced in May 2010 that their event would move to Bally's, further down the Strip, in 2011.
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The sleeve notes to Patterson's 1985 LP, 12 Inches of Les, identify him a KBE (Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire), while his own signature, as seen in the preface to his book The Traveller's Tool, identifies him as a KCB (Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath). However, since the Order of the Bath is mostly bestowed on military and civil service personnel, a KBE is most likely to be the correct knighthood conferred as that is keeping with actual practice. In various published sources, Les Patterson has listed his hobbies as " pocket billiards and sauna construction in Thailand" (according to a 1995 programme bio) and "wine tasting and infidelity" (according to a 2005 CV).
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Horgan was born in Elmira, New York, the son of John G. Horgan, Sr. He became the 1906 world champion in pocket billiards (straight pool) by beating Tommy HuestonHistory of Pool 1900-1910 at charlesursitti.com He became the world three-cushion billiards champion and holder of the Lambert Emblem trophyBilliards and Pool New York Times 1 December 1912 in 1912 by beating Joe Carney, Three-Cushion Billiard Title New York Times 3 November 1913 a title he lost to Alfredo de Oro in 1914. Horgan, who moved to the West Coast around 1891, died in San Francisco following a sudden illness and operation. Horace Lerch, one of his close friends, eulogized him in the Buffalo Courier-Express – He was survived by three sisters, Mrs.
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A typical two piece cue for pocket billiards is usually made mostly of hard or rock maple, with a fiberglass or phenolic resin , usually long, and steel and . Pool cues average around long, are commonly available in weights, with being the most common, and usually have a diameter in the range of 12 to 14 mm. A conical , with the gradually shrinking in diameter from joint to ferrule, is favored by some, but the "pro" taper is increasingly popular, straight for most of the length of the shaft from ferrule back, flaring to joint diameter only in the last to of the shaft. While there are many custom cuemakers, a very large number of quality pool cues are manufactured in bulk.
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Jim Wych (born 11 January 1955 in Calgary) is a Canadian sports announcer and former professional snooker and pocket billiards player. He turned professional in 1979 and reached the quarter-final of the 1980 World Snooker Championship in his debut year, a "first" for any overseas player and reached the world championship quarter-final stage again in 1992. Wych also reached the quarter-finals of two other ranking tournaments, the 1986 British Open and the 1989 European Open. He reached the final of the men's doubles at the 1991 World Masters, playing with Brady Gollan. A two-time Canadian snooker champion, in 1979 and 1999, Jim retired from professional snooker in 1997 and now works mainly as a television pool and snooker commentator, including for Sky Sports, where he started working in the early 1990s.
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Nevertheless, he frequently competed with and beat all of the players whom he so often played second fiddle to in sanctioned tournament play. In fact, later in 1958, the same year he won the National Pocket Billiards Championship against Lassiter, he roundly defeated Mosconi in a two- day exhibition match in his home town of Albuquerque, with a final score of 500 to 397. Moore and Mosconi would battle it out many times in unsanctioned but publicized play. In addition to matches previously mentioned, they vied at Albuquerque's old Chaplin Alley in 1956; at the Highland Bowl in 1958; and later, in matches in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Philadelphia, Chicago and Johnston City at the Jansco Brother's Stardust Open, where Moore would win the prize for "all-around honors".
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More exotic and earlier origins have also been proposed. Engraving from Charles Cotton's 1674 book, The Compleat Gamester, showing the same game, including port and king, and finely-developed maces, being played on a 17th-century pocket billiards table Even in the late 17th to early 18th centuries, indoor billiards was essentially the same game, with smaller equipment and played on a bounded table, with or without pockets. Use of the king pin declined first in most areas, followed by the abandonment of the port arch, though many variants featured both as well as pockets, while the king survived and even multiplied in some cases, leading to such modern cue games as five-pins. Some later stick-and-ball games, including cricket, also evolved multiple pin targets over time.
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Cutthroat or cut-throat is a typically three-player or team pocket billiards game, played on a pool table, with a full standard set of pool balls (15 numbered s and a ); the game cannot be played with three or more players with an unnumbered reds-and-yellows ball set, as used in blackball. Each player is commonly assigned a set of five consecutively numbered object balls, though the number of balls will vary by number of players. The object of the game is to be the last player with at least one ball of their group remaining on the table. The name "cutthroat" is not unique to pool, but is used to refer to other games played with three or more players in which all players must fend for themselves, e.g.
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Carom billiards and pool are two types of cue sports or billiards-family games, which as a general class are played with a stick called a cue which is used to strike billiard balls, moving them around a cloth-covered billiard table bounded by rubber attached to the confining of the table. Carom billiards (often simply called "billiards" in many varieties of non-British English) is a type of billiards in which the table is bounded completely by cushions, and in which (in most variants) three balls are used. Pool, also called "pocket billiards", is a form of billiards usually equipped with sixteen balls (a cue ball and fifteen object balls), played on a pool table with six pockets built into the rails, splitting the cushions. The pockets (one at each corner, and one in the center of each long rail) provide targets (or in some cases, hazards) for the balls.
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The most popular pool game in the world (but unfortunately the one with the least consistent rules from area to area) is eight-ball, in which each player attempts to pocket a particular () of balls, and then finally the 8 ball. In nine-ball and its variant seven-ball, there are no suits, and each player must always shoot the lowest-numbered ball on the table first, and either attempt to eliminate all of them in turn to pocket the namesake money ball on the last shot, or use the lowest-numbered ball in some way to pocket the money ball early. A game increasingly popular among professionals is ten-ball, which is played with the same core rules, except that (in the internationally standardized version) the 10 ball cannot be pocketed early for an easy win. Some games combine aspects of both carom and pocket billiards.
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3300 BCE in Egypt, features stone balls, skittles, and an arch (no cue/mace was included in the recovered artifacts). Stein and Rubino, among other researchers, believe that games such as early ball-and-stick activities, chess, and many others were primarily brought into Europe from the Near East and Middle East by returning Crusaders from the 12th century onward, and that the pastimes were kept alive and evolving on that continent principally by the Christian clergy. Late medieval ground billiards is seen as the precursor of many later, more familiar outdoor and indoor games, including croquet and its variants, and table-based billiards games including snooker, pool (or pocket billiards, including nine-ball, eight-ball, etc.), pocketless carom billiards varieties, and the hybrid pocket–carom English billiards. Ground billiards is described as "the original game of billiards" by Michael Ian Shamos in The Encyclopedia of Billiards, an assessment echoed word-for-word by Stein and Rubino.
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The demand for tables and other equipment was initially met in Europe by John Thurston and other furniture makers of the era. The early balls were made from wood and clay, but the rich preferred to use ivory. Early billiard games involved various pieces of additional equipment, including the "arch" (related to the croquet hoop), "port" (a different hoop) and "king" (a pin or skittle near the arch) in the 1770s, but other game variants, relying on the cushions (and eventually on pockets cut into them), were being formed that would go on to play fundamental roles in the development of modern billiards. Illustration of a three-ball pocket billiards game in early 19th century Tübingen, Germany, using a table much longer than the modern type The early croquet-like games eventually led to the development of the carom or carambole billiards category – what most non-Commonwealth and non-US speakers mean by the word billiards.
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These games, which once completely dominated the cue sports world but have declined markedly in many areas over the last few generations, are games played with three or sometimes four balls, on a table without holes (and without obstructions or targets in most cases), in which the goal is generally to strike one with a , then have the cue ball rebound off of one or more of the cushions and strike a second object ball. Variations include straight rail, balkline, one-cushion, three-cushion, 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, including "pool" games such as eight-ball, nine-ball, straight pool and one- pocket; Russian pyramid; snooker; English billiards and others. In the United States pool and billiards had died out for a bit, but between 1878 and 1956 pool and billiards became very popular.
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