Primary games (carom and pocket)

There are two major varieties of billiard games: pocket and carom. The main carom billiards games are straight billiards, balkline and three cushion billiards. All are played on a pocket-less table with three balls; two cue balls and one object ball. In all, players shoot a cue ball so that it makes contact with the opponent's cue ball as well as the object ball.

The most popular of the large variety of pocket games are eight-ball, nine-ball, one-pocket, bank pool, snooker and, among the old guard, straight pool. In eight-ball and nine-ball the object is to sink object balls until one can legally pocket the winning eponymous "money ball". Well-known but waning in popularity is straight pool, in which players seek to continue sinking balls, rack after rack if they can, to reach a pre-determined winning score (typically 150). Related to nine-ball, another well-known game is rotation, where the lowest-numbered object ball on the table must be struck first, although any object ball may be pocketed (i.e., combination shot). Each pocketed ball is worth its number, and the player with the highest score at the end of the rack is the winner. Since there are only 120 points available (1 + 2 + 3 ⋯ + 15 = 120), scoring 61 points leaves no opportunity for the opponent to catch up. In both one-pocket and bank pool, the players must sink a set number of balls; respectively, all in a particular pocket, or all by bank shots. In snooker, players score points by alternately potting red balls and various special "colour balls".

Eight-ball is a pocket billiards (pool) game popular in much of the world, and the subject of international amateur and professional competition. It is played with sixteen balls (a cue ball and fifteen object balls) on a pool table with six pockets.

History

The game of eight-ball is derived from an earlier game invented around 1900 (first recorded in 1908) and initially popularized under the name "B.B.C. Co. Pool" (a name that was still in use as late as 1925) by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company. This forerunner game was played with seven yellow and seven red balls, a black ball, and the cue ball. Today, numbered stripes and solids are preferred in most of the world, though the British-style variant uses the traditional colors. It was a simple game in the beginning compared to today.

International rules

American-style eight-ball rules are played around the world by professionals, and in many amateur leagues. The rules for eight-ball may be the most contested of any billiard game. There are several competing sets of "official" rules. The non-profit World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), with national affiliates such as the Billiard Congress of America (BCA), promulgates the World Standardised Rules^[5] for amateur and professional play. The for-profit International Pool Tour has also established an international set of rules^[6] for professional and semi-professional play, used in major tournaments broadcast on television. Meanwhile, many amateur leagues, such as the American Poolplayers Association (APA) / Canadian Poolplayers Association (CPA), and the Valley National Eight-ball Association (VNEA) / VNEA Europe, use their own rulesets as their standards (most of them at least loosely based on the WPA/BCA version), while millions of individuals play informally using colloquial rules which vary not only from area to area but even from venue to venue.

A summary of the international rules follows (see the WPA/BCA or IPT published rules, which conflict on minor points, for more details):

Nine-ball is a contemporary pocket billiards (pool) game, with historical beginnings rooted in the United States and traceable to the 1920s. The game may be played in social and recreational settings by any number of players (generally one-on-one) and subject to whatever rules are agreed upon beforehand, or in league and tournament settings in which the number of players and the rules are set by the sponsors. During much of its history, nine-ball has been known as a "money game" in both professional and recreational settings; but today, in major tournament settings, it is respected and remains the dominant game (although ten-ball is gaining momentum).

In recent years, nine-ball has become the game of choice in championship tournament matches in the United States, basically because a series of games (the "match") proceeds quickly, lends itself well to the time constraints of television coverage, and tends to keep the audience engaged. The sports network ESPN has been, for several years, a major catalyst for the popularity of nine-ball and a major sponsor of championship play.

Rules and governing bodies

The general rules the game is played under are fairly consistent and usually do not stray too far from the format set forth in the Billiard Congress of America (BCA) BCA World Standardized Rules for Nine Ball, which have merged with those of the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), to form the World Standardised Rules, although amateur league play may be governed by similar but slightly different rules promulgated by the American Poolplayers Association (APA) and other organizations.

The rise of "Texas express" rules

For much of its history nine-ball rules allowed participants to "push out" multiple times during a game (see "The push-out", below, for the modern push-out rules), meaning any player could call a "push-out", and then hit the cue ball to any area on the table without being penalized by normal foul rules, such as failure to contact the lowest-numbered ball on the table. However, once a push-out was called and executed, the incoming player had the right to shoot or give the inning back to the opponent. If the player shooting the resulting shot fouled, the other player would have ball-in-hand; hence this manner of play was called the "two-foul" version. "One-foul" became popular in the 1970s, as play turned more aggressive for the early televised matches. This newer version of nine-ball awarded ball-in-hand on any cue ball foul. A now-standard rule variant, which started to sweep the sport of nine-ball in the mid-1980s, restricted the push-out option to once per game and only to the inning immediately following the break. This change profoundly affected the way the game was played. By about 1990 this new push-out rule had become ubiquitous and it and any additional rules appended to it were collectively referred to as "Texas express" rules, so called because of the supposed US state of origin and the speeding up of the game. Today, Texas express push-out rules dominate the way nine-ball is played and is the variant incorporated into the official rules maintained by the WPA and its affiliates like the BCA.

European alterations

As of the 2000s, the rules have been somewhat in flux in certain contexts, especially in Europe. The European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF), BCA's WPA-affiliate counterpart in Europe, has done away with standardized racking techniques, and instead relies upon divots in the cloth to position the balls, with no physical ball rack required; these indentations are carefully created using a "training template", such that the divots are slightly closer together than they would be expected to be, thus creating ball-on-ball pressure as the balls settle partially into the divot pattern, into which they cannot quite fit. This results in an especially tight rack, without any possibility of cheating by carefully manipulating the ball positions while racking. This innovative racking technique is now the official rack of the EPBF Euro-Tour.^[1]

Another Euro-Tour innovation is a new requirement that the break shot be taken from a "break box",^[1][2] not unlike the "D" break shot zone used in snooker and blackball, consisting of the middle 50% of the "kitchen". This change defeats the common break-from-the-side-rail technique for pocketing the 9 ball on the break and winning the game instantly. While 9 ball breaks are still possible, they are much more difficult under the new rule.^[1] This requirement was recently added to the Europe vs. US all-star team event, the Mosconi Cup, but has not otherwise been seen much by North Americans.

Yet a third EPBF change, used on the Euro-Tour for several years, is the "three above the line" rule, a stringent requirement that in order for a break shot to be legal, at least three object balls must either be pocketed or come up-table and cross the head string. Failure to do so constitutes a loss-of-turn (but not ball-in-hand) foul – even if two object balls are pocketed, a potential major windfall for the non-breaking player under these rules.^[1][2] More stringently yet, the requirements are independent – if a ball crosses the head string and is then pocketed, it counts as a pocketed ball but not a head string-crossing ball.^[1] This alteration (from WPA's requirement that one object ball be pocketed or four driven to cushions) requires a powerful break shot, and was instituted to thwart a different form of break manipulation, the recently developed "nine-ball soft break",^[1] in which a languid break performed correctly, and given a tight rack (such as that produced by EPBF template-trained racking), is almost guaranteed to pocket a wing ball in a foot corner pocket, perhaps even both wing balls, meanwhile the remaining balls stay mostly or entirely on the foot end of the table, giving the breaker an easy run-out of short shots. By effectively banning the soft break, wins "on a silver platter" are much less likely.^[1] One problem with this "three above the line" break requirement is that very careful attention must be paid to whether or not particular balls cross the head string, such that even professional referees have had to resort to video playback, as happened several times at the Mosconi Cup^[1], when this rule, too, was introduced in 2007 by the MC's organizers, Matchroom Sport, in an effort to make the event more competitive and interesting to audiences, and more even (the US has mostly dominated the annual event since its inception, and they did in fact lose the 2007 match).^[2]

Another Mosconi Cup rule change in 2007 called for racking such that the 9 ball rather than the 1 ball is on the foot spot, which further thwarts pocketing a wing ball easily.^[1]

Play

The game is played on a pocket billiards table with six pockets and with ten balls. The cue ball, which is usually a solid shade of white (but may be spotted in some tournaments), is struck to hit one or more of the other nine balls (often referred to as object balls), each of which is distinctly colored and numbered 1 through 9. The object of the game is to pocket the 9 ball in a legal manner, subject to the rules in effect at the time.

In nine-ball, on all shots, a player must cause the cue ball to contact the lowest numerical ball on the table first before the cue ball strikes any other ball and subsequently contact a rail with either the cue ball, the object ball, or any balls contacted by the two (except when a push-out has been invoked; see "The push-out", below); otherwise a foul has been committed. This does not mean that object balls have to be pocketed in order; any ball may be pocketed at any time during the game, so long as the lowest numerical ball is contacted first. Because nine-ball is not a call shot game, the 9 ball itself can also be pocketed in this manner for a win (which necessarily means that legally pocketing the 9 on the break shot immediately wins the game).

Players alternate innings at the table, meaning play continues by one player until he or she misses, commits a foul, or pockets the 9 ball for the win. The penalty for a foul is that the player's inning ends and the opponent comes to the table with ball in hand, able to place the cue ball anywhere on the table prior to shooting.

Nine-ball is a relatively fast-paced game and is rarely played by the rack. Instead, players normally play a match (or race) to a set number of games, often five, seven or nine. The first player to win that set number of games wins the match.

The rack

The object balls are placed in a diamond-shaped configuration, with the 1 ball positioned at the front (toward the position of the breaking player), and the 9 ball placed in the center. The physical rack used to position the balls is typically triangle-shaped and capable of holding all fifteen object balls, although diamond-shaped racks are sometimes used. The placement of the remaining balls is generally considered to be random. However, in some handicapped tournaments, the ball being spotted to the lesser player must be one of the two balls placed behind the 1 ball at the apex of the rack. The placement of balls is expected to be precise, especially in league and tournament play; if any ball in the rack does not touch each adjacent ball, or if the rack is not "straight", or if the 1 ball is not resting precisely on the foot spot, the player assigned the break may demand a re-rack. (See also "European alterations", above, for a recently devised "template-trained" racking system.)

The break

One person is chosen to shoot first, by breaking the rack. Usually this is determined by flipping a coin, or by lagging, especially in professional tournaments in the case of the latter, or it may be ruled by the authority in charge or the sponsor or the players themselves that the winner or loser of the previous game will always shoot first in the next rack. If the player who breaks fails to make a legal break, the opponent can either demand a re-rack and become the breaker, or continue to play as if it had been an ordinary foul, depending upon the rules of the event. If the breaker pockets a ball and commits no foul, it remains the breaker's turn. If the breaker pockets the 9 ball on the break (without fouling), this is an instant win. (See also "European alterations", above, for recent moves to change the breaking rules.)

The push-out

Immediately after the break shot (regardless of its results) the player at the table may call a "push-out", and may then shoot the cue ball to any location on the table (i.e. not into a pocket in which case the player must continue shooting, nor off the table which would be a foul), without incurring a foul for failure to hit the lowest-numbered ball on the table, and then control of the table passes to the other player. The incoming player has the choice of accepting the table as it lies, or forcing the pushing-out player to take the next shot. Only one push-out is allowed per game, and it must be immediately after the break. (See also "The rise of 'Texas express' rules", above, for the historical multi-push-out rule variation.)

The ideal push-out shot is one that the opponent will believe likely to be makable, and will accept, but fail to actually make, giving control of the table back to the pusher-out, and which the pusher-out is confident to make if forced to do so. Thus, nine-ball players aim for a push-out that has about a 50/50 chance of being accepted or returned.^[1]

Winning

A player wins in nine-ball by pocketing the 9 ball at any time in the game in a legal manner, either by hitting it in with the cue ball or with a lower numbered ball in a combination shot. A player can also win by default if the opponent commits three successive fouls. However in most formats, including under BCA rules, the opponent must be told that he or she is "on two fouls" in order to lose by committing a third foul.

Derived games

Three-ball (historical)

While the modern folk game of three-ball bears no resemblance to nine-ball, the earliest-known version of three-ball was essentially nine-ball played with only three balls, racked in a triangle,^[clarify] in which the 3 ball was the money ball. A quick game, and (due to the comparatively very high possibility of pocketing the 3 ball on the break) one with a more significant luck component than nine-ball and most other pool games.^[3]:254

Six-ball

A normal six-ball rack; the 1 ball is at the apex and on the foot spot, and the 6 is in the center of the back row.

A bar pool six-ball rack, played with the leftovers of a nine-ball game; the 10 ball (the lowest) is at the apex, and the 15 (the highest) is the money ball.

Six-ball is essentially identical to nine-ball but with three fewer balls, and racked in a three-row triangle, with the 6 ball (or more often the 15 ball; see below) as the money ball, placed in the center of the back row.^[3]:224 According to Rudolph "Minnesota Fats" Wanderone, the game arose in early 20th century billiard halls that charged by the rack instead of by the hour, as nine-ball players had already paid for the 10–15 balls and did not want to waste them.^[3]:224 This explanation of the game's origin may be particularly plausible because six-ball remains popular today as a diversion or practice round among nine-ball-playing bar pool players, using coin-operated tables that deliver a full set of fifteen balls.

Seven-ball

Racking a typical game of seven-ball, using the nine-ball diamond rack sideways.

Racking a seven-ball game with a special hex rack and black-striped 7 ball.

Seven-ball is a similar game, the primary differences being there are only seven object balls, racked in a hexagon, and the game is won by pocketing the 7 ball. Seven-ball is racked with the 1 ball at the apex on the foot spot and the 7 ball (the money ball) in the center of the hexagon. This game is not particularly common, and is primarily known because of ESPN's Sudden Death Seven-ball which aired in the early 2000s. Though hardly necessary, specialized equipment for the game can be purchased, including a unique black-striped seven ball and a hexagonal rack.

Ten-ball

A valid ten-ball rack; the 1 is at the apex on the foot spot, and the 10 (the money ball) is in the center.

Ten-ball is a more stringent variant of the game, using ten balls (racked in a triangle with the 10 ball, the money ball in this case, in the center), and in which the money ball cannot be pocketed early for an early win. Due to its more challenging nature, and the fact that there is no publicly known technique for reliably pocketing specific object balls on the break shot, there have been suggestions among the professional circuit that ten-ball should replace nine-ball as the pro game of choice,^[1][ especially since the rise of the nine-ball soft break, which is still legal in most international and non-European competition.^[1] Regardless of the future of the nine-ball versus ten-ball debate, there are already hotly contested professional ten-ball tournaments.

Snooker

Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a large baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regulation (full-size) table is 12 ft × 6 ft (3.6 m x 1.8 m). It is played using a cue, one white ball (the cue ball), 15 red balls (worth 1 point each) and 6 balls of different colours (worth 2–7 points each).^[1] A player (or team) wins a frame (individual game) of snooker by scoring more points than the opponent(s), using the cue ball to pot the red and coloured balls. A player wins a match when he wins a certain number of frames.

Snooker is particularly popular in many of the English-speaking and Commonwealth countries,^[2] and in China,^[3] with the top professional players attaining multi-million pound career earnings from the game.^[4]

History

The history and origins of the game of snooker are generally regarded as being in the latter half of the 19th century.^[5] Billiards had been a popular activity amongst British Army officers stationed in India, and variations on the more traditional billiard games were devised. One variation, devised in the officers' mess in Jabalpur during 1874 ^[6] or 1875,^[5] was to add coloured balls in addition to the reds and black which were used for pyramid pool and life pool.^[7] The word "snooker" also has military origins, being a slang term for first year cadets or inexperienced personnel.^[5] One version of events states that Colonel Sir Neville Chamberlain of the Devonshire regiment was playing this new game when his opponent failed to pot a ball and Chamberlain called him a "snooker".^[7] It thus became attached to the billiards game now bearing its name as inexperienced players were labelled as snookers.^[8]

The game of snooker grew in the latter half of the 19th century and the early 20th century, and by 1927 the first World Snooker Championship^[5] had been organised by Joe Davis who, as a professional English billiards and snooker player, moved the game from a pastime activity into a more professional sphere.^[9] Joe Davis won every world championship until 1946 when he retired. The game went into a decline through the 1950s and 1960s with little interest generated outside of those who played. Things saw some improvement when in 1969 the BBC commissioned the snooker tournament Pot Black to demonstrate the potential of colour television, with the green table and multi-coloured balls being ideal for showing off the advantages of colour broadcasting.^[10] The TV series became a ratings success and was for a time the second most popular show on BBC Two.^[11] Interest in the game increased and the 1978 World Championship was the first to be fully televised.^{[12] [2]} The game quickly became a mainstream sport^[13] in the UK, Ireland and much of the Commonwealth and has enjoyed much success in the last 30 years, with most of the ranking tournaments being televised. In recent years the loss of tobacco sponsorship has led to a decrease in the number of professional tournaments, although some new sponsors have been sourced^[14] and the popularity of the game in the Far East and China, with emerging talents such as Ding Junhui and more established players such as Marco Fu boding well for the future of the sport in that part of the world.^[15][16]

The game

Snooker table with balls placed in their starting positions

Game in progress on a half-size table. A red ball about to be potted.

The object of the game is to score more points than the opponent by potting balls in a predefined order. At the start of a frame the balls are positioned as shown and the players take it in turns to hit a shot, their aim being to pot one of the red balls and score a point. If they do pot at least one red, then it remains in the pocket and they are allowed another shot - this time the aim being to pot one of the colours (points value, 2 points for the yellow, 3 for the green, 4 for the brown, 5 for the blue, 6 for the pink and 7 for the black). If successful, then they gain the value of the colour potted. It is returned to its correct position on the table and they must try to pot another red again. This process continues until they fail to pot the desired ball, at which point their opponent comes back to the table to play the next shot. The game continues in this manner until all the reds are potted and only the 6 colours are left on the table; at that point the aim is then to pot the colours in the above order. When a colour is potted in this phase of a frame, it remains off the table. When the final ball is potted, the frame is over and the player with the most points wins it.^[1]. A match where five frames would be the winner is called a 'best of nine', because that would be the maximum number frames that could be played.

Points may also be scored in a game when a player's opponent fouls. A foul can occur for numerous reasons, such as hitting a colour first when the player was attempting to hit a red, potting the cue ball, or failing to escape from "a snooker" (a situation where the previous player finished their turn leaving the cue ball in a position where the object ball cannot be hit directly). Points gained from a foul vary from 4-7.^[1]

One game, from the balls in their starting position until the last ball is potted, is called a frame. A match generally consists of a predefined number of frames and the player who wins the most frames wins the match overall. Most matches tend to consist of a relatively small number of frames, although longer matches exist to test all aspects of a player's game. The final of the World Championship, for example, is up to 35 frames in length (first to 18), and is played over two days.^[17]

Professional and competitive amateur matches are officiated by a referee who is the sole judge of fair play.

An extended spider, which can be used to bridge over balls obstructing a shot

Other terminology used in snooker includes a player's "break", which refers to the total number of consecutive points a player has amassed (excluding fouls) when at one visit to the table. A player attaining a break of 15, for example, could have reached it by potting a red then a black, then a red then a pink, before failing to pot the next red. The traditional maximum break in snooker is to pot all reds with blacks then all colours, which would yield 147 points; this is often known as a "147" or a "maximum".^[18] See also: Highest snooker breaks.

Video of a snooker break-off shot

Accessories used for snooker include chalk for the tip of the cue, rests (often needed due to the length of a full-size table), a triangle to rack the reds, and a scoreboard. The principal drawback of snooker on a full-size table is the size of the room (22 ft x 16 ft) required to hold the large table with adequate room for cueing on all sides.^[19] This limits the number of locations in which the game can easily be played. While pool tables are common to many pubs, snooker tends to be played either in private surroundings or in public snooker halls. The game can also be played on smaller tables using fewer red balls. The variants in table size are: 10' x 5', 9' x 4.5', 8' x 4', 6' x 3' (the smallest for realistic play) and 4' x 2'. Smaller tables can come in a variety of styles, such as fold away or dining-table convertible.

Governance and tournaments

Action from The Masters Tournament in 2007

Snooker tournaments

World Championship

Ranking tournaments

UK Championship

Grand Prix

Welsh Open

China Open

Shanghai Masters

Northern Ireland Trophy

Other tournaments

Masters

Premier League

Pot Black

Withdrawn tournaments

See: Snooker tournaments

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA, also known as World Snooker), founded in 1968 as the Professional Billiard Players' Association,^[20] is the governing body for the professional game. Its subsidiary, World Snooker, based in Bristol, England, organises the professional tour. Over the years the board of the WPBSA has changed many times, which some argue is an indication of in-fighting within the sport.^{[21] [22] [23]} The amateur game is governed by the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF).^[24]

Professional snooker players can play on the World Snooker ranking circuit. Ranking points, earned by players through their performances over the previous two seasons, determine the current world ranking.^[25] A player's ranking determines what level of qualification they require for ranking tournaments. The elite of professional snooker is generally regarded at the "Top 16" ranking players,^[26] who are not required to pre-qualify for any of the tournaments.^[27]

The most important event in professional snooker is the World Championship,^[28] held annually since 1927 (except during the Second World War and between 1958 and 1963). The tournament has been held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield (England) since 1977, and was sponsored by Embassy from 1976 to 2005.^[14] Since 2005, tobacco companies have not been allowed to sponsor sporting events in the United Kingdom, and the World Snooker Championship had to find a new sponsor. It was announced in January 2006 that the 2006–2010 world championships would be sponsored by online casino 888.com ^[29]. The status of winning the World Championship is great, and it is the most highly valued prize in professional snooker,^[30] both in terms of financial reward (£200,000 for the winner)^[31] as well as prestige. The World Championship is televised extensively in the UK by the BBC^[32] and gains significant coverage in Europe on Eurosport^[33] and in the Far East.

The group of tournaments that come next in importance are the ranking tournaments. Players in these tournaments score world ranking points. A high ranking ensures qualification for next year's tournaments, invitations to invitational tournaments and an advantageous draw in tournaments.^[26] . The most prestigious of these are the UK Championship and the Snooker Grand Prix. Third in line are the invitational tournaments, to which most of the highest ranked players are invited. The most important tournament in this category is The Masters,^[34] which to most players is the second or third most sought-after prize.^[35]

In an attempt to answer criticisms that televised matches can be slow or get bogged down in lengthy safety exchanges and that long matches causes problems for advertisers,^[36] an alternative series of timed tournaments has been organised by Matchroom Sport Chairman Barry Hearn. The shot-timed Betfred Premier League was established, with the top eight players in the world invited to compete at regular United Kingdom venues, televised on Sky Sports. Players have twenty-five seconds to take each shot, with a small number of time-outs per player. While some success has been achieved with this format it generally does not receive the same amount of press attention or status as the regular ranking tournaments.

There are also other tournaments that have less importance, do not earn world ranking points and are not televised. These can change on a year-to-year basis depending on calendars and sponsors. Currently the Pontin’s International Open Series^[37] is organised as one of these additional tournament series by World Snooker.

Notable players

In the professional era that began with Joe Davis in the 1930s and continues up until the present day, a relatively small number of players have succeeded at the top level.^[38] Reaching and maintaining a place amongst the snooker elite is a tough task, with the standards of the game being such that it requires many years of dedication and effort as well as natural ability.^[39]

Certain players have tended to dominate the sport through the decades. Ray Reardon is generally regarded as the principal player through the 1970s, Steve Davis through the 1980s and Stephen Hendry through the 1990s, winning 6, 6 and 7 World Championships respectively. Over the last ten years no one has dominated, with John Higgins, Mark Williams and Ronnie O'Sullivan each winning the title on two occasions.^[40]

References