Let me explain the game of Billiards

Billiards is a game you can play on a snooker table - but, arguably, it's much easier and more fun than snooker itself. Eight-ball billiards, especially, is one of those games that you can just pick up and play with only a little explanation, and you can often find tables for it in pubs and bars.

Eight-ball billiards is actually played with 16 balls: one white cue ball, seven solid-coloured balls (numbers 1 to 7), seven striped balls (numbers 9 to 15) and one black ball. The name of the game comes from the fact that the black ball is the most important ball, and its number is 8 - making it the eight-ball.

To start the game, you and your opponent both hit a ball as hard as you can to the other end of the table. Whoever's ball goes the furthest gets the first go and so gets to pick whether they want the solid balls or the striped balls. The players then take it in turns to pocket their balls in number order, lowest to highest. If you pocket a ball, you get an extra turn, but if you miss, or hit or pocket the wrong ball (including the white), it's a foul, and you miss a turn.

Once one player has pocketed all their balls, they get to shoot for the eight-ball. This is a very tense shot, as putting it in will win you the game, while missing gives your opponent a chance to catch up. Also, there's one final twist: if you pocket the eight-ball without first pocketing all your striped or solid balls, you lose the game on the spot! Harsh, yes; frustrating, yes - but also very entertaining at times.

As long as you're careful to play against someone who is as new as you, you should have a good time - although you might want to go at a quiet time, as better players might find it frustrating to watch beginners play so slowly on their table. Have fun playing billiards!

John Gibb is the owner of billiards information , For more information on billiards please check out http://www.billiards-did-you-know.info