The Billiards Table

Bars and recreation venues in rural or urban areas offer to their visitors the excitement and the sportsmanship of a famous table-played game, called pool or billiard. On the billiards table's totally flat surface, pool game fans strike, with the use of a specially designed long wooden stick known as "cue stick," colorful balls moving them around the table's area. Pool games attract a variety of publics from around the world, who enjoy the exhilaration of calculating angles and estimating how many strikes it will take them to accomplish their winning goal.

Pool tables are mainly separated into two categories, called carom and pocket tables. In fact, the word "billiards" when standing alone refers to the carom games played on a table without pockets, as opposed to games played on pocket billiards which people recognize as "pools" or also known as "snooker" tables. In Britain and Ireland though, the word "billiards" denotes the "English billiard" exclusively, which is the version of the table with the ball pockets. The difference between the two types is that carom billiards tables do not have six openings -four at each table corner and two at the middle of each of the table's largest sides- in which the pool player is called to direct the colorful balls on the surface of the table by striking each one of them, or more than one at a time, with a white ball. The white ball acts as the "mediator" between the cue stick's point and the round surface of the colored ball the striker aims to hit. If the striker manages to hit the white ball with the right speed and from the right angle then it will in turn hit the colored one which will be directed to fall into one of the tables' holes. Pool table fans generally refer to pocket billiard games, such as 8-ball, 9-ball, straight pool and one-pocket.

Found in many sizes and styles, billiards or pools are tables in a rectangular shape and are generally twice as long as they are wide. When someone refers to the number of a pool table's foots this actually denotes its longer sides' length. Mainly a function of space, the pool table's length varies. English billiard tables, for example, are 12 feet long, while bars typically offer 7-foot tables. Pool halls tend to have 9-foot tables for more professional players, whereas the once commonly found 10-foot tables are now considered collectible items. Finally, the "felt" or "baize" is the cloth that covers the pool table's exposed surface and he higher its quality the faster the balls run on its completely flat surface.

While the world "billiard" has presumably originated from the French word "billart," which means "mace"-an implement that was the predecessor of the modern cue-the game did not remain constricted in Europe. Evolving from an outdoor to an indoor game, billiard became known as "pool," which originates from "poolrooms" where people gambled off their money betting on horse races. Since billiard tables were commonly found in this type of venues, pools became a synonym of billiards and gained fanatic supporters in every continent.

Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles on many topics including Games, Sports, and Recreation

Bumper Pool Tables

Bumper Pool Tables are used for playing bumper pool, a daily entertainment game played by two to four players. These tables are half the size of a standard pool table and they are rectangular or octagonal in shape.

A bumper pool table has only two pockets or holes where as a standard pool table holds around six holes. The table has 12 bumpers on the table and hence the name. Four of them are situated near the pocket with two each, at the extreme end of the table. The remaining eight bumpers are situated around the middle portion of the table. The bumpers act as a defense mechanism for the player while the opponent tries to bank the ball into the pocket. Bumper pool table has five balls, red and white, for each player,

Bumper Pool Tables are available in a variety of sizes ranging from 48 inches to 54 inches, the most commonly available size is 54 inches by 30 inches. These tables are often made from a combination of solids and veneers, or from fine hardwood. The top playing surface is often covered with green felt fabric over a wood or slate base. Most bumper pool tables have elegantly carved legs, aprons and base.

The bumper pool table serves as a great substitute for a billiard table and can be accommodated even in limited space. They are available as multi-functional bumper pool tables that can be converted into a dining table or card table. The tables come along with balls, brush, chalk and two cues.

Today, the toughest and the most durable bumper pool tables are made by Game Craft. Some tables have leg levelers which enables the player to adjust the height from 26 to 30 inches. Imperial Non-Slate Bumper Pool Table is considered as the most inexpensive one. You may have to pay at least $500 for a good quality versatile bumper pool table and for a multi-purpose table the price can go up to $2500.

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