Billiards FAQs

Billiards is a fast growing leisure sport played on a billiard table, with a stick known as cue stick, usually 58 inches in length, and weighing 18 to 21 ounces. The cue stick is used to hit the balls, moving around the table.

1. What are the benefits of playing billiards? Billiards is a game that increases eye-hand coordination, focus and concentration, and even practical application of physics and geometry.

2. What are the essential equipment required for billiards? Balls, rack, table, cues, mechanical bridge, scoreboard, mirror lights, dart boards, and chalk.

3. What is the standard size of a billiard table? Billiard tables are available in four basic sizes. They are 7 foot (39 inches by 78 inches), 8 foot (44 inches by 88 inches), oversized 8 foot (46 inches by 92 inches) and 9 foot tables (50 inches by 100 inches). These names refer to the interior playfield dimensions.

4. What are cue balls? In billiards, cue balls are the balls that a player strikes with the cue stick. These are made from ivory, wood, and various synthetic materials. Today, phenolic resin is also used for manufacturing these balls.

5. What is Billiards chalk? Billiards chalk is one of the most important accessories in billiards used to reduce the friction between the cue shaft and the bridge hand caused by perspiration.

6. What are the essentials needed to decorate the billiards room? Billiard clocks, posters, billiard signs, CD holders, movie stills, sports figurines, wall art, decorative furniture and cabinets, chalkboards, and pool table lights.

7. What is the difference between pool and billiards? In pool, there are 16 balls including one black, one white, seven red, and seven yellow. Billiards involves only three balls: one red, one black, and one white.

8. What is the Billiard Congress of America (BCA)? Billiard Congress of America is a national nonprofit organization located in Colorado. It is the governing body that controls the billiard industry.

Billiards provides detailed information on Billiards, History of Billiards, Rules of Billiards, Billiards Supplies and more. Billiards is affiliated with Pool Tables for Sale .

Billiards - You'd Be Surprised What You'll Find

Billiards. There was a time when if you looked up billiards on the Internet you'd find instruction on how to play the game and the different variations of billiards that there are but today, that is no longer true. Today, if you look up the word billiards on a search engine you will find mostly, the following:

Billiards and the chaos theory. You will be amazed at how many articles you will find on this science. Chaos theory, in a nutshell, is the study of unpredictable and complex dynamic systems that are highly sensitive to small changes in external conditions, at least according to Webster's definition. So what exactly does that mean and what does it have to do with billiards?

Chaos theory as it applies to billiards is basically the theory, and this is simplified of course, that when you strike the cue ball with the cue stick and it gets sent hurtling towards the rack of balls, once it hits those balls they will react in a random pattern rather than is a predictable one. There is something, of course, to be said for chaos theory as it applies to billiards. If you've played the game and are any good at it you are sure to notice that you can hit the first ball in the rack in the same place with the same force and yet it seems that each time you do so the balls in the rack react in a different way. Strong supporters of the angle of reflection equals angle of incidence theory will of course argue this, saying that we never can really hit the lead ball in the same place with the same force more than once because we are human and fallible. This argument is likely to go on for a long time.

The point however is you would be amazed at the number of articles about billiards and chaos theory.

The other main thing you will find when doing a search on billiards is billiards simulations. not just with actual games but web sites with vector designs and square shapes with coordinates that you can plug in and visually see the path of the billiard ball after it is struck by the cue stick. For those of you who are mathematically adept you can change a number of the factors in these simulations such as the number of sides on the table itself. You can have as few as 3, as in a triangle, and in some programs as many as 10 sides for your billiards table. Of course you can also plug in your standard 4 sided table.

Other variables you can change are x and y coordinate values, x and y vector values, the speed of the ball and the number of iterations, meaning how many times the ball will bounce around the table until you wish it to stop.

Then of course there are the actual billiard simulation games themselves which are very realistic these days. As to what theory they are programmed from, that is anybody's guess.

Yes, looking up billiards on the Internet will find you some strange stuff. Want to actually learn about the game and how to play it?

Just type in "billiards instruction" and ignore the results that somehow creep their way in from the other categories.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Billiards

Snooker Tables And Pool Tables Which One Should You Get

So you fancy yourself as a Ronnie O'Sullivan. You have room for a snooker or pool table. Which one do you choose?

Remember a billiard, pool or snooker table is a piece of furniture. If you opt for a fold away table it doesn't much matter, which you choose, as it folds away after use. In that case go for a functional table with as many features as you can afford, such as ball return etc. For a permanent table look for the same things you would look for in any piece of furniture as you are going to have to look at it all the time. Then consider the quality of playing the game on the table. Make sure it fits your idea of fine decor, as a good table will last for many years. Generally speaking for a good permanent table look for quality construction viz: a slate bed and responsive cushions. As usual you get what you pay for, so get the best you can afford.

The colour of the cloth, which is made of wool, is up to you, generally the cloth comes in red, green and blue. The only thing to worry about here is whether the balls show up against the colour. Green is the traditional and safest colour to choose. The cloth should be kept clean and you can get treatments to extend its life.

UK Pool tables come in various sizes; a full size English pool table is generally thought of as a 7 ft table, whereas a full size snooker table is a 12 ft beast for which you need a considerable amount of room. We have a room size guide on the site to enable you to gauge which size of table you can fit into your games room.

American pool tables are generally larger at 9 foot, also they have larger balls than snooker as well as larger pockets and require the larger tipped cues to play the game with. The American game is getting more popular in the UK.

How about an outdoor pool table or snooker table? These tables are pressure treated wood for weatherproofing, or fibre glass frames with specially treated waterproof cloth. The wooden tables are coloured to match your decking, either green or brown, and all outdoor pool tables come with a cover for the winter, so you could leave it outdoors in the winter. The wooden outdoor tables can be marked out for Snooker or Pool, and we have tables in various sizes from 6 foot to 8 ft. Just imagine, having a barbecue and pool tournament outside on your decking in the summer, sounds great to me Did you know we supplied the pool table for Russell on Big Brothers Little Brother?

Contact Steve Porter for more insights into this topic. Direct line: (44) 1562-777000 Email: steve@snookerbilliardspool.co.uk Other helpful information regarding snooker and pool tables can be found at: http://www.snookerbilliardspool.co.uk.

Contact Information: Steve Porter

Phone : 01562 777000 Fax : 01562 777001 http://www.snookerbilliardspool.co.uk

Your Table Is A Pool Table

Pocket Billiards tables, sometimes simply called pool tables, are great for an evening out with friends and an exciting new hobby for amateur fans. If you have long been searching for your next sophisticated game and chess is not an option anymore, perhaps you should consider playing a game of pool and check out yourself how strategy, creativity and determination can be combined. Owning or renting one for a few hours, the pool table can indeed be one of those addictions nobody will advise you to drop.

If your basement or living room is spacious enough to accommodate a 7-feet, 8-feet, or 9-feet pool you will soon be able to admire how ingenious such an investment can be. Since it can be easily hidden under flat hardwood table-top surfaces, a pool table can become a multidimensional, exciting dinner table, which you can first use to entertain people by displaying some of your best cooking recipes and later enhance their evening by inviting them to a friendly straight pool competition. If the cost of a pool table exceeds your current financial budget, or if space is not an option either, then initiating a pool game night out with friends, once a month, can be your fun and creative get-together experience. For what its worth, holding a cue, using a chalk to sharpen its end, and most importantly, strike a ball, can certainly get you into a much better mood than sitting around the house watching television or surfing the Net boring yourself to death.

Your selection of a pool table depends on your choice of billiard game. If you prefer the carom instead from the pocket type of game, then your table will not have the six holes found in a pocket type of pool. But if you are an 8-ball, 9-ball, one-pocket, bank pool, or snooker fun, then the pocket pool table seems like an obvious choice. Whichever the table you will purchase or rent, the fact still remains that pool or billiard, is a totally unique experience you have to try at least once in your life.

If, and when, you will select to go with the privately owned pool table option, be sure to get the longest possible service guarantee from your prospective pool table's manufacturer and do not forget to buy pool cues (sticks). Offered in a great selection, for beginners to professional players, cues are one of those necessary accessories you will need to "pull it off" with a pool game. In addition, pool balls, a rack to organize the billiard balls on the table's surface, some specially designed rectangular-shaped blue chalks, a mechanical bridge -used to extend a player's reach on a shot where the cue ball is too far away for normal hand bridging- are some of the things you will need to experience a pool game in full extent. John Gibb is the owner of pool table resources , For more information on pool tables check out http://www.pool-tables-resources2k.info