The History Of Billiards

The modern incarnation of billiards may look something like this: Walking through a smoke-filled bar to reach a room crammed with pool tables and filled with even denser smoke. The rather unsavory crowd barely acknowledges your presence, and you wonder once again why billiards has for so long been called the "noble game?"

Although your local billiards hall may not look like a gathering of royalty, the
billiards games of yesteryear did. As long ago as the 1600s there are records of billiards being played by British royalty, though the game barely resembled what is played today. Billiards, which moved from a popular lawn game to its final indoor model, was mentioned in William Shakespeare?s play Antony and Cleopatra.

After the industrial revolution provided better game equipment in the 1800s, billiards began to make its way into the USA. The term ?English? that is used in reference to the spin put on a ball was a term used by the Americans at the time who observed the way the English shot the ball and mastered the game. There are a few reports of the game being played in the USA long before the 1800s. Some reports indicate St. Augustine brought the game in 1580 and others state that George Washington won a game around 1748. However it was not until the 1800s that parlors opened with billiards being the central activity.

The popularity of billiards in the United States was perhaps enhanced most by Michael Phelan. He created a standardized set of rules, and through his long beloved newspaper column, he created the demand for the new sport. Phelan and his colleagues eventually formed the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company which controlled the form, design, and expansion of the game of billiards in the USA.

So, the next time you descend into your local pool hall or the latest billiards tournament in the local bowling alley, don?t forget to honor the noble history of billiards. Remember that the game you just won has added to the illustrious history of billiards, or that the game you just lost was similarly lost by much more accomplished people than you--in a different era. Kings and Presidents have similarly won and lost at billiards, though they probably were able to drown their sorrows with something better than cheap beer and mozzarella sticks. Have a swig in memory of the royal history of the "noble game."

William Jones contributes to several web magazines, on recreation and sport and home and garden issues.

Eight Ball Billiards

The game that began as a nobleman's sport has evolved into a barroom staple. But make no mistake the game of billiards, and each of its offspring, still retains that noble spirit.

While proper billiards is rarely found in average clubs, a number of game variations have become popular with the pub and club set. One of the most popular tournament-style billiards games is "eight ball". In eight ball billiards, one set of numbered balls is split between two players. One players shoots for balls 1-7 (also called "solids" or "low balls") and the other plays balls 9-15 ("stripes" or "high balls"). The first player to pocket all of his or her balls, and then legally pocket the eight (black) ball, is declared the winner.

Eight ball is an easy game with very few regulations. There are however, a few rules to keep in mind:

* When calling shots in this eight ball billiards, it is not necessary to indicate the pocket and ball when the shot is clear. If attempting a bank or combination shot however, you must declare your intention before proceeding to shoot.

* If the ball you are shooting jumps off the table, the shot is considered foul. At this time you can choose to accept the table and take a shot, or shoot again with the cue ball placed behind the head string.

* On your turn, your shot is only legal if it hits a group of your own billiard balls and either pocket a numbered ball, or cause a numbered ball or the cue ball to end up in a pocket. This does not apply to shots declared "open", or to break shots.

* After a break shot, if no ball was pocketed and no group of balls determined, the table is still considered to be open. In other words, if a player breaks and sunk neither stripes nor solids, the table remains open.

* A game may be acknowledged as a stalemate when six turns (three for each player) are taken consecutively and the next shot will result in the loss of the game. At this point, the game is re-racked, and the original breaker takes the break shot again.

Consult an official rulebook for a more concise description of all the rules to eight ball. To play a successful game you must be willing to learn and follow the rules, and retain the noble spirit of billiards.
Jennifer Brown writes for several web sites, on sports and recreation and recreation and hobbies subjects.

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