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From: "Roy Stockdill" <>
Subject: Re: [YKS] Employment - Billiards
Date: Thu, 9 Jan 2003 13:46:33 +0000
In-Reply-To: <3E1D4105.4030601@oninet.pt>


Magdalena wrote.....

> American listers will be more familiar with the name used for billiards on "the
> other side of the big pond" - Pool.>

I must add to the messages from George and Ian, I'm afraid,
Magdalena. Billiards and Pool are not the same game at all. The
reason you are probably unfamiliar with billiards is that hardly
anybody plays it any more, which is a great shame since it is the
original game on which the others - Pool and Snooker - are based, and
is easily the most skilful of the three, in my humble opinion (and
when did you ever know my opinion to be humble!).

Here is a quick rundown of the three games.....

BILLIARDS is played with only three balls - two white balls, one of
which has a small black spot on it, and a red. One player plays with
the spotted white ball as his cue ball (i.e. he strikes it with the
cue) and the other uses the unspotted white. The aim of the game is
to score as many points as possible by 1) potting the red;
2) steering your own white cue ball into the pocket by going "in-off"
the red; 3) potting your opponent's white ball (not generally good
tactics, since it leaves you with only two balls in play); or 4) by
striking your cue ball so that it hits both the red ball and your
opponent's cue ball. This is known as a "cannon".

Billiards has been played since at least the 16th-17th centuries,
when it was a popular sport with the British and French royalty. It
is played on a larger table than pool. Its decline was partly due to
the great Australian billiards player WALTER LINDRUM (1898-1960),
whose skill was so extraordinary that he could keep the three balls
in play for hours, amassing thousands of points and not letting his
opponent get on the table. His great technique was to push the red
ball and his opponent's cue ball into a corner of the table in such a
way that they became wedged in the jaws of the pocket, and then
gently push his own cue ball against them countless times, scoring
cannon after cannon. Brilliant, but rather boring for the spectator!
Billiards has no particular target score or pre-determined end except
one agreed by the players in advance, i.e. the first to reach a
certain score (though the rules may have changed since I played it,
which is a good many years ago).

SNOOKER is played on the same size table as billiards but with a
white cue ball, 15 reds and 6 colours. The object is to pot all 15
reds, then each one has to be followed by a colour (the pro players
always try and make it the black, of course, which counts the highest
score), and then the colours in a pre-determined order, viz. yellow,
green, brown, blue, pink and black. The highest possible "break" in a
single session at the table is 147, which the top players achieve
with monotonous regularity. Snooker was apparently invented by
British Army officers in India in the 1870s who were bored with
billiards and pool. Snooker has been a major televised sport in
Britain and many other countries the world since the 1970s,
whereas you hardly ever see pool on television here. Snooker is very
popular in the Far East and there are an increasing number of
professionals coming into the game from that part of the world.

POOL - I presume I do not have to explain this game, which developed
principally in America. It only became popular in Britain, I suspect,
because it is played on a smaller table than snooker and pubs found
it much easier to install a pool table than a snooker table, due to
space considerations. It is played with larger balls, larger pockets
and larger cues than billiards or snooker and is, therefore, a much
simpler game which is probably why it appeals to Americans so much, I
expect! <v.b.g.> Having said that, I confess to playing pool
occasionally and being far better at it than I am at snooker (but, as
I said, it's a simpler game to play).

Hope this gives you a suitable rundown, Magdalena.

Roy Stockdill (Editor, Journal of One-Name Studies)
Guild of One-Name Studies:- www.one-name.org
Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History:- www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html

Never ask a man if he comes from Yorkshire. If he does he will tell you, if he does not why humiliate him? - Canon Sydney Smith

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