Billiards – More Than 8-ball Pool
Josephine Thunder asked:
8-ball is the most popular billiard game in the world. It is so popular, that 8-ball pool is almost a synonym for billiards. However, 8-ball is only a part of a one big happy family of billiard games.
8-ball pool, 9-ball pool, snooker, one pocket, balkline are all cue sports games. They all share a rectangular cloth-covered table, a long cue stick, a set of balls and an ambition to score, but they differ in their rules, objects, and even their terminology.
Generally, billiard games divide into two types: pocket billiard games and carom billiard games. Pocket billiard games, usually referred to as pool games, are the type of billiard played on a table that has six pockets. In pocket billiard games, the players aspire to sink the balls into the table pockets, according to specific games rules.
Carom billiard games, on the other hand, are played on pocketless tables. Only three billiard balls are involved in the carom games. The purpose of the players in most carom games is to maneuver their cue ball so it will carom off the other two balls, again, according to the specific requirements of the game.
8-ball pool is a pocket billiard game. Other popular pocket billiard games include 9-ball pool, 14.1 continuous (formerly known as straight pool) and even snooker. Snooker is the most popular cue sports in the UK. Even though snooker is played on a pocketed pool table, it is not governed by the same association that administrates pocket billiard rules. Therefore, pocket billiard general rules do not apply to snooker.
The equipment used in snooker games is also different from the one used in pocket billiard tournaments. For example, the snooker table is a bit larger than the standard pool table plus its pockets are narrower. The terminology used in both billiard games is different as well. While pool players’ goal is to “pocket” the “object balls”, snooker players aim to “pot” the “red” or the “on-ball”.
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8-ball is the most popular billiard game in the world. It is so popular, that 8-ball pool is almost a synonym for billiards. However, 8-ball is only a part of a one big happy family of billiard games.
8-ball pool, 9-ball pool, snooker, one pocket, balkline are all cue sports games. They all share a rectangular cloth-covered table, a long cue stick, a set of balls and an ambition to score, but they differ in their rules, objects, and even their terminology.
Generally, billiard games divide into two types: pocket billiard games and carom billiard games. Pocket billiard games, usually referred to as pool games, are the type of billiard played on a table that has six pockets. In pocket billiard games, the players aspire to sink the balls into the table pockets, according to specific games rules.
Carom billiard games, on the other hand, are played on pocketless tables. Only three billiard balls are involved in the carom games. The purpose of the players in most carom games is to maneuver their cue ball so it will carom off the other two balls, again, according to the specific requirements of the game.
8-ball pool is a pocket billiard game. Other popular pocket billiard games include 9-ball pool, 14.1 continuous (formerly known as straight pool) and even snooker. Snooker is the most popular cue sports in the UK. Even though snooker is played on a pocketed pool table, it is not governed by the same association that administrates pocket billiard rules. Therefore, pocket billiard general rules do not apply to snooker.
The equipment used in snooker games is also different from the one used in pocket billiard tournaments. For example, the snooker table is a bit larger than the standard pool table plus its pockets are narrower. The terminology used in both billiard games is different as well. While pool players’ goal is to “pocket” the “object balls”, snooker players aim to “pot” the “red” or the “on-ball”.
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Poolstars Player Pots Wsop Main Event Seat
Natalie Sky asked:
Qualifying for a Poker tournament in an online freeroll is not unusual – but Patrick Smolenaers qualified for the WSOP main event without even looking at a card.
Patrick beat a number of hopefuls in an online pool tournament at PoolStars.com – a new online pool site – with the prize for winning a seat at the main event in Las Vegas.
“There were some online qualifying tournaments at PoolStars in which eight players came through,” said Patrick. “We all played in a final tournament and in the end I won the tournament to win the seat at the WSOP Main Event.”
Smolenaers had to beat top Dutch pool player Nick van den Berg en-route to victory, and said even though his pool was better than his poker, he would give it his best shot. “I’ve played for a few years so I think I can give some lads a real hard time,” promised Patrick. “I’m going to try to make it through day one and then I’ll shift up a gear.”
Patrick also got the opportunity to play pool against Steve Davis, the six-timer World Snooker Champion and Mosconi Cup Pool player, before taking to the Poker table. Davis is an ambassador for PoolStars, the online pool community which is the brainchild of Poker legend Tony G.
“It’s the online equivalent of a poker room, with the ability to play each other over the internet,” Davis explains about PoolStars. “At the moment you don’t play for money but for prizes but eventually you will be able to play for cash.”
Unlike most pool games that you can find on the Playstation or Xbox, there are no cheat lines to help you so it’s tough – really difficult,” said Davis. “It’s a three-dimensional virtual pool game so you have to get used to the perspective of the table. I understand the mechanics of the game which definitely comes into the equation, so if a lot of good pool players played on PoolStars, they would rise to the top because they understand the physics of the game.”
While Patrick mastered the online pool table, he failed to make it beyond the first day at the poker equivalent, finding himself all-in with QQ against AK, with a King on the river busting him out. Davis fared better though, cashing to the tune of $28,950 after making it to Day 4 and finishing in 389th place.
PoolStars is an easy to use set of software – and a great site designed with your ease and fun in mind.
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Qualifying for a Poker tournament in an online freeroll is not unusual – but Patrick Smolenaers qualified for the WSOP main event without even looking at a card.
Patrick beat a number of hopefuls in an online pool tournament at PoolStars.com – a new online pool site – with the prize for winning a seat at the main event in Las Vegas.
“There were some online qualifying tournaments at PoolStars in which eight players came through,” said Patrick. “We all played in a final tournament and in the end I won the tournament to win the seat at the WSOP Main Event.”
Smolenaers had to beat top Dutch pool player Nick van den Berg en-route to victory, and said even though his pool was better than his poker, he would give it his best shot. “I’ve played for a few years so I think I can give some lads a real hard time,” promised Patrick. “I’m going to try to make it through day one and then I’ll shift up a gear.”
Patrick also got the opportunity to play pool against Steve Davis, the six-timer World Snooker Champion and Mosconi Cup Pool player, before taking to the Poker table. Davis is an ambassador for PoolStars, the online pool community which is the brainchild of Poker legend Tony G.
“It’s the online equivalent of a poker room, with the ability to play each other over the internet,” Davis explains about PoolStars. “At the moment you don’t play for money but for prizes but eventually you will be able to play for cash.”
Unlike most pool games that you can find on the Playstation or Xbox, there are no cheat lines to help you so it’s tough – really difficult,” said Davis. “It’s a three-dimensional virtual pool game so you have to get used to the perspective of the table. I understand the mechanics of the game which definitely comes into the equation, so if a lot of good pool players played on PoolStars, they would rise to the top because they understand the physics of the game.”
While Patrick mastered the online pool table, he failed to make it beyond the first day at the poker equivalent, finding himself all-in with QQ against AK, with a King on the river busting him out. Davis fared better though, cashing to the tune of $28,950 after making it to Day 4 and finishing in 389th place.
PoolStars is an easy to use set of software – and a great site designed with your ease and fun in mind.
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American Pool is an Incredible Sport, Yet it is not Catching on in the Uk?
Pete Williams asked:
American Pool, which is played on a 9 x 4.5ft table, consists of at least 5 regularly played disciplines. The most popular are the games of 9-ball and 8-ball and these games are played all over the world at an amateur and professional level.
The American style tables first started being put into UK clubs in the early 90’s when operators could see the benefit of offering cue sports for all. These tables are easy to play on and take up far less space than snooker tables.
The lack of popularity of American Pool in the UK is caused in part by conservatism, snooker and English pool are both very traditional sports and at a tournament and professional level are played in very traditional ways. Players wear suits, waistcoats and dickey-bow ties. American Pool is very liberal; players do have to adhere to a dress code but this is not so strict. Audiences tend to be a lot more vocal too!
The next point that I touch on is that there are over 5 million snooker and English pool players in the UK. In the case of English pool, it is always going to be very difficult to convert a player to the larger tables because their local pub can’t house a 9ft pool table. This is the case for the vast majority of public houses throughout the UK. The main player base does not want to travel to a pool hall and pay £7-£8 per hour to play a game of pool when they can go around the corner to their local pub and pay 50p per game. Not that it is all about money, it is convenience too. That is not to say that these “pub pool” players do not enjoy American Pool, I am sure they do, it is just seen as a night out for them and something that only happens rarely.
We then have to consider the impact of television and media coverage of Cue Sports. Snooker commands huge television audiences from its broadcasts on the BBC. The BBC is accessible in nearly every home in the UK, which means that anyone can tune in to watch if they want to. By having the game easily accessible on the TV networks people get a buzz for the sport and want to go and play themselves. This is especially prevalent considering the large sums of money that the professional players receive for winning a tournament. Who would not be attracted to that aspect of the sport?
In contrast American pool is only available via the SKY Sports network (although some is now reaching British Eurosport) and is shown at very inconvenient times. I am not sure of the number of homes that subscribe to SKY Sports but it is probably only about one tenth of the total number of households that can view the BBC. Of these 10% the majority are subscribing to watch the football not the pool. So it all comes down to promotion and exposure. Without reaching the mass market via terrestrial TV American pool will not develop and although English pool does not have the exposure either it is accessible due to the number of tables available in local pubs.
Something that I touched on earlier that further cements the case is prize money. A sport is only attractive to TV audiences (in the first instance) if players are seen to be earning huge sums of money or if the TV networks can see that there is already a mass market. In snooker this has previously been the case (more recently prize funds have dwindled but they still are into the £100,000’s), which is why young people especially want to take up the sport, it is relatively cheap to play and if you get good then you can earn some money playing the game.
In American Pool prize funds in the vast majority of cases are made up solely of entry fees. This means that it can be expensive to play with no real rewards for winning. Even in the USA and on the main professional circuits, sponsorship in the form of added prize money is at a premium. It is not very attractive to players if they cannot be seen to be making a living. I don’t want to paint a completely bleak picture because there are around 30-40 players that earn a very decent living through tournaments and endorsements.
So in conclusion it is easy to see that until the exposure of the sport changes and sponsors come on board the sport will not grow in the UK and our cueists (who I believe to be the best in the world) will stick to what they know.
The game also needs a grassroots level, which is something I tried to introduce when I launched APN Leagues (now owned and operated by a different party). It is grassroots tournaments, coaching and leagues that will build the player base in the first instance, then all the other factors mentioned above will almost fall into place.
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American Pool, which is played on a 9 x 4.5ft table, consists of at least 5 regularly played disciplines. The most popular are the games of 9-ball and 8-ball and these games are played all over the world at an amateur and professional level.
The American style tables first started being put into UK clubs in the early 90’s when operators could see the benefit of offering cue sports for all. These tables are easy to play on and take up far less space than snooker tables.
The lack of popularity of American Pool in the UK is caused in part by conservatism, snooker and English pool are both very traditional sports and at a tournament and professional level are played in very traditional ways. Players wear suits, waistcoats and dickey-bow ties. American Pool is very liberal; players do have to adhere to a dress code but this is not so strict. Audiences tend to be a lot more vocal too!
The next point that I touch on is that there are over 5 million snooker and English pool players in the UK. In the case of English pool, it is always going to be very difficult to convert a player to the larger tables because their local pub can’t house a 9ft pool table. This is the case for the vast majority of public houses throughout the UK. The main player base does not want to travel to a pool hall and pay £7-£8 per hour to play a game of pool when they can go around the corner to their local pub and pay 50p per game. Not that it is all about money, it is convenience too. That is not to say that these “pub pool” players do not enjoy American Pool, I am sure they do, it is just seen as a night out for them and something that only happens rarely.
We then have to consider the impact of television and media coverage of Cue Sports. Snooker commands huge television audiences from its broadcasts on the BBC. The BBC is accessible in nearly every home in the UK, which means that anyone can tune in to watch if they want to. By having the game easily accessible on the TV networks people get a buzz for the sport and want to go and play themselves. This is especially prevalent considering the large sums of money that the professional players receive for winning a tournament. Who would not be attracted to that aspect of the sport?
In contrast American pool is only available via the SKY Sports network (although some is now reaching British Eurosport) and is shown at very inconvenient times. I am not sure of the number of homes that subscribe to SKY Sports but it is probably only about one tenth of the total number of households that can view the BBC. Of these 10% the majority are subscribing to watch the football not the pool. So it all comes down to promotion and exposure. Without reaching the mass market via terrestrial TV American pool will not develop and although English pool does not have the exposure either it is accessible due to the number of tables available in local pubs.
Something that I touched on earlier that further cements the case is prize money. A sport is only attractive to TV audiences (in the first instance) if players are seen to be earning huge sums of money or if the TV networks can see that there is already a mass market. In snooker this has previously been the case (more recently prize funds have dwindled but they still are into the £100,000’s), which is why young people especially want to take up the sport, it is relatively cheap to play and if you get good then you can earn some money playing the game.
In American Pool prize funds in the vast majority of cases are made up solely of entry fees. This means that it can be expensive to play with no real rewards for winning. Even in the USA and on the main professional circuits, sponsorship in the form of added prize money is at a premium. It is not very attractive to players if they cannot be seen to be making a living. I don’t want to paint a completely bleak picture because there are around 30-40 players that earn a very decent living through tournaments and endorsements.
So in conclusion it is easy to see that until the exposure of the sport changes and sponsors come on board the sport will not grow in the UK and our cueists (who I believe to be the best in the world) will stick to what they know.
The game also needs a grassroots level, which is something I tried to introduce when I launched APN Leagues (now owned and operated by a different party). It is grassroots tournaments, coaching and leagues that will build the player base in the first instance, then all the other factors mentioned above will almost fall into place.
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