Enjoying And Playing The Game Of Billiards

By Connor Sullivan

Billiards is one of the most colorful indoor games. The emeraldtable with the colorful balls on it appears really eye-catching. Players also need pool cues to take part in this game. The multihued balls are also known as 'pool balls'; the reason being the pocket game in USA is commonly known as 'pool'.

The balls come in effervescent colors like blue, red, yellow, purple, orange, emerald, burgundy and few very appealing combination of balls. The combinations of balls include white and blue, white and orange, white and red, white and yellow and white and lilac. The colorful balls stand out really fantastic on the green-colored table. The weights of the balls also vary. Each ball has a number. self-hues balls are called 'solids' and the bi-colored balls are called 'stripes'. The numbering of the balls is done according to colors. The yellow balls are pointed as one, stripe balls having blue and white combination carry number ten while the arrangement of white and green balls has number fourteen. The balls have different names based on the colors. The name allotted to the white ball and the yellow ball or the white ball marked by a black dot is 'cue ball'. The white 'cue ball' is applied by the initial player while the yellow ball or the white dotted ball is applied by the second player. The balls for novice players are marked with target loops. The novice can examine the angle very wel where the ball or balls should be targeted. This is not needed for the expert players because they can judge the weight of the balls and strike the balls at accurate angles.

The balls are held in reserve in a ball rack when the game is not being played. In carom game the balls continue to remain on the table. While a competition of pocket goes on, the balls falling through the pockets are assembled through the duct to be replayed. Earlier, the balls were made from wood or clay and even ivory. But the ivory balls were not used by the general players as they were very expensive. Nowadays, best quality polyester and acrylic or Phenolin resin are used to make the balls. The balls can bear hard shots and they do not break off or crack.

The most common game is the 8-ball game. It has gained such a high fame that to a novice a game means 8-ball game. Actually, it is one of the many games played. The games have two broad divisions carom sport and pocket sport. The carom game is played on pool boards without pockets. Three balls are essential in this type of game. Here the player tries to steer his cue ball in such a way so that he could 'carom off' his opponent's balls, as per demand of the game. Pocketmatch is played on a six-pocketed table. In this game, as per the regulations of the game, the players aspire to pocket the balls into the pockets of the pool board.

Cue poolgames have quite a few varieties, like snooker, 8-ball pool- one pocket, 9-ball pool etc. The basic requirements are the same, but the rules, objectives and even the terminology of each is different. It is a highly fascinating and demanding indoor game and needs a lot of endurance. People, who like to play indoor games, should certainly try out any one of the variations. - 31485

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