The following is a glossary of traditional English-language terms used in the three overarching cue sports disciplines: carom billiards referring to the various carom games played on a billiard table without pockets ; pool , which denotes a host of games played on a table with six pockets; and snooker , played on a large pocket table, and which has a sport culture unto itself distinct from pool. There are also games such as English billiards that include aspects of multiple disciplines.
38-660: The Euro Tour is a series of professional pool events set around Europe , founded in 1992, and created by the European Pocket Billiard Federation . The Tour's first event was the Belgium Open , held on 29–31 May 1992. The event was won by Mika Immonen . As of 2024, the Euro Tour has hosted 187 tournaments, currently in the discipline of 9-Ball, hosting between 1 and 6 events per year, since 2010. Pool (billiards) Pool
76-751: A diameter of 2.25 inches (57 mm), plus or minus 0.005 inches (0.13 mm). Modern coin-operated pool tables generally use one of three methods to distinguish and return the cue ball to the front of the table while the numbered balls return to an inaccessible receptacle until paid for again: the cue ball is larger and heavier than the other balls, or denser and heavier, or has a magnetic core. Modern cue sticks are generally 58.5 inches (148.6 cm) long for pool while cues prior to 1980 were designed for straight pool and had an average length of 57.5 inches (146.1 cm). By comparison, carom billiards cues are generally shorter with larger tips, and snooker cues longer with smaller tips. These are games descended from
114-432: A live chicken, and the person who successfully hit the chicken first would win the pooled money. Alternatively the term could derive from the verb to pool in the sense of combining objects or stakes. The oldest use of the word "pool" to describe a billiards-like game was made in 1797 in a Virginia newspaper. The OED defines it as generally "any of various types of billiards for two or more players" but goes on to note that
152-422: A particular game's rules for which a set penalty is imposed. In many pool games the penalty for a foul is ball-in-hand anywhere on the table for the opponent. In some games such as straight pool, a foul results in a loss of one or more points. In one-pocket, in which a set number of balls must be made in a specific pocket, upon a foul the player must return a ball to the table. In some games, three successive fouls in
190-449: A row is a loss of game. In straight pool, a third successive foul results in a loss of 16 points (15 plus one for the foul). Possible foul situations (non-exhaustive): Also free shot . A situation where a player has fouled , leaving the opponent snookered . In UK eight-ball this would normally give the opponent the option of one of two plays: (1) ball-in-hand with two shots ; (2) being allowed to contact, or even pot ,
228-400: A set number of shots of varying difficulty. Cowboy pool and bottle pool are games involving only a few balls which are placed at specific spots on the table. Elements of their games go back to the eighteenth century before balls needed to be racked. Bottle pool shares traits with pin billiards games such as Danish pin billiards . Cowboy pool is a descendant of English billiards . Kaisa
266-423: A slight modification of continuous pool , another offshoot of fifteen-ball pool. The shooter may attempt to shoot at any object ball on the table. The goal is to reach a set number of points determined by agreement before the game. One point is scored for each object ball pocketed where no foul is made. A typical game might require a player to score 100 points to win. In professional competition, straight pool
304-468: Is a series of cue sports played on a billiard table . The table has six pockets along the rails , into which balls are shot. Of the many different pool games, the most popular include: eight-ball , blackball , nine-ball , ten-ball , seven-ball , straight pool , one-pocket , and bank pool . Eight-ball is the most frequently played discipline of pool, and it is often thought of as synonymous with "pool". The generic term pocket billiards
342-846: Is a similar game played with different equipment. As a competitive sport, pool is governed internationally by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), which has multi-national, regional affiliates comprising the All Africa Pool Association (AAPA), Asian Pocket Billiard Union (APBU, including the Middle East), Billiard Congress of America (BCA, Canada and the US), Confederación Panamericana de Billar (CPB, Latin America and Caribbean), European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF, including Russia and
380-542: Is a strategic game for two players in which each player is assigned one of the corner pockets on the table. This is the only pocket into which that player can legally pocket balls. The first player to pocket the majority of the balls (8) into their pocket wins the game. The game requires far more defensive strategy than offensive strategy, much unlike eight-ball, nine-ball, or straight pool. Most times, accomplished players choose to position balls near their pocket instead of trying to actually pocket them. This allows them to control
418-637: Is a surviving member of this group of games. The second and more influential game was pyramid pool . By 1850 a variant called fifteen-ball pool became popular. Both games were supplanted by continuous pool in 1888, the immediate forerunner of straight pool (1910). New games introduced at the turn of the 20th century include Kelly pool and eight-ball . The distinctive appearance of pool balls with their many colors and division between solid and striped balls came about by 1889. Prior to this, object balls were uniformly deep-red and differentiated only by numbers. English pyramid pool and life pool players were
SECTION 10
#1732793890447456-421: Is sometimes also used, and favored by some pool-industry bodies, but is technically a broader classification, including games such as snooker , Russian pyramid , and kaisa , which are not referred to as pool games. There are also hybrid games combining aspects of both pool and carom billiards , such as American four-ball billiards , bottle pool , cowboy pool , and English billiards . The etymology of "pool"
494-440: Is the most popular and the predominant professional game with ten-ball as the second-most prominent. There are many local and regional tours and tournaments that are contested with nine-ball. The World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) publishes the world standardized rules. The European professional circuit has instituted rules changes to make it more difficult to achieve a legal break shot. The largest nine-ball tournaments are
532-526: Is uncertain. The Oxford English Dictionary speculates that "pool" and other games with collective stakes is derived from the French poule (literally translated "hen"), in which the poule is the collected prize, originating from jeu de la poule, a game that is thought to have been played during the Middle Ages. Supposedly, participants would put an equal amount of money into a pot and throw stones at
570-454: Is usually played to 125 points. Straight pool is a call-pocket game, meaning the player must indicate the intended object ball and pocket on every shot. The most commonly played pool game is eight-ball, which appeared at the beginning of the twentieth century. It is often thought of as synonymous with "pool". The game has numerous variations, mostly regional. It is the second most played professional pool game, after nine-ball , and for
608-625: The US Open Nine-ball Championship and the WPA World Nine-ball Championship for men and women. A hotly contested event is the annual Mosconi Cup , which pits invitational European and U.S. teams against each other in one-on-one and scotch doubles nine-ball matches over a period of several days. The Mosconi Cup games are played under the more stringent European rules, as of 2007. Also known as 14.1 continuous , this game originated as
646-571: The World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA); meanwhile, its ancestor, eight-ball pool, is largely a folk game, like North American bar pool , and to the extent that its rules have been codified, they have been done so by competing authorities with different rulesets. (For the same reason, the glossary's information on eight-ball, nine-ball , and ten-ball draws principally on the stable WPA rules, because there are many competing amateur leagues and even professional tours with divergent rules for these games.) Foreign-language terms are generally not within
684-596: The World Pool-Billiard Association International Standardized Rules. But tavern eight-ball (also known as " bar pool "), typically played on smaller, coin-operated tables and in a "winner keeps the table" manner, can differ significantly even between two venues in the same city. The growth of local, regional and national amateur leagues may alleviate this confusion eventually. One-pocket owes its origins to 18th century cramp (handicapped) games. It
722-642: The Near East), and Oceania Pocket Billiard Association (OPBA, Australia, New Zealand, Pacific islands). The WPA represents pool in the World Confederation of Billiards Sports , which in turn represents all forms of cue sports (including carom billiards and snooker ) in the International Olympic Committee . Glossary of cue sports terms#object ball The term billiards is sometimes used to refer to all of
760-811: The United Kingdom the game is commonly played in pubs, and it is competitively played in leagues on both sides of the Atlantic. The most prestigious tournaments including the World Open are sponsored and sanctioned by the International Pool Tour. Rules vary widely from place to place (and between continents to such an extent that British-style eight-ball pool/blackball is properly regarded as a separate game in its own right). Pool halls in North America are increasingly settling upon
798-477: The baulk-line spot , etc. Also bigs , big balls , big ones . Also billiard shot . Also pool spectacles , snooker specs , etc. Also the black . Also the blue(s) . Also shake bottle , pea bottle , pill bottle , tally bottle , kelly bottle . Also bottomspin , bottom-spin , bottom . Also called-safe Also called-shot ; call-pocket or called-pocket . Also carambola . Not to be confused with
SECTION 20
#1732793890447836-425: The continuation of a break , and are re-spotted until the reds run out, after which the colours must be potted in their order: Also point of contact . Also counting rack , counter ball rack , etc. Also dog it . Also double elimination . Sometimes interchangeable with scratch , though the latter is often used only to refer to the foul of pocketing the cue ball. A violation of
874-742: The cue sports, to a specific class of them, or to specific ones such as English billiards; this article uses the term in its most generic sense unless otherwise noted. The labels " British " and " UK " as applied to entries in this glossary refer to terms originating in the UK and also used in countries that were fairly recently part of the British Empire and/or are part of the Commonwealth of Nations , as opposed to US (and, often, Canadian ) terminology. The terms "American" or "US" as applied here refer generally to North American usage. However, due to
912-431: The disk-flicking traditional board game carrom , which is sometimes played with a small cue stick. Main article: Carom billiards Not to be confused with carom billiards . Also century break . Also coloured ball(s) , colour(s) ; American spelling color sometimes also used. 1. In snooker , any of the object balls that are not reds . A colour ball must be potted after each red in
950-419: The early 19th century games of pyramid pool and fifteen-ball pool which required balls to be racked due to the large number of them on the table. Of the other pyramid traditions of Continental Europe, only Russian pyramid survives. Snooker , originally known as snooker's pool, can be considered a member of this family. Rotation games require players to make legal contact with the lowest numbered ball on
988-520: The first specific meaning of "a game in which each player uses a cue ball of a distinctive colour to pocket the balls of the other player(s) in a certain order, the winner taking all the stakes submitted at the start of the contest" is now obsolete, and its other specific definitions are all for games that originate in the United States. In the British Empire for most of the nineteenth through early twentieth century, pool referred specifically to
1026-405: The first to adopt balls with different colors. The stripes were the last addition. Pool is played on a six pocket table . Modern pool tables generally range in size from 3.5 by 7 feet (1.07 by 2.13 m), to 4.5 by 9 feet (1.37 by 2.74 m). Under World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) official equipment specifications, pool balls weigh from 5.5 to 6 oz (160 to 170 g) and have
1064-441: The game by forcing their opponent to be on defense instead of taking a low percentage shot that could result in a loss of game. These low percentage shots are known as "flyers" by one-pocket aficionados. Bank pool can be played with a full rack (can be a long game), but is more typically played with nine balls (frequently called "nine-ball bank"). The balls are racked in nine-ball formation, but in no particular order. The object of
1102-443: The game is simple: to be the first player to bank five balls in any order (eight balls when played with a full rack). Penalties and fouls are similar to one pocket in that the player committing the foul must spot a ball for each foul. This must be done before the incoming player shoots. Artistic pool is the competitive discipline of trick shots inspired by its carom equivalent . Played on pool or snooker tables, players must complete
1140-443: The game of life pool . Although skittle pool is played on a pocketless carom billiards table, the term pool later stuck to all new games of pocket billiards as the sport gained in popularity in the United States, and so outside the cue sports industry, which has long favored the more formal term pocket billiards , the common name for the sport has remained pool . The OxfordDictionaries.com definition no longer even provides
1178-1016: The game. See the Seven-ball main article for the game. See the Eight-ball and Eight-ball pool (British variation) main articles for the games. See the Nine-ball main article for the game See the Ten-ball main article for the game Also apex ball , apex of the triangle , apex of the diamond or apex of the rack . Also backspin , back-spin , backward spin . Same as draw . See illustration at spin . Also balk space . Also balk line . Not always hyphenated. Plural: balls-on . Also on[-]ball . Also bar rules , pub pool , tavern pool . Also bar box , pub table , tavern table , coin-operated table , coin-op table . Also middle spot in baulk , baulk line spot , middle of
Euro Tour - Misplaced Pages Continue
1216-511: The last several decades ahead of straight pool . The goal of eight-ball, which is played with a full rack of fifteen balls and the cue ball, is to claim a suit (commonly stripes or solids in the US, and reds or yellows in the UK), pocket all of them, then legally pocket the 8 ball, while denying one's opponent opportunities to do the same with their suit, and without sinking the 8 ball early by accident. In
1254-473: The obsolete meaning found in the print edition, and refers only to the typical game "using two sets [each] of seven coloured and numbered balls ... with one black ball and a white cue ball" on a table with pockets. With the exception of one-pocket , games typically called "pool" today are descended from two English games imported to the United States during the 19th century. The first was English billiards which became American four-ball billiards , essentially
1292-414: The players' nationalities. The term "blackball" is used in this glossary to refer to both blackball and eight-ball pool as played in the UK, as a shorthand. Blackball was chosen because it is less ambiguous ("eight-ball pool" is too easily confused with the international standardized " eight-ball "), and blackball is globally standardized by an International Olympic Committee -recognized governing body ,
1330-413: The predominance of US-originating terminology in most internationally competitive pool (as opposed to snooker ), US terms are also common in the pool context in other countries in which English is at least a minority language, and US (and borrowed French) terms predominate in carom billiards . Similarly, British terms predominate in the world of snooker, English billiards , and blackball , regardless of
1368-403: The same game but with an extra red object ball to increase scoring opportunities. It was the most popular billiards game in the mid-19th century until dethroned by the carom game straight rail . American four-ball tournaments tried switching to carom tables in the 1870s but this did not save it from being doomed to obscurity; the last professional tournament was held in 1876. Cowboy pool
1406-639: The scope of this list, unless they have become an integral part of billiards terminology in English (e.g. massé ), or they are crucial to meaningful discussion of a game not widely known in the English-speaking world. See the Three-ball main article for the game. See the Four-ball billiards main article for the game. See the Nine-ball § Derived games section for
1444-410: The table or a foul is called. The earliest rotation game, originally known as 61 , started off as a variant of fifteen-ball pool during the mid-nineteenth century. The name "rotation" came from how the balls were placed around the table in its unracked offshoot Chicago . 61 has spawned many variations of its own such as American rotation , nine-ball , ten-ball , and Kelly pool . Of these, nine-ball
#446553