Billiards pool game wiki

World All Time Top Share your favorite with your friends! Share your rating with your friends! Play the tournament in London. Lose on the last call and this award is yours! Video Walkthrough Back to Game. More Game Videos. Determine who goes first by "lagging. The game hasn't even started yet and it takes skill! If you do win the lag, it's generally accepted that you go second. The player who breaks generally wastes their turn setting up the balls, not taking a strategic shot.

Set up the game. You'll each need a cue stick, for starters you had these for the lag, right? Billiards cues are actually shorter and lighter than their pool counterparts, with a shorter ferrule the white part near the end and a thicker butt.

Sometimes a yellow ball is used in place of the spot. The person who wins the lag calls which ball they'd like to be theirs cue ball , the white or the spot.

It's just a matter of personal preference. The object ball red is then placed at the foot spot. That's where the point of the triangle would be in pool, by the way. The opponent's cue ball is placed at the head spot, where you normally break from in pool as well. The starting player's cue is then placed on the head string in line with the head spot , at least 6 inches 15 cm from their opponent's cue. So, obviously, when your ball is in line with your opponent's, it's very hard to hit both balls on the table.

Hence why if you win the lag, you opt to go second. Determine the rules you and your partner want to play by. As with any game that's centuries old, there are variations in play. Some make it easy, some make it hard, and some make it faster or slower. How much time do you have on your hands? And how much skill? For starters, every type of carom billiards involves getting a point by striking both balls on the table.

It's how you do that that changes: In straight-rail billiards, as long as you hit both balls, you get a point. This is easiest. In one-cushion billiards, you must hit one cushion one side of the table before the second ball is displaced.

In three-cushion billiards, you must hit three cushions before the balls roll to a stop. Balkline billiards removes the one flaw in this game. If you manage to get both balls into a corner, you could, presumably, hit them off of each other over and over and over. Balkline billiards stipulates that you cannot receive points from a shot where the balls are in the same area often the table is divided into 8 sections of the table.

Once you determine how you get points, decide at what point you'd like to stop. In one-cushion, that number is generally 8. But three-cushion is so hard, you'll have better luck with 2! Play the game! Move your arm smoothly back, then forward in a pendulum motion. The rest of your body should remain still as you stroke through the cue ball, letting the cue come to rest naturally. There you have it -- all you gotta do is hit both balls to receive a point -- technically, each turn is referred to as a "cannon.

Look for the place on the cue ball where the cue tip should connect. You can do this while taking your practice strokes. Line up your cue stick with where you would hit the ball if you could hit it directly. Then aim for that spot. Most often, you'll want to hit the cue ball squarely in the center.

Sometimes, you may want to hit the ball to one side or another to impart sidespin, or "English," to it to make the ball travel to one side. Occasionally, you may want to hit the cue ball below center to cause it to climb over a ball you don't want to move and strike a ball you do want to move. Part 2. Grip the cue stick correctly. Your shooting hand should grip the butt of the cue stick in a loose, relaxed manner, with your thumb as a support and your index, middle, and ring fingers doing the gripping.

Your wrist should point straight down to prevent it from moving sideways when you take your shot. Your shooting hand should generally grip the cue stick about 6 inches 15 cm to the rear of the stick's balance point. If you're short, you may want to move your hand forward of this point; if you're tall, you may want to move it further back.

Place the fingers of your off-hand around the tip to form a bridge. This prevents the cue stick from moving sideways when you shoot. There are 3 main grips: the closed, the open, and the rail bridge. In a closed bridge, you wrap your index fingers around the cue and use your other fingers to steady your hand.

This allows for more control over the stick, particularly with a forceful forward stroke. In an open bridge, form a V-groove with your thumb and forefinger. The cue will slide through and you will use your other fingers to keep the cue from moving sideways. The open bridge is better for softer shots and is preferred by players who have trouble making a closed bridge. A variation of the open bridge, is the elevated bridge, in which you raise your hand to lift the cue over an obstructing ball when striking the cue.

Use the rail bridge when the cue ball is too close to the rail for you to slip your hand behind it. Lay your cue stick over the rail and keep its tip steady with your off hand. Align your body with the shot. Line yourself up with the cue ball and the ball you want to hit. The foot corresponding to your shooting hand right foot if you're right-handed, left foot if you're left-handed should be touching this line at a degree angle. Your other foot should be a comfortable distance away from it and forward of the foot matching your shooting hand.

Stand a comfortable distance away. This depends on 3 things: your height, your reach, and the location of the cue ball. The further away the cue ball is from your side of the table, the longer you'll have to stretch.

Most billiards games require you to keep at least 1 foot 0. Memory Alpha Explore. Christopher Pike Number One. James T. Generations First Contact Insurrection Nemesis. Memory Alpha. Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? View source. History Talk 4. Do you like this video? Play Sound. Kirk with his pool skills Pool table redirects here; for the element of the Enterprise -D's engineering area with that nickname, please see master systems display table.

For the swimming location, please see swimming pool.