Billiards and Pool

The game of pool as we know it began in the very early 1800's. However, the first evolution of the outdoor games resulted in indoor billiards tables in the 1420's. The exact year and location is unknown.

The answer is rather simple. Even though a billiard ball is smooth, when it rolls it imparts some of its kinetic energy to the felt covering of the table. That is, the felt heats up a bit as the ball slows down.

The dimensions of a pool table can differ depending on the place to get the pool table from and what country it is made in. How ever most pool tables come in sizes 7 ft, 8 ft, oversize 8 ft, 9 ft, 10 ft, and 12 ft.

BCA pool rules state that you may play an object ball off of the 8 ball.

BCA (Billiard Congress of America) states that the 8 ball made on the break is not a win or loss. You have a choice of rerack or spotting the 8 ball back. Every place has their own rule about that and most " house" rules call it a win.

V.N.E.A., (Valley National 8-ball League Association), (although not the governing body, in the U.S., even though it's membership is over twice as large), considers an 8 ball made on the break a win, unless, in international competition. Then the rule is the same as the BCA.

ADD: This is a good answer. To expand a bit, the governing bodies of pool in Asia, North America, Australia and Europe have all AGREED on World Standard Rules. The governing body in North America is the BCA, so of course they use these rules.

As soon as you get into league play, generally any league is BASED on these rules, but adjustments, or concessions, are made because so many of the players lack the skills and/or interest to learn properly....so the league "adjusts" rules to alleviate arguments..and in many cases because at a given league night not ONE player will actually know how to distinguish a double hit, or have a good grasp of the real rules.

The above stated rule is one such concession, but because the break is comnsidered a "fluke" shot, you may not win or lose the game as a direct result in proper rules.

One other popular concession regards the double hit. Many leagues allow a double hit if there is a chalk width between the cue ball and the object ball, but the vast majority of the players will actually be making a double hit foul in this case.

Interesting point not known by many...A legal rack in 8 ball simply consists of the 8 in the middle, and "opposites" on the back corners.

Under most rules, no.

Yes. Until 1902, they were made of ivory but had to change to moldable plastic since ivory is now considered rare.

The leather tip needs to be slightly roughened to hold the pool chalk. A tip pick is tapped firmly into the leather, evenly and all around, to produce small dents into the leather to help it to hold the pool chalk.

The Orton Pool Room in downtown Wilmington, NC

A full table is 12 feet long and 6 feet wide, so it is 72 square feet in area.

The major reason people have their own pool table is to be able to play the game at their leisure. Having your own pool table is the most efficient, and in the long run the cheapest, way to practice.

Snooker players are not paid a salary. They get paid on performance in competitions and appearance on TV etc.

I once played against a pool pro, in 1 break off he potted 5 balls.

I got 7 like a week ago on DECEMBER 2nd 2009

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I once shot in eight balls on the break. It's funny because I was leading 4 to 3 in a race to 5 during a quarter final match when I sank the eight on the break, and in my excitement of pumping my fist and sighing relief, I failed to notice what the referee quickly spotted. He summoned all players to our table and asked everyone to "...count the balls left on the table." There were seven. One other time in my experience (and I've been playing for 30 years) I've made five. I've seen someone else make six once. I've never seen seven. In a tournament billed as the "Tournament of Champions" where all entrants were previous winners of local eight-ball tournaments, we were playing at The Crow's Nest in Wisner, Louisiana in the fall of 1993. We were playing on 8 ft. Valleys and I was shooting with a Benson cue. The referee was Wayne Stevens. I still marvel at how all breaks are as unique as snowflakes. And how every once in a harvest moon a snowflake will appear as big Mizerak himself. Matthew Friestman

it is called Jack

yes

This will depend upon the model and condition. However, these can be worth anywhere from $1,000 to $50,000.

In Southern California an 8.ball is about $150(3.5) obviously we are close to the border

I have heard in some states the price going up to $300 for the same amount

and 8.ball will lasst for about a week if it they don't share with others.

Professional billiards players like to have their own specific cues. Former British professional player Stephen Hendry does not currently use a specific stick as he is retired from his favorite game snooker.

Force is equal to Mass times Acceleration, or F=MA. The mass is constant at 166 grams (for standard American pool balls). Acceleration is the square of centimeters per second (cm/s^2).

To properly answer your question, you would need to know how far the object ball moved and how long it took to move that distance. Then you can determine the Force.

Pool cues don't use felt. Pool cues should have a pressed leather tip. Break and jump cues are sometimes given a synthetic tip, such as phenolic, but these are not legal under many tournament rules.

If I am understanding your question correctly, you are asking that with a cue in the kitchen after a scratch in eight ball, can you hit an object ball that is also in the kitchen. If this is the question, then the answer is absolutely yes. You must place the cue ball as close to the kitchen line as possible, make sure you hit the long rail outside of the kitchen, and put enough English (side spin) to come back into the kitchen and hit the ball you are trying for. It take practice and quite a bit of English to pull off this shot. Depending on where the object ball is located, you may have to jack up the back of your cue stick for maximum English.

This is very subjective. McDermott and Viking are two of the largest production manufacturers and are both very successful - anyone owning one of these will tell you the one they have is the best. Some McDermott cues are now collectibles, Viking hasn't yet been recognized as collectible. Meucci is the only major production cue that chose a balance point differently than other production cues, and holding one will feel like a custom cue. Anyone owning a Meucci will say it is the best. In addition to these 3 named, there are others that certainly deserve mention such as Adams, Mali, Brunswick, and of course, Predator.

Pool uses different equipment from carom billiards. Other than the table having pockets, the balls for pool are generally smaller and range from 2.25 inches (57.15 mm) in diameter to 2.375 inches (60.33 mm) in diameter. (By comparison Carom billiard balls are generally 2.375 inches (60.33 mm), or 61.5 millimetres (2.42 in).[1] While UMB, the International Olympic Committee-recognized world carom billiards authority, permits balls as small as 61.0 millimetres (2.40 in), no major manufacturer produces such balls any longer, and the de facto standard is 61.5 millimetres (2.42 in). Modern pool tables range in size from 3.5 feet (1.07 m) by 7 feet (2.13 m), to 4.5 feet (1.37 m) by 9 feet (2.74 m). Modern cues 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 (146.0 cm), while carom billiards cues are generally 56 inches (142.2 cm) long.

Both are the same weight in most cases. For coin operated tables, most tables today use a magnetic cue ball which is slightly heavier than the numbered balls. It also can mean the it is a bit harder to control the cue ball. Older coin operated tables used a larger cue ball, not magnetic, which in addition to weighing more than the numbered balls, creates other cue ball control problems.

This is not possible in any common game of pool. Only Straight Pool allows the balls to be placed in nearly any position to accomplish this - no other common pool game allows placing the balls in that order. The middle of the rack is in between the second and third row of balls. It appears what is being asked is what ball will be in the 5th ball position, with one ball to left and one ball to the right if all the balls are arranged lowest to highest. This would be the 5 ball. However, Straight Pool requires that the 1 ball and the 5 ball be placed in the corners.

Therefore, no pool game allows the balls to be placed in the way required - so, any ball may be in the "middle" position depending upon the game of pool being played.

This is a subjective question. For the average player, a well made production cue is certainly as good as a custom cue. However, the player cannot change the handling or feel of the cue, a big difference with a custom cue, which can be designed for exactly the handling, feel, weight distribution, and of course, looks, that the player wants. Most production cues are much more likely to warp and otherwise deteriorate than a custom cue. However, for the difference in price, it simply means the player should take very good care of the production cue, just as if it was a custom cue that could cost 10 times as much.