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Billiards vs Pool vs Snooker: Understand the 4 key differences
Billiards, Pool, and Snooker are three terms that have been used interchangeably by many people recently. It is acceptable if you are comparing them with other game types. However, if you are learning how to play pool, you will find out that they have many differences in detail. So Billiards vs Pool vs Snooker: what are the differences? This article will assist you in determining which of these three categories you have.
Contents
What is Billiards?
Billiards, sometimes called carom billiards, is among one of the cue sports which refer to games played with cue sticks on tables without pockets. Popularly, billiards just use 3 balls: one red ball, white one with spot, and white without spot.
Billiards has its origins in a lawn game similar to croquet that was popular in the 15th century. At that time, the game was only open to royalty and nobles. Gradually, more styles were added to this game. It went from being an outdoor sport to requiring a hardwood table when it was brought indoors. A basic border was used, and the table was covered with green fabric. The color was chosen specifically to seem like grass. After that, this game was given a name as billiards which is derived from the French word “billart”. During the late 1600s, cue sticks started to be applied until now.
What is Pool?
Pool is also a group of cue sports that are played with cue sticks but on a table with six pockets along the rails where balls are dropped. Pool is normally played with one black ball, seven yellow balls, seven red balls, and a white cue ball, however, the number of balls used depends on the game.
The history of Pool seems to be weird since it starts with the gamblers. Back in the 18th century, gamblers resorted to poolrooms to bet on horse races, which was prohibited at the time. The money was pooled into a big pot. Poolrooms were chosen since pocketed billiard tables made them appear less suspicious. While waiting for the results of the genuine game, gamblers would play lightly. The pool table got its name as a result of this.
What is Snooker?
Snooker is also one of the cue sports that is played with cues on a six-pocket table. Snooker is normally played using fifteen red balls, six colored balls, and one cue ball, all of which are significantly larger than pool balls. Snooker is different from billiards and pool because three balls can be used as a striker to hit other balls whereas you can only hit the white cue ball in the former.
Snooker was first introduced in 1875. Lieutenant Neville Chamberlain wanted to change a few things about the “black pool.” One black ball and fifteen red balls are used in the game.
The lieutenant thought about putting other colored balls in the game. Because those balls were new to the game, he referred to his version of “black pool” as snooker. The term comes from the Royal Military Academy’s newcomers, who are known as “snooker”
4 Key differences between Billiard, Pool, and Snooker
Billiard vs Pool vs Snooker: which one is easier to play? People sometimes use these terms interchangeably to describe cue sports, however, they have many differences which are easy to recognize.
Rules
Each game includes a detailed set of rules, as well as a variety of variations.
In billiards, you must bounce the cue ball off the other two balls to score points, which are referred to as counts. Keep in mind that these two other balls are already on the table and that the cue balls are white and yellow. You compete against another person or team. The goal is to ensure that you receive the most points possible. You must string to determine who will start the match, which can be based on an imaginary line (head string) or the number of wins (scoring string).
To Play Pool, players win points by shooting balls into the table’s pockets. Players agree ahead of time that they will reach a set number of points to be considered the winner (a typical game is one hundred points, whereas a professional game is usually one hundred fifty points). Any ball on the table can be pocketed, and each ball pocketed successfully earns the player one point. Straight pool is a ‘call-pocket’ game, which means that before shooting, players must say which ball will go in which pocket. The intended ball must reach the intended pocket for the shot to be successful.
Snooker, on the other hand, is a far more difficult game to master. Snooker games are organized into frames. The player can win a frame by scoring the most points by pocketing the red and colored balls with the cue ball. The red balls are worth one point each, while the yellow is worth two, the green three, the brown four, the blue five, the pink six, and the black seven. On a given turn, the rules determine which ball can be pocketed. The “on” balls are those that can be pocketed on any given turn.
Table
The majority of pool and billiards games are played on a seven-foot table (also known as a bar table), an eight-foot table (commonly known as a home or recreational table), or a nine-foot table (also known as a pool table) (known as a pro or tournament table). Tables for billiards do not have pockets, but pool tables do.
Snooker tables are usually lower and bigger than Pool tables and their table pockets are also smaller. A standard UK snooker table is usually at 12ft x 6ft.
Balls
- Snooker is played using twenty-two balls, one of which is the striker ball, which is white. A total of fifteen red balls, as well as one each of yellow, brown, blue, pink, black, and green, were used. Each of the balls has a diameter of 2 1/16 inches.
- Billiards, on the other hand, uses only three balls: one each of white, yellow, and red, with the white and yellow serving as strikers. Balls have a diameter of 2 7/16 inches.
- In Pool, the number of balls in a full set of pool balls varies depending on the type of the game, but a full set includes sixteen balls, each 2 1/4 inches in diameter: eight solid color balls numbered one to eight, seven balls with a color stripe numbered nine to fifteen, and a solid white ‘cue’ ball.
Cues
Carom billiard cues are usually a few inches shorter and thicker at the tip than pool cues (and even more so than snooker cues), but the exact dimensions are a matter of player taste. Personal (non-house) carom and pool cues are usually joined halfway through the piece, but snooker cues are often 2/3 shaft and 1/3 butt, necessitating a larger carrying bag. Carom cue ferrules and tips are normally 13.5 to 14.5 mm in diameter, while pool tips are often 12.5 to 13.5 mm and snooker tips are typically 10.5 to 11.5 mm in diameter.
FAQs
Billiards vs Pool: how to distinguish?
These 2 terms sometimes are used mistakenly because they all refer to cue sport using the cue sticks. However, you can easily differentiate them by looking at the table and the ball’s numbers. Billiards uses tables without pockets with 3 balls while Pool uses tables with 6 pockets and 8 balls. Sometimes, people call Pool pocket Billiards.
Can you play snooker on a pool table?
Yes, but with some preparation. There are many differences if you compare Snooker vs Pool. They are different in rules, ball numbers, and especially, the table used. However, it is interesting that you can definitely play Snooker on a Pool table. Firstly, you have to make some preparations. You’ll need to sketch the snooker ‘D’ form at one end of the table with extreme caution. Some players will purchase spot stickers and use them to mark out where the colored balls should go.
Conclusion
In short, Billiards vs Pool vs Snooker are three popular cue sport games that are played by a large number of individuals. However, there are numerous differences between them in terms of game rules, ball count, tables, and cues. We hope that this article has given you some clear ideas about which game you are playing or trying to learn so that you can achieve the greatest possible result while following the game’s regulated rules.
