Billiard Games

Billiards is a table game that has been played since the 15th century. The game involves players taking a long wooden stick (known as a "cue stick") and using a "cue ball" to hit billiard balls around a cloth-covered table. Over the centuries, people have created and played hundreds of varieties of Billiards games. Most variations involve the number of balls on a table, whether or not there are pockets and the way the balls must be hit. The following is a partial list of popular Billiards games.

Carom Billards

Carom Billiards is classified as the most basic example of billiards. In the game, three balls are placed on the table. A player must attempt to hit one ball so that it makes contact with the other two balls. Any time this happens, the player scores a point. The first player to reach a predetermined number of points is the winner.

Pool

Pool is a type of Billiards game that has become incredibly popular in North America since its inception. In this game, 15 balls and a cue ball are placed on a table, and balls must be hit into one of the six pockets on the table. Each ball pocketed earns the player a point. There are several variations on the pool game, including nine-ball and eight-ball.

Snooker

Snooker is very similar to pool in that it uses a table with pockets and uses 15 balls with a cue ball. The chief difference is that the balls must be pocketed in a predetermined order in order for any points to be scored. While this is similar enough to Pool to be considered an alternate version of it, many professionals consider it to be a separate game.

Bumper Pool

Bumper Pool is a very strange variation on standard Pool. There are only six balls on the pool table, which has a number of fixed bumpers on the middle and ends of the table. The player must pocket balls by hitting them into their one predetermined pocket. If the player can sink five balls into his pocket, then he wins the game.

Three-Cushion Billards

Three-Cushion Billiards is an extremely difficult version of standard Carom Billiards. In order to score a point, the player must make contact with not only two billiard balls, but also three sides of the pool in one shot. This is the most popular version of Carom Billiards in the United States.

Artisitc Billiards

Artistic Billiards is a version of Billiards that depends entirely on trick shots to score points. The player must attempt 76 preset shots, and points are rewarded based on accuracy of the shot. After all 76 shots have been attempted by the players, scores are calculated; and the player with the highest total score is the winner.