by: Xavier Toolhausens

The trio of billiard games are a set of 3 contests where players try to hit the ball into a different ball, collection of balls, or into a corner. These have one thing common to all of them: they are all played with a solid, slate table that is covered in cloth. Another commonality is that they are all played with a stick that has a leather tip. This stick is used to spearhead the ball and knock it into another ball, balls, or pocket.

This collection of contests were first conceived of in the fourteenth century in Western Europe. But, there is heavily debates over the exact birthplace of these games, France or Great Britain seem to be thought of as the birthplace. Either way, towards the sixteenth century, these games were big and everywhere in all the bars and drinking establishments throughout the countryside.

Billiard balls have been manufactured of a host of different materials throughout the years since the games were invented. In its early days, the -game was played with clay fabricated stones. And, in the 1800’s, these balls were manufactured from ivory from elephant tusks. At this time, elephants were being slaughtered at an increasing rate, and because of this, people began seeking other material to make these balls. And then in the 19th century, these balls were constructed of Celluloid, which was first type of plastic introduced to the market. After this time, experiments were done to find something to make billiard balls from a bunch of different plastics. Nowadays, billiard balls are made from a plastic resin containing Saluc, clear acrylic, and polyester blends.

Billiards is a fun game found in drinking establishments, clubs, arcades, lounges, and all other types of entertainment venues. Many establishments advertise billiards for the venue but all do not know what this word is. Billiard games are not only pool as many people think. There are actually three different games that billiards have, they are:

* Carom Billiards – This game is played without spots to drop the ball into and players play against the rails or a series of bumpers. Carom has three or four balls depending on which Carom game it is – there is balkline, three-rail, or straight rail. In this series of contests, there is a cue ball for each player and an object ball; at times there are 2 object balls if one is speaking of Carom with four balls.

* Pocket Billiards – This is by far the most popular game of billiards today. In some countries, this game is called Pool. In the U.S., when someone says “billiards,” they mean pool. In this type of billiards, there are 15 balls written in numbers and colored and one un-numbered, white ball referred to as the cue ball. Games of Pool are: Nine Ball, Eight Ball, and One-Pocket.

* Snooker – This kind is played with 22 balls, but 15 are usually solid red balls. The other groups are marked with numbers to identify the point value; each color is worth a certain amount of points. The game of Snooker has a white cue ball for each player.

Billiards is a very popular series of games played by individuals of all walks of life. When sitting at establishments of nations in the world, you will notice a collection of these games with different rules depending on the nation. Billiards is a fun set of games and will be here forever in bars throughout the globe.

Xavier Toolhausens is a gazetteer with more than ten years writing experience. Xavier is currently working as a gazetteer with our b2b site and is considered the in house authority on billiards. Visit our website for additional information on Billiard Table and Billiard Balls.