The ultimate purpose of the game is to hit all of your balls into the tables' pockets. To close out the game and win you need to sink the eight ball.

To start the game you need to rack up all of the balls. To make racking the balls up easy you should buy yourself a billiards triangle. I am going to list the number of the ball in each row from left to right and I am going to read the rows from top to bottom. At the tip of the triangle is the 9 ball. In the second row there is the 7 and then 12 ball. In the third row there is the 15, then 8, then 1 ball. The next row contains the 6, then 10, then 3, and then 14 ball. The last row contains the 11, then 2, then 13, then 4, and then 5 ball. When you are all done with setting up all of the balls then the completed triangle should look like this.

Put the tip of the triangle on the unoccupied dot. Make sure that the 9 ball is the pointing directly forward.

Now you are ready to start playing. Flip a coin or play rock-paper-scissors to see who breaks. To break the ball you need to take the cue ball, the white one, and put it somewhere behind the dot opposite the side of the triangle. Then take your stick and hit the cue ball at the triangle to break up the balls and hopefully hit one of them in. If it so happens that you do hit one in, then you get to take another turn. For this first turn the table is open, meaning that you can shoot in any solid or striped ball you want. Keep in mind you don't want to hit the eight ball in until the end of the game, because if you do then you lose the game. If you fail to hit one of your balls in, then it is the other player's turn. Say you hit one in and it is a striped one, then you will be trying to hit in striped balls for the rest of the game. The same goes for hitting in a solid ball. Keep hitting in your balls until there are none left. Now you can hit in the eight ball. If you hit in the eight ball before the other player does then you win the game.

If during the game either you, or the other player hit the cue ball off the table, then the other player gets to put it anywhere on the table he or she would like, and take their turn normally hitting the ball from where they have placed it. If either of you hit the cue ball into one of the pockets inadvertently then the other player gets to take the cue ball and put it wherever they want behind the dot like they did on the break, and then take their turn like normal. If you hit any of the other player's balls in, then that player's ball stays in the pocket and you lose your turn. If you hit any of the other player's balls before you hit one of your own, then you lose your turn. Any balls that go in after this happening stay in, but the person who hit the ball loses their turn.

In this paper I will discuss all of the necessary equipment used in the game of pool. The pool table, all the balls, the racking triangle and the cue stick will be described, with a brief history of how they evolved. When choosing equipment to buy, the cue stick is the most personal. From the weight, to the grip to the quality, it can be a hard decision. This paper will explain all the components of a cue stick that make it hard to decide. I will also discuss some of the advertising involved in selling billiards equipment to the public.

The first pool table was made in the year 1470 for billiard games. Back in those days, they would put the hole right in the exact middle of the table. Then the players would shoot the balls into the hole. Eventually this was changed to the tables we now know today, most with 6 holes.(see attachment No. 1) There is one hole at each of the four corners of the rectangle table. Leaving two more holes which are each placed evenly in the middle of a rail, one on each long end of the table. Most tables have nets or a bag of some kind beneath the holes to catch the balls when they are hit into them. However, in the later part of the nineteenth century, a more convenient and profitable ball return was evolving. Tunnels attached to each of the holes were invented that the balls travel through to end up all in the same spot, in an area trapped in the right long side of the table. The tables with tunnels have a separate area for the cue ball to be retrieved from if it goes in a hole on the short end of the table. Profiting from this is easy for bars and other establishments. A catch mechanism stops the balls from falling until money is put into a slot on the side of the table. When you put your money in, the balls are released, and fall to a retrieval box located on the other short end of the table. Establishments don't have to watch when a machine takes care of it for them.

Most people prefer to play on well constructed tables. Flat beds are a must, so the balls will do what is intended by the player. However, until the middle of the Eighteenth century, pool tables were just thin boards which easily wore and warped. This made it easy for the ball to go off course. The game would have seemed highly unfair if compared to our standards of equipment today. The tables made later in the later eighteenth century were produced by talented cabinet makers. Crafted tables with sturdiness were being made with secure beds that would not warp as easily.

As things got better, improvements to the rails became more necessary. In the past, the rails were merely slabs of wood. At first people attempted lining the table rails with leather straps but they wore. They tried cushioning stuffed with cotton or compressed air, but nothing seemed to work that well. In 1835, crude rubber was being used to build the rails. The problem found with crude rubber in 1835 is it became hard as a rock as soon as it got cold, and in heat it got to soft and was hard to manage. “Vulcanization, the process of chemically treating rubber so it can retain its elasticity regardless of temperature, changed the billiard cushion for good around 1845.”(Mizerak and Panozzo, 1990, pages 26-27) Everything has, for the most part, stayed the same since it was perfected and it seems to me that the final result is a reliable table.

The white cue ball and 15 numbered balls are needed to play billiards. The cue ball is the ball you shoot at and try to hit your numbered balls in the holes before your opponent. The balls numbered 1 through 7 are a single color and are called solids. The balls numbered 9-15 are painted white with a single color striped around it and are called stripes. Each player is either stripes or solids and shoots at their own balls. The 8 ball is painted solid black. The 8 ball is the last ball you want to hit in a hole during the game of pool. Both players are attempting to hit in their own balls and then the eight ball to win the game. (see attachment No. 3)

John W. Hyatt, a chemist, discovered celluloid in 1868. Celluloid is a plastic that lasts a long time and could replace the ivory used in the past to make billiard balls. Ivory at first, though undependable, was very expensive. Because of the high cost only the elite played with ivory balls. They were a shiny and pretty luxury. Most people would play with the more affordable wooden balls. But eventually, the cost dropped and in the nineteenth century ivory was the only thing used to make balls. A lot of elephants were slaughtered, until celluloid plastic came along.

A tight rack is crucial to a good break. The rack or triangle is defined as the “…frame used to group the object balls at the beginning of pocket billiard games…”(Mizerak and Panozza, 1990, page 190) The rack is a small piece of equipment in size, but is a large piece of equipment when it comes to being important. A triangle for pool holds fifteen balls. The triangle is normally made of wood or plastic. (see Attachment No.3) “There are maple, oak, pine, cherry, walnut, white ash, bakelite, rubber, and even celluloid triangles.”(Stellinga, 2003, page 78) Celluloid is meant to represent Ivory. Along time ago racks often had sharp points at their corners. We choose a milder, rounded edge now. Mechanical gadgets have also been designed to make a more accurate rack, though are unnecessary.

In my opinion, the cue stick is the most important piece of equipment (see attachment No. 3) Without a good stick, you can not shoot at the balls accurately, no matter how good your eye is. It has changed more than any other piece of equipment used to play pool. In the early 1600's people began using a mace with a flat faced wooden head to push balls around on the table, acting as the cue ball. A long stick protruded from the curved heel of the wooden block. In the middle of that century, a more straight stick version arrived. The new stick included a smaller head piece. Eventually, in the seventeenth century, the two were disconnected and a cue ball was a separate thing from the cue stick. The mace didn't get thrown away though; it was used for a while as a sort-of bridge to aid in hard shots. The leather tip is the biggest invention and most important change to the cue stick. Leather helps to get the ball to spin significantly better. It was discovered by a jailed French infantry captain named Mingaud in the 1800's. Chalk, which added to the tips power over the cue ball was in wide us by the 1820's.(Mizerak and Panozzo, 1990, pg 30)

The pool stick (see attachment No. 9) is made up of two sections, the cue shaft and the cue but. The shaft is normally mad out of hard rock maple wood. The shaft's tip normally has a fiber pad and a metal ring called a ferrule. The area where the shaft and but join are often aligned with decorative rings. Decorative rings can be made of plastic, wood or metal. An insert and joint collar are metal joints used where the sections meet. The insert holds the threaded metal joint screw used to connect the shaft to the but. The but is made of wood, and is normally more than one piece fastened together. Metal weight and balance pins are drilled through the but, then glued and are covered by a piece of linen cloth. The wrap is pulled tightly around the but and glued on. Typically made of any colored Irish linen, the wrap is often used for grip also. However, like decorative rings some decorations are purely for looks. Different color wood or paint is often used for flair, even “including diamonds on a few”.(Powell, 1997) At the very end of the butt is the rubber bumper. Under the piece of rubber is a hole where a weight screw goes. You can change the weight to any weight you want. A lot goes into making a cue stick.

 

As I look through “Inside Pool”, a popular magazine dedicated to the game, I am bombarded by advertisements. They are mostly for equipment you would expect, like a pool stick, a custom made stick bag, or a pool table. “250,000 league players can't be wrong!” is written at the top of a full page advertisement for Valley Tiger pool tables.(see attachment 4) Like any sport, talented players get paid to sponsor and help sell equipment.(see attachments 4-7) It's normally a pretty good deal for any popular player because they get paid and normally get free equipment.

Playing pool for money is a lot like gambling at cards or a casino. You have to invest money in order to make any money of the game. Friends sometimes play for who will buy the next round of drinks at the bar. Serious players invest a whole lot of time and money into profiting off the game. It is a gamble and like card games, “sharks” often bluff or throw a game. By loosing on purpose the shark player tricks his opponent to into believing he is the better player. Most the time this incises them to continue playing for more money. Really good players do not have to search for games in pool halls or bars. They can enter tournaments and win a lot of money quickly. (see attachment No. 8)

Pool is a fun leisure activity you can play casually or take very serious. No matter what level player you are, a game is always better with high quality equipment. Now that we both know a little more about the game…want to go shoot the stick around?

Attachments

No. 1 Billiards Table No. 2 Cue Rack

taken by Jamie Curtis taken by Jamie Curtis

No. 3

diagram by Jamie Curtis

Attachments

No. 4 Advertisement No. 5 Advertisement

copied from the magazine Inside Pool, Sept 2003

No. 6

copied from the magazine Inside Pool, Sept 2003

Attachments

No. 7 Advertisement

copied from magazine Inside Pool, Sept 2003

No. 8 Advertisement

copied from the magazine Inside Pool, Sept 2003

Attachments

No. 9 Diagram of a Cue Stick

designed by Jamie Curtis

 

Of course we all know that Poker is the fastest growing spectator sport in the world right now. But the sport of billiards on ESPN has really gotten up there lately. The best thing about these great sports is that unlike football, baseball, or basketball, just about anybody can pursue a career in these sports. We all know that getting drafted in the NFL is almost impossible. But if you just have a little money and a little time you can get into these sports.

Of course we all know that the entry fee to the U.S. poker championship and the WPT is 10,000 dollars but for the WSOP it's anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 dollars depending on what version of a tournament you to play.