You probably already know how to play the standard 8-ball pool and may have heard of the word snooker before. But do you know there are other, less common, varieties of pool?
Here are five different types of billiards games you should learn if you are looking for a fun challenge that’s not the standard 8-ball play.
Snooker
This popular billiards game is played with 22 balls (15 red balls that are worth one point each, 6 different-colored balls that are worth an increasing number of points, and 1 cue ball).
The snooker table is quite larger than a standard pool table but has six pockets. To play snooker, players first have to pocket the red balls before pocketing the other differently-colored balls in ascending order, depending on their points.
Straight Pool
Straight pool is played with 16 balls (7 solids, 7 stripes, 1 eight ball, and 1 cue ball).
In this billiards game, you have to pocket any of the balls on the table, regardless of whether they are stripes or solids, using the cue ball. The catch is that you must call the ball you want to pocket on each shot.
Each ball pocketed is worth one point, and a game may be played up to 150 points. When you fail to pocket a ball, the balls have to be re-racked.
American Style 8-Ball
This game is played with 16 balls (7 solids, 7 stripes, 1 eight ball, and 1 cue ball).
After the break, you will be assigned either stripes or solids, depending on the ball that was pocketed first. To win the game, you have to sink all your balls and finally pocket the No. 8 ball.
Carom
In Carom, there are only 3 balls on the table (1 red ball object ball and 1 white cue ball for each player).
This billiards game is played on a heated table with no pockets. To score a point, you have to rebound your cue ball off the object ball as well as your opponent’s ball in one shot.
Which other variety of billiards do you know?
Also Read: Basic Instructions for Playing Billiards and Snooker
