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English Billiards is a cue sport that originated in Great Britain, where it is also simply referred to as Billiards.

pool hall

The sport is played on a table that is of the same size as a snooker table, measuring 11'8" X 5'10", with six pockets around the table. A total of three balls are required, one cue ball for each player, and a red object ball.

At the start of a game, a play called "string", is used to decide which player gets to play first. Then players take turns to make shots and score points. Points are awarded for the following plays :

• Cannon: Hits the other cue ball and the object ball in any order in a single shot, carries 2 points.
• Potting: Pocket the red ball and other cue ball for points 3 and 2 points respectively.
• In-off: Pocket the cue ball, after the object ball or other cue ball is struck first, for 3 and 2 points respectively.

Multiple plays can be combined in a single shot to score a maximum of 10 points in one single play. A match is played for a fixed number of points, usually 300, and the player to reach it is the winner.

Billiard sport has different disciplines and some of them include:

• Carom (3-Cushion): This game is played with three balls on a table without pockets - one white cue ball, one yellow cue ball, and one red object ball. The goal is to complete "Carom" by potting one of the cue balls into both of the other balls, in the process of bouncing off three cushions. You get a point for each successful carom.
• Pool: This game is played on a table with six pockets. It has two disciplines - Ten Ball and Heyball.
• Ten Ball: It is played with 10 colored and numbered balls, and a cue ball. The cue ball has to always contact the lowest numbered ball on the table first, and one ball must hit the cushion or a colored ball must get into any of the pockets. A foul is declared in the game if no ball hits the cushion or no colored ball gets into any of the pockets.
  The Ten Ball is a call shot game, which means a player must state the colored ball he wants to shoot, and the pocket he wants to shoot into before he takes his shot.
• Heyball: It is played with 15 colored and numbered balls, and a cue ball. The numbered balls can be divided into two groups: 1 through 7 and 9 through 15. Any player that successfully pockets all seven balls belonging to a group and the 8-ball, scores one point.
• Snooker: This game is played on a large table with six pockets. Players are awarded points for potting balls into the pockets. On a shooter's first shot, he must strike the cue ball first so that it can hit one of the 15 balls on the table. If he pots the red ball, his next shot is any of the six colored balls. Remember that each colored ball has different points allotted to it, with the black ball having the highest point. The player with the highest score wins the game.

Billiards at the World Games

Billiards was first featured in the 2001 Akita World Games, with three disciplines - Carom, Pool, and Snooker. Subsequently, it featured in the 2005 Duisburg World Games, the 2009 Kaohsiung World Games, the 2013 Kali World Games, the 2017 Wroclaw World Games, the 2022 Birmingham World Games, and the 2025 Chengdu World Games.

Here are the medalists who won gold at the end of the 2025 Chengdu event:

Similar Sports

• Snooker — played on a table with six pockets. It is played using a cue and 22 snooker balls: one white cue ball, 15 red balls and six balls of different colors. Points are awarded for using the cue ball to pot the red and colored balls.
• Footpool — novelty version of billiards using an oversized table and soccer balls.
• See Cue Sports (general)

Related Pages

• Complete list of sports
• The Encyclopedia of Sports — a list of every sport from around the world.

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