English billiards

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English billiards,[1] called simply billiards[2] in Great Britain, where it originated, and in many former British colonies, is a cue sport for two players or teams. Two cue balls (originally both white and one marked e.g. with a black dot, but more recently one white, one yellow) and a red object ball are used. Each player or team uses a different cue ball. It is played on a billiards table with the same dimensions as a snooker table and points are scored for cannons and pocketing the balls. English billiards has also, but less frequently, been referred to as "the English game", "the all-in game" and (formerly) "the common game".[3]




The winning game was played with two white balls, and was a 12-point contest. To start, the player who could strike a ball at one end of the table and get the ball to come to rest nearest the opposite cushion without lying against it earned the right to shoot for points first. This is the origin of the modern custom of "stringing" (or "lagging"). A player who pocketed the opponent's ball scored two points,[3] as is still the case in modern billiards.


By contrast, in the losing game a player could only score (2 points) by pocketing the cue ball through a carom off the opponent's ball.[3] "Winning hazard" and "losing hazard" are terms still mentioned in the official rules for these two fundamental shot types, although "pot" and "in-off" have become the usual terms for them in British English.

The final element was the cannon (or carom) shot, which came from carom or carambole billiards, a three-ball game popular in various countries of western Continental Europe, especially popularized by France[4] (and today also popular in many parts of Asia and South America). In the 1700s, the carambole game added a red object ball to the two white cue balls, and dispensed with the pockets.[5] This ball was adopted into the English game, which retained the pockets,[5] and the goal was to cannon off both the red and the opponent's ball on a single shot, earning 2 points. This influence on the English game appears to have come about through the popularity of French tables in English coffee houses; London alone had over two thousand such establishments in the early 18th century.[6] One period advertisement read: "A very good French Billiard Table, little the worse for wearing, full size, with all the materials fit for French or English play".[6]

The three ancestral games had their British heyday in the 1770s, but had combined into English billiards, with a 16-point score total, by approximately 1800.[3] The skill required in playing these games helped retire the billiard mace in favour of the cue.

There are a number of pocket billiard games directly descended from English billiards, including bull dog, scratch pool, thirty-one pool and thirty-eight. The last of these gave rise to the more well-known game cowboy pool.[7][8] English Billiards was virtually unknown in the United States until 1913, when Melbourn Inman visited the US and played the game against Willie Hoppe. By 1915 the game had become rather popular, prompting American billiard hall proprietors of the period to increase the number of English-style tables in their establishments.[9] It also became favored in British colonies; the game's longest-running champion was an Australian, Walter Lindrum, who held the World Professional Billiards Championship from 1933 until his retirement in 1950. The game remains popular in the UK, although has been eclipsed by snooker.

As a sport[edit]

The first governing body of the game, the English Billiards Association, was formed in the UK in 1885, a period that saw a number of sporting bodies founded across the British sporting world.[10] By the mid-20th century, the principal sanctioning body was the Billiards Association and Control Council (later the Billiards and Snooker Control Council).

In the 19th century and up through the mid-1950s, a common way for championship titles to change hands was by a challenge match. A challenge was issued to a championship title holder accompanied by stake money ("acclamation") held by a third party.[11] Up until the first organised professional tournament in 1870, all English billiards champions were decided by challenge.





Balls and table[edit]


The balls are designated as:

  • Red, an object ball;
  • White with a spot or yellow, cue ball for player 2, and an object ball for player 1.[13]


Beginning the game[edit]

A game in progress, red ball about to be potted.





Points are awarded as follows:




Other rules[edit]









There are a few different ways a foul can occur by:

  • Playing/Striking the opponent's cue ball or Red object ball
  • Making any ball jump off the table
  • Failing to make contact between one's cue ball and at least one object ball (Unless double baulked)
  • A double-hit or push shot
  • Jumping one's cue ball over an object ball
  • Playing a 16th consecutive hazard or 76th consecutive cannon

See also[edit]


  3. ^ a b c d e f g Shamos 1999, p. 89.
  4. ^ Shamos 1999, p. 243.
  5. ^ a b Stein & Rubino 2008, p. 81
  6. ^ a b Stein & Rubino 2008, p. 80
  7. ^ Shamos 1999, pp. 61–62.
  8. ^ NYT staff 1885
  9. ^ NYT staff 1915
  10. ^ Midwinter 2007, p. 59
  11. ^ Shamos 1999, p. 46.
  12. ^ a b Kumar 2000, p. 101
  13. ^ Kumar 2000, pp. 101–104.


  • Shamos, Mike (1999). The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards. New York City: Lyons Press. ISBN 1-55821-797-5. 
  • Stein, Victor; Rubino, Paul (2008) [1994]. The Billiard Encyclopedia (3rd ed.). New York City: Balkline Press. ISBN 978-0-615-17092-3. 

External links[edit]