Billiard table all six pockets), with rounded entrances and nearly parallel sides, like those on a snooker table. One tactical consequence of this design difference is that the jaws of the WPA-type pocket are often used exactly like a horizontal version of the backboard of a basketball goal, to rebound the ball into the pocket; this technique does not work on blackball tables, and even shots down the cushion into a corner pocket are more difficult. For tournament competition under WPA world-standardized rules (and league play under derived rulesets), the bed of the pocket billiard table must be made of slate no
Billiard table marked by a drawn on the cloth across the width of the table at 29 inches (737 mm) from and parallel to the face of the . A semicircle with a radius of 11.5 inches (292 mm) centered on this line within baulk forms in which the cue ball must be placed when breaking or after the cue ball has been or shot off the table. The position of four of are marked along the (lengthwise centre) of the table, perpendicular to the baulk line: the , 12.75 inches (324 mm) from the ; the or , located at the