Billiards game: how many are there and which are the most popular?

What is your favorite pool game?

There are many different types of pool games. The two most popular pool games are Eight Ball and Nine Ball. These are followed by Cut Throat and One Pocket. Snooker is also pretty high up depending on the country you live in.

There is another game played here in the US known as Straight Pool or Fourteen and One. This used to be the most popular game. This game is very time consuming to play and involves clearing a lot of shelves to finish a game. This could make a game last a long time. (Especially if the players in the game fail often.)

I think Eight Ball became the most popular game because of the bar tables. There are 15 balls and all of them are used in the game. A game consists of one shelf and can be completed in a reasonable time frame. (I’ve seen some long games with players who can’t make a ball.)

Nine Ball is popular because it is fast paced and the game can be won with a combination at any time during the game. I have to say that Nine Ball is probably the most popular gambling game.

Serious pool players like to play One Pocket for money. This is definitely a strategy game. The game uses all fifteen balls and each player has one of the bottom corner pockets. The game ends when a player legally pockets 8 balls. Typically, you’ll see more defensive than offensive shots in One Pocket.

Straight Pool (14 and 1) continues to be a popular game among serious billiards players. This pool game will make you a player. Players shoot any ball in any pocket. (Call pocket, no slop) The last ball is left on the table and the cue ball remains in place. When a new rack begins, that last ball must be pocketed and the rack must be broken by the cue ball on the same shot.

There are plenty of players who can run 100+ balls in Straight Pool. Willie Mosconi holds the record with more than 520 holed balls without missing a shot. This includes breaking each rack while the last ball is pocketed. No one has come very close to this record. John Schmidt (now a tour pro) ran 400 balls recently, which is quite an achievement.

Cutthroat is a game played by 3 players. One player gets 1-5, the second player gets 6-10, and the third player gets 11-15. The object of this game is to be the last player with the balls on the table.

There are many other games in pocket billiards. You can visit Wikipedia and do a pool game search to get a pretty comprehensive list. You will find details and rules of each game.

I wanted to provide the most common games here, as well as an overview of some of the less popular ones.

Post your comments, questions and stories below. What is your favorite pool game?

Take a look at the home page of the Pool Billiards game here.

To your exhausted success,

ted