Billiard Table, Supplies, and Billiard Accessories

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The game of billiards has been played and enjoyed across the globe for centuries. Though certain standards and products have evolved over these centuries, the essence of the game has stayed very much the same. In fact, very little has changed at all over the past 150 plus years.  

Billiards evolved from a croquet-like game played by Europeans in the early 14th century. When winter would come the playing fields would be covered with snow, so a smaller version of the game was invented, enabling sportsmen to play inside. Until the 1800’s there was no set regulations for the game or the equipment. In the mid 1800’s a standard was set that billiard tables should have two-to-one dimensions and six pockets.

 With the release of two major motion pictures, The Hustler and The Color of Money, the popularity of billiards reached an all-time high in the U.S. Today, billiards remains a well-liked sport enjoyed by all social classes and can be found anywhere from bars to homes.  There are many different games that can be played on the table, most involving using a pool stick, now called a cue, to hit balls into the pockets. The most popular game is called eight ball.

All you need to have to play billiards is a billiard table, a cue, and billiard balls. Other accessories, such as chalk, billiard lamps, a billiard rack, and a billiard table brush are not necessary, but help the quality of the game greatly, as well as make the billiard supplies last longer.

A modern billiard (or billiards) table provides a flat surface covered with a specific felt-like cloth. The surface is surrounded by rubber cushions, for the balls to bounce off, and six pockets, one in each corner and two in the middle of the long sides, for the balls to go into. The tables come in different sizes, nine-foot, eight-foot or seven-foot tables are the most common. They are rectangular shaped with a two-to-one ratio, for example the playing surface on a nine-foot table to measure 100 inches by 50 inches or an eight-foot would measure 92 inches by 46 inches.  It is also important to have the table well lit. Most bars and pool halls have some sort of lamp hanging directly above the table.

The number of billiard balls required depends on the game being played. Typically the balls will come in packs of 16, as that is what the most popular games require. There are, however, games that require as much as 30 balls or as little as three.  There is typically one white cue ball used to hit the other 15 balls into the holes. All balls besides the cue ball have a specific number and are either a solid color, or have one colored thick stripe.  The number, color and pattern of the balls are all used to determine who knocks whose ball into where, thus are vital in playing any billiards game.

A billiards stick, now referred to as a cue, strikes the white ball launching it to the other balls in order to knock the other balls into the holes. Cues come in a wide variety of weights and prices, usually dependent on the woods they are made of.  The tops of high quality cues are almost always made of Maplewood. The buts of good cues can be made of a variety of different materials, such as ebony, mahogany or rosewood, depending on the preference of the player.  Ebony is the heaviest.

There are three major types of cues. The most common is a one-piece cue, this is the kind found in pool halls and at most department stores. The other two are a two-piece cues, which can be taken apart for easy transportation. A cue will typically weigh around 20 ounces and measure about 58 inches long. To keep a cue in good condition, don’t lean the tip against anything when storing and keep it somewhere that has a steady temperature.

 

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