Billiard Games
The most popular billiard games in America are called
eight ball. In eight ball, a player is required to hit all balls, either
solid or striped, into the pockets before the eight ball. Only then
can the eight ball be sunk into a pocket. If the eight ball is sunk
before the other balls, or in an illegal fashion, the game is lost.
Nine ball is another one of the popular billiard games
in America. In nine ball, only nine balls are used, numbers 1-9. All
of the balls must be hit into the pockets in order, no matter whose
turn it is. Whoever sinks the nine ball wins. For example, player one
hits the one ball in, but missed the two ball. Then player two has to
go for the two ball, he hits it in as well as every other ball in order
except the nine ball which he misses. Then player one sinks the nine
ball and wins the game.
Snooker is the most popular billiard game in England.
Snooker is played with 22, unnumbered object balls, divided into two
groups of 15 red balls, 6 balls of different colors and one white ball
(the cue ball). Each ball has a different point value: red=1, yellow=2,
green=3, brown=4, blue=5, pink=6, and black=7. The goal is to get the
most points, rotating between players.
There are many variations of each game, and many more
to list. There are official rules for more than 100 types of billiard
games that involve different numbers of balls, players and pockets.