Billiards

by William Broadfoot

BLACK POOL

Considering the popularity of this game, it is really surprising that no regular and recognised code of laws exists. Some rules have been published, it is true, but there are so many deviations from them, almost every room having its own bye-laws, that the present state of things is quite chaotic. Thus it is impossible to do more here than give directions for the game as it is generally played; any one who is playing in a strange room should inquire what the customs of the room are.

Diagram IX.

The special feature of the game is the introduction of the black ball, which may be described as public property, for every player who takes it is paid by all the others the amount of the stake agreed upon, and all penalties incurred when playing at it are also paid all round. It is spotted on the centre spot; if that is occupied, on the pyramid spot; if that is occupied, on the billiard spot; and if all are occupied, it is held up till one is vacated. Each player has an infinite number of lives, and cannot be killed, however often he is put down. Each life lost is paid for by a stake agreed upon. There is no subscribed pool. Each game lasts half an hour; when time is up, directly after white has played the marker announces the last round, white having always the last stroke. Any number can play for whom balls can be found, but five players make the most interesting game. At the end of a round a new player can enter. His ball is spotted on the billiard spot, and he has to stand fire till his turn to play comes. Similarly, any one can retire by giving notice of his intention directly after he has played, but his ball remains on the table till his turn comes again. In fact, the spotting of the new-comer’s ball and the removal of a player’s ball may be considered their first and last stroke respectively. Foul strokes are regulated by the rules of ordinary pool, but after a miss the striker’s ball is left where it stops and is not removed from the table. A life is lost by playing with or at the wrong ball, or out of turn; if any one plays at the black out of turn, he has to pay all round. The black ball is never taken up, and no coloured ball can be taken up (except during the first round) if it interferes with the striker. Baulk, as in all winning hazard games, affords no protection. If the black ball is holed, it must be spotted at once; if the striker play before it is spotted, the stroke is foul.

The first round is played exactly as at ordinary pool, the balls being given out in the same way—white set on the billiard spot, and black on the centre spot. After white has played—that is, after the conclusion of the first round—red can play on any other player’s ball.

By some rules he has to play on the nearest ball, by others the pool order is observed.

If he takes a life, he receives a single stake from the owner of the ball and must then play on the black.

By some rules he may take as many coloured lives as he likes before playing on the black. This cuts both ways, as the striker may have a better chance of getting position on black by taking several coloured balls first, but, on the contrary, he is spoiling his chance of a large break.

If the coloured ball is holed and the black also (e.g. by a cannon or plant), the black does not count, but is spotted at once and is the next ball to be played on.

Sometimes the black is allowed to count under these circumstances, and can be played on again, after it has been spotted, the theory being that, though black cannot be played on twice running, it may, under certain circumstances, be taken twice running.

If black is holed, the striker must play on a coloured ball, the rules of the room deciding which one, but in most rooms he is allowed his choice.

If he takes this life too, he must again play on black, taking coloured balls and blacks alternately till he breaks down, when the next player proceeds.

If the striker plays on black, and holes both black and a coloured ball, both are counted; but if a coloured ball goes down and black does not, the coloured ball does not count, and the break is at an end. If the striker holes the black and no other ball is left on the table, his ball is spotted.

In a game of this kind, where all are playing against all, to play for safety is mere waste of time; but when the next player has an easy stroke waiting for him, with perhaps a good chance of black to follow, the striker should sacrifice his own game (unless he has a reasonable chance of scoring) to spoil the next player’s; e.g. if red has a difficult stroke, and yellow, who follows him, has a good chance of taking (say) brown, then red should knock brown away, as, if yellow makes his first hazard and then gets black, red will have to pay with the others. But as a general rule the striker must play for himself alone, and play not merely for the first hazard but for the black afterwards. At no time is caution so necessary as when the next striker is in hand and there is a ball behind the baulk-line which is likely to be holed. If the black is safe, no danger is to be feared; but if it is anywhere in the middle of the table, some self-sacrifice may be necessary, so that it behoves every player as his turn comes round to think what kind of a stroke the next man is likely to have.

Again, it is clearly useless to cower under a cushion; no one is likely to play at a ball so placed, and its owner will have left his ball in a cramped position. Hence an open game should be played, with the black always in view, and the reflection that he whose ball is holed will have the advantage of playing from baulk. To push the matter further, a coup is often judicious, if such a course does not seem likely to sell the table; a coup is often better play than a haphazard shot, which may cost one or more blacks in the end. As a new-comer’s ball is spotted before white plays, it is no good entering if white has a promising break; the last arrival may indeed help him to get one, and in this case it is prudent to defer one’s entry for another round. The player who leaves before the pool is over has to stand fire for a round and is responsible for any blacks that may be taken in the course of it.

No hazards are so valuable at black pool as those into the middle pockets, because of the position of the black. Practice consequently at this class of strokes is sure to be profitable.