Opinions will vary, for there are many arguments on both sides. Those opposed to it maintain, in the first place, that it is always foul, because cue-tip and ball come in contact more than once; that it is a slovenly mode of evading difficulties which should be conquered by fair means; and that, therefore, its use is detrimental to the game, players not being encouraged to acquire the skill possessed by foreign exponents. On the other hand, those in favour of it will deny the separate contacts or affirm contact to be so nearly continuous that the difference between a push and an ordinary stroke is merely one of duration; they will truly say that it is a stroke requiring much skill, and greatly extending the possibilities of the English game, in which massé can never play the part it does in the French game; and, lastly, that to abolish it would lengthen play, which is undesirable.
We do not know that much more remains to be said; as far as can be judged, the balance of opinion, professional and amateur, is in 1895 perhaps in favour of its retention, and Roberts’s remark that he does not think the time has arrived when it should be prohibited is doubtless sound from the point of view of gate-money, which naturally influences professional opinion, and is, moreover, a test of popularity which deserves some consideration; but it is by no means conclusive as to what is best in the interests of the game. And signs are not wanting that the days of the push stroke are numbered.
Are They Touching?
CHAPTER XIII
PYRAMIDS, POOL, AND COUNTRY-HOUSE GAMES
By W. J. Ford
When and under what circumstances winning hazard games were invented, billiard history does not record. Every player, however, must have met men with little aptitude for the more scientific game of billiards, who, being blessed with good sight and sound nerve, play well at pyramids and pool. For their benefit these games were doubtless produced, demanding as they do considerable skill and knowledge, and lending themselves especially to being played for money. It is an established fact that persons will play billiards for nothing who would never dream of playing pyramids, &c. for love; and also that many who would think twice before risking a shilling or half a crown on a hundred game at billiards would lightly and cheerfully take part in a game of pyramids or pool for stakes at which a far greater sum can readily be lost or won.
One thing the beginner must remember—that he will have to pay for his experience. He may be a fair hazard striker, with a moderate power of cue and sound ideas about strength and position, but until he has played a good many games of pool and pyramids, with the money up, and has overcome the nervousness incidental to playing in public for a stake, he will never master the game. All must go through the fiery ordeal of the public room, where every shot is fired in earnest and there are no blank cartridges. The price to be paid must depend on the beginner’s nerve and his aptitude for such games, but he will find that practice and observation work wonders, and that when he has watched fine players and played with them, his losses will begin to dwindle, and gradually transform themselves into winnings.
A few general hints may not be out of place before discussing the different games in detail. It is really important to use the same cue as far as possible; it is as essential as one’s own gun, bat, or racquet, and as jointed cues can now be procured, which are easily carried in the hand or packed in a portmanteau, it is prudent to get one. Some players fancy a heavy cue, with a broad top, for winning hazards; but this is a matter of taste, and it is generally wise always to use the same weapon. It should be remembered, in playing pool or pyramids after billiards, that the balls are usually smaller, lighter, and less true. Another essential point is a strict adherence to rules. It is an unfortunate thing for billiards that this principle is not observed with rigid strictness, that fouls are often not claimed, that players are allowed to get on the table, and so forth; but the curious thing is that, lax as many men are on these points over a game of billiards played for nothing, they are very strict when they are playing for money; so as long as billiards is played, it is perhaps well that there should be a small stake on the game, if only to induce every one to make Sarah Battle’s whist the model of what his billiards should be. Her celebrated wish was ‘the rigour of the game. She took and gave no concessions. She hated favours. She never made a revoke, nor ever passed it over in her adversary without exacting the utmost forfeiture;’ and where she emphatically asserted that cards were cards, I repeat that billiards is billiards. Again, the etiquette of the room should be most carefully observed, though it is frequently neglected. It is the duty of the man who has played his stroke to retire ‘to a reasonable distance and keep out of the line of sight’—the rules require this; but there are many people, unfortunately, who think this a good time to light a pipe, talk in a loud tone of voice to a bystander, give stentorian orders to the waiter, and so forth, forgetting that a game is in progress which is making every demand on the striker’s nerve and self-possession. Such offenders are numerous, they are public nuisances in the room, and it is small consolation to the persons disturbed to be assured that their delinquencies were unintentional. Any game that is worth playing at all is worth playing seriously and strenuously, and the cultivation of habits of silence, decorum, and self-restraint is a duty we owe to our friend the enemy and have a right to expect from him in return.