There is another pattern still fairly common which is always a nuisance, for sooner or later a mistake is sure to be made as to the twenties (fig. 36). One or other of the players will forget to move on the twenty marker when he takes the other back to zero; more advanced arithmetic is involved and another objection is that a separate board is required for pool.
Fig. 34
Fig. 35
Fig. 37
Another kind of marker is a nickel-plated one let into the woodwork of the cushions, and worked by pressing a button (fig. 37). Two are placed side by side, one for each player. A further variety of the same kind is a hand marker, which is useful in a country house.
POOL BASKET
If you should happen to possess a good set of pool balls, you should get a set of dummy balls, made in box-wood or inferior ivory, to shake up in the basket, for the violent shocks that real balls receive in the basket at the hands of an energetic marker are a fruitful source of cracking and faulty running.