Billiards

:This article is about the group of cue games. In the UK, "billiards" is the name for the specific game of English billiards. In the Netherlands, billiards is the name for the game of Carambole billiards.

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Billiards is a family of games played on a table, with a stick, known as a cue stick, being used to strike balls, moving them around the table. In certain contexts, "billiards" refers unambiguously to one or other of these games, such as English billiards or carambole billiards.

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All billiard games are generally regarded to have evolved into indoor games from outdoor stick and ball games (1). The word billiard may have evolved from the French word 'billart' which means mace, the forerunner to the modern cue.

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The word pool generally refers to pocket billiard games such as 8-ball, 9-ball, or Straight pool. The word pool comes from poolrooms, where people gambled off track on horse races. They were called poolrooms as money was "pooled" to determine the odds. These rooms commonly provided billiard tables, and by association pool became synonymous with billiards. The terms pool and pocket billiards are synonymous.

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English billiards: English billiards is a form of billiards played on a 6' X 12' rectangular table with pockets in the four corners and in the middle of the long sides (see Snooker for markings and a diagram)....

Netherlands: The Netherlands (Dutch: Nederland; IPA pronunciation: /"ne:d?rlant/) is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands that is formed by the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.(Dutch: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden). The Netherlands is a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional m...

Carambole billiards: Carambole billiards (or carom) is a billiards game possibly developed in the 18th century in France, though the exact date of invention is not clear. The game consisted of two white cue balls and a red object ball. The red ball was called carambola after a red fruit. The object of the game was to ...

Billiards related Images and Photos (experimental)

Game of Billiards

Louis XIV Playing Billiards with Philippe I Duke of Orleans the Count of Toulouse

Gilligan's Island Thurston Howell III and Gilligan Play Billiards from the WB Photo Collection