Billiards is a game played on a rectangular table with a set of small balls and a cue stick. The table is covered in a tight-fitting cloth, and the inner edge is lined with cushioned rails. There are different forms of billiards, including carom (or French) billiards, English billiards, snooker, and pocket billiards (or pool). Carom billiards involves striking a cue ball to hit two object balls in succession on a table without pockets. Pocket billiards, primarily played in the Americas, involves using a cue ball to sink object balls into six large pockets.

What equipment is used to play billiards?

Billiards is played on a rectangular table with a felt-like cloth surface, bordered by cushioned rails. Players use a long stick called a cue to strike small balls. Chalk is applied to the cue tip to impart spin. Different billiard games use different numbers of balls. Carom billiards uses three balls. English billiards also uses three balls: a plain white, a white with a spot, and a red. Pocket billiards, or pool, uses 15 object balls and a cue ball. These object balls are racked at one end of the table in a triangular pattern using a triangular rack.

How do you play a basic game of billiards?

Billiards is played on a rectangular table with a designated number of balls and a cue stick. Pocket billiards, or pool, is played with a white cue ball and 15 numbered object balls. To start, the 15 object balls are arranged in a triangle at one end of the table. The first player breaks the formation with the cue ball, then tries to sink the object balls. If a player doesn't make a shot, the other player shoots. Sinking the cue ball is a scratch, which also ends a player's turn. The most popular version is eight ball, where one player attempts to sink all the striped balls, followed by the 8 ball, while the other player tries to sink the solid balls and then the 8 ball. The first to do so wins.

What are some different types of billiards games?

Billiards is a game played on a rectangular table using a cue stick to propel balls. Carom, or French billiards, uses three balls on a pocketless table. Other main games, played on tables with six pockets, include English billiards , snooker, and pocket billiards, also known as pool. Pocket billiards has many variations, including eight ball, nine ball, rotation, and straight pool. In eight ball, players try to sink either all solid-colored balls or all striped balls, followed by the black eight ball. Snooker is played with 22 balls, including a cue ball, 15 red balls, and six colored balls of varying point values.

How does scoring work in billiards?

Billiards scoring varies depending on the specific game. In eight ball , players or sides are assigned either solid-colored balls (1-7) or striped balls (9-15). Once a player has pocketed all of their group, they try to sink the eight ball to win the game. Pocketing the eight ball prematurely or misplaying it results in a loss. In nine ball , the goal is to pocket the 9 ball. Players must hit the lowest-numbered ball on the table first with the cue ball, but can pocket any ball on the table. In straight pool , players call the number of the ball and the pocket before each shot. Successfully pocketing the called ball earns one point. In snooker , players score by pocketing red balls (1 point each) and then colored balls (yellow 2, green 3, brown 4, blue 5, pink 6, black 7).

How do billiards games differ from pool and snooker?

Billiards is a game category encompassing various games played on a table with balls and a cue stick. Pool (pocket billiards) features a table with six wide pockets, 15 numbered object balls, and a cue ball. Players try to sink object balls in a designated order. Eight ball and nine ball are popular versions. Snooker , mainly British, uses a table similar to English billiards but involves 22 balls: a cue ball, 15 red balls, and six colored balls of different values. Players must pocket reds and then colored balls in sequence, with rules about replacing colors until all reds are gone. Carom billiards , or French billiards, is played with three balls on a pocketless table.

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Diagram of a Carom billiards table showing labeled divisions: head, center, and foot sections, each marked with a spot and a string line, and the table's head and foot ends indicated.

Diagram of a rectangular pocket billiards table with six pockets, showing labeled head string, head spot, and foot spot. An inset details the triangular arrangement of fifteen balls at the foot spot for the game's start.

At a Glance

billiards summary

billiards

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Also known as: billiard games

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Top Questions

What is billiards?
Billiards is a game played on a rectangular table with a set of small balls and a cue stick. The table is covered in a tight-fitting cloth, and the inner edge is lined with cushioned rails.

There are different forms of billiards, including carom (or French) billiards, English billiards, snooker, and pocket billiards (or pool). Carom billiards involves striking a cue ball to hit two object balls in succession on a table without pockets. Pocket billiards, primarily played in the Americas, involves using a cue ball to sink object balls into six large pockets.
2 Britannica Sources
1. billiards: Pocket billiards, or pool
2. Definition of English billiards
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What equipment is used to play billiards?
Billiards is played on a rectangular table with a felt-like cloth surface, bordered by cushioned rails. Players use a long stick called a cue to strike small balls. Chalk is applied to the cue tip to impart spin.

Different billiard games use different numbers of balls. Carom billiards uses three balls. English billiards also uses three balls: a plain white, a white with a spot, and a red. Pocket billiards, or pool, uses 15 object balls and a cue ball. These object balls are racked at one end of the table in a triangular pattern using a triangular rack.
1 Britannica Source
1. billiards: Pocket billiards, or pool
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How do you play a basic game of billiards?
Billiards is played on a rectangular table with a designated number of balls and a cue stick. Pocket billiards, or pool, is played with a white cue ball and 15 numbered object balls.

To start, the 15 object balls are arranged in a triangle at one end of the table. The first player breaks the formation with the cue ball, then tries to sink the object balls. If a player doesn't make a shot, the other player shoots. Sinking the cue ball is a scratch, which also ends a player's turn. The most popular version is eight ball, where one player attempts to sink all the striped balls, followed by the 8 ball, while the other player tries to sink the solid balls and then the 8 ball. The first to do so wins.
2 Britannica Sources
1. billiards: Pocket billiards, or pool
2. pocket billiards
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What are some different types of billiards games?
Billiards is a game played on a rectangular table using a cue stick to propel balls. Carom, or French billiards, uses three balls on a pocketless table. Other main games, played on tables with six pockets, include English billiards, snooker, and pocket billiards, also known as pool.

Pocket billiards has many variations, including eight ball, nine ball, rotation, and straight pool. In eight ball, players try to sink either all solid-colored balls or all striped balls, followed by the black eight ball. Snooker is played with 22 balls, including a cue ball, 15 red balls, and six colored balls of varying point values.
4 Britannica Sources
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How does scoring work in billiards?
Billiards scoring varies depending on the specific game.

In eight ball, players or sides are assigned either solid-colored balls (1-7) or striped balls (9-15). Once a player has pocketed all of their group, they try to sink the eight ball to win the game. Pocketing the eight ball prematurely or misplaying it results in a loss.

In nine ball, the goal is to pocket the 9 ball. Players must hit the lowest-numbered ball on the table first with the cue ball, but can pocket any ball on the table.

In straight pool, players call the number of the ball and the pocket before each shot. Successfully pocketing the called ball earns one point.

In snooker, players score by pocketing red balls (1 point each) and then colored balls (yellow 2, green 3, brown 4, blue 5, pink 6, black 7).
4 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How do billiards games differ from pool and snooker?
Billiards is a game category encompassing various games played on a table with balls and a cue stick.
- Pool (pocket billiards) features a table with six wide pockets, 15 numbered object balls, and a cue ball. Players try to sink object balls in a designated order. Eight ball and nine ball are popular versions.
- Snooker, mainly British, uses a table similar to English billiards but involves 22 balls: a cue ball, 15 red balls, and six colored balls of different values. Players must pocket reds and then colored balls in sequence, with rules about replacing colors until all reds are gone.
- Carom billiards, or French billiards, is played with three balls on a pocketless table.
2 Britannica Sources
1. billiards: Snooker
2. snooker
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billiards, any of various games played on a rectangular table with a designated number of small balls and a long stick called a cue. The table and the cushioned rail bordering the table are topped with a feltlike tight-fitting cloth. Carom, or French, billiards is played with three balls on a table that has no pockets. The other principal games are played on tables that have six pockets, one at each corner and one in each of the long sides; these games include English billiards, played with three balls; snooker, played with 21 balls and a cue ball; and pocket billiards, or pool, played with 15 balls and a cue ball. There are numerous varieties of each game—particularly of carom and pocket billiards.

Many countries—among them France, England, China, Italy, and Spain—have been credited with the invention of the game, but, in fact, nothing is really known about the origin of billiards. It may be inferred that it developed from a variety of games in which propelling a ball was a main feature. The earliest references to the game in Europe occur in the 15th century.

All billiards games require the basic equipment of a table, cue sticks, and balls. The traditional mahogany billiards table is still in use, but tables are now generally made of other woods and synthetic materials. The large rectangular table typically is twice as long as it is wide. It has a bed usually of polished slate covered by a woven woolen cloth, sometimes referred to as felt. Angled rails of hardened rubber or synthetic rubber, known as cushions, rim the inner edge of the table. The cue is a tapered rod of polished wood or synthetic material, ranging in length from about 40 to 60 inches (100 to 150 cm). The small end of the cue, with which the ball is struck, is fitted with a plastic, fibre, or ivory reinforcement to which is cemented a leather cue tip. Chalk in small cubes is applied uniformly to the cue tip permitting the players to strike the cue ball off centre on purpose in order to impart a spinning motion, called “side” in Great Britain and “English” in the United States. The billiard balls, formerly made of ivory or Belgian clay, are now usually plastic; they each measure from about 21/4 to 23/8 inches (5.7 to 6 cm) in diameter, the larger balls being used in carom billiards.

Different forms of the game tend to be played in certain groups of countries or areas of the world, though many of the games cross many national boundaries. The game of carom billiards is still played primarily in France and other European countries and to a lesser degree in the United States and has many players in Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and South Korea and in Central America, South America, Africa, and the Middle East. The game of English billiards is most popular in Britain and the former empire countries. The game of pocket billiards, or pool, which uses six large pocket openings, is primarily the game played on the American continents and, in recent years, has been played in Japan. The game of snooker is primarily British and is played to a small degree in the Americas.

Carom, or French, billiards

Carom billiards is played on a table usually 5 by 10 feet (1.5 by 3 m) or 4.5 by 9 feet (1.4 by 2.7 m). It has no pockets. The game is played with three balls, two white and one red, with one of the white balls having a small red dot, or spot, to distinguish it. One of the white balls (plain or spot) serves as the cue ball for each player, the red ball and other white ball serving as his object balls. In play, the object is to stroke the cue ball so that it hits the two object balls in succession, scoring a carom, or billiard, which counts one point. In a variety of the game called three-cushion billiards, the cue ball must also touch a cushion or cushions three or more times to complete a carom. Scoring a carom also entitles the player to another shot, and his turn, or inning, continues until he misses, when it becomes his opponent’s turn.

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English billiards

The game of English billiards is played on a relatively large table, usually 6 feet 1.5 inches by 12 feet (1.9 by 3.7 m); it is played with three balls as in carom—a plain white, a white with a spot, and a red. There are three ways of scoring: (1) the losing hazard, or loser, is a stroke in which the striker’s cue ball is pocketed after contact with another ball; (2) the winning hazard, or pot, is a stroke in which a ball other than the striker’s cue ball is pocketed after contact with another ball; (3) the cannon, or carom, is a scoring sequence in which the striker’s cue ball contacts the two other balls successively or simultaneously. The skill involved consists of developing one scoring stroke after another. A player continues at the table for as long as he succeeds in scoring.

Snooker

Snooker is played on the same table and with the same size balls used for English billiards. The game is played with 22 balls, made up of one white ball (the cue ball), 15 red balls, and six numbered coloured balls including one yellow 2, one green 3, one brown 4, one blue 5, one pink 6, and one black (valued at 7 points). The player must first pocket a red ball and then try to pocket any colour he may choose, scoring the value of the ball that he has pocketed. He then alternately pockets red and coloured balls. Each red ball when pocketed remains in the pocket, while the colours when pocketed, as long as any reds remain on the table, are placed on their respective spots. Play continues until only the six colours remain on the table. Finally, the six coloured balls must be pocketed in the order of their values. When the last ball is pocketed, the game is ended. During play, when a player cannot hit the ball that the rules require him to hit (because of obstruction by another ball or balls), he is said to be snookered and loses his turn; this situation gives the game its name.

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Carom, or French, billiards

English billiards

Snooker