Cue sports

Engraving from Charles Cotton's 1674 book, The Compleat Gamester
Highest governing body	World Confederation of Billiard Sports
First played	15th century Europe, with roots in ground billiards
Characteristics
Contact	No
Team members	Single opponents, doubles or teams
Mixed gender	Yes, sometimes in separate leagues/divisions
Categorization	Indoor, table
Equipment	Billiard ball, billiard table, cue stick
Venue	Billiard hall or home billiard room

Cue sports (sometimes written cuesports), also known as billiard sports,^[1][2] are a wide variety of games of skill generally played with a cue stick which is used to strike billiard balls, moving them around a cloth-covered billiards table bounded by rubber cushions.

Historically, the umbrella term was billiards. While that familiar name is still employed by some as a generic label for all such games, the word's usage has splintered into more exclusive competing meanings in various parts of the world. For example, in British and Australian English, "billiards" usually refers exclusively to the game of English billiards, while in American and Canadian English it is sometimes used to refer to a particular game or class of games, or to all cue games in general, depending upon dialect and context.

There are three major subdivisions of games within cue sports:

• Carom billiards, referring to games played on tables without pockets, typically 10-feet in length, including among others balkline and straight rail, cushion caroms, three-cushion billiards, artistic billiards and four-ball;
• Pool, covering numerous pocket billiards games generally played on six-pocket tables of 7-, 8-, or 9-foot length, including among others eight-ball (the world's most widely played cue sport), nine-ball, ten-ball, straight pool, one-pocket and bank pool; and
• Snooker and English billiards, games played on a billiards table with six pockets called a snooker table (which has dimensions just under 12 ft by 6 ft), that are classified entirely separately from pool based on a separate historical development, as well as a separate culture and terminology that characterize their play.

More obscurely, there are games that make use of obstacles and targets, and table-top games played with disks instead of balls.

Billiards has a long and rich history stretching from its inception in the 15th century, to the wrapping of the body of Mary, Queen of Scots, in her billiard table cover in 1586, through its many mentions in the works of Shakespeare, including the famous line "let's to billiards" in Antony and Cleopatra (1606–07), and through the many famous enthusiasts of the sport: Mozart, Louis XIV of France, Marie Antoinette, Immanuel Kant, Napoleon, Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, George Washington, French president Jules Grévy, Charles Dickens, George Armstrong Custer, Theodore Roosevelt, Lewis Carroll, W.C. Fields, Babe Ruth, Bob Hope, Jackie Gleason, and many others.

History[link]

Inset from School of Recreation, 1710. "We perceive from the engraving of the Billiards of the seventtenth century, that the game was altogether different from what it is now."^[3]

All cue sports are generally regarded to have evolved into indoor games from outdoor stick-and-ball lawn games (retroactively termed ground billiards),^[4] and as such to be related to trucco, croquet and golf, and more distantly to the stickless bocce and balls.

The first known mention of a form of the word "billiards" appears in Edmund Spenser's Mother Hubberd's Tale in 1591, where he speaks of "all thriftles games that may be found ... with dice, with cards, with balliards."^[5] The word "billiard" may have evolved from the French word billart or billette, meaning "stick", in reference to the mace, an implement similar to a golf club, which was the forerunner to the modern cue; the term's origin may have also been from French bille, meaning "ball".^[6] The modern term "cue sports" can be used to encompass the ancestral mace games, and even the modern cueless variants, such as finger billiards, for historical reasons. "Cue" itself came from queue, the French word for a tail. This refers to the early practice of using the tail of the mace to strike the ball when it lay against a rail cushion.^[6]

A recognizable form of billiards was played outdoors in the 1340s, and was reminiscent of croquet. King Louis XI of France (1461–1483) had the first known indoor billiard table.^[6] Louis XIV further refined and popularized the game, and it swiftly spread amongst the French nobility.^[6] While the game had long been played on the ground, this version appears to have died out in the 17th century, in favor of croquet, golf and bowling games, while table billiards had grown in popularity as an indoor activity.^[6] Mary, Queen of Scots, claimed that her "table de billiard" had been taken away by what would eventually become her executioners (who covered her body with the table's cloth).^[6] In 1588, the Duke of Norfolk, owned a "billyard bord coered with a greene cloth... three billyard sticks and 11 balls of yvery".^[6] Billiards grew to the extent that by 1727, it was being played in almost every Paris cafe.^[6] In England, the game was developing into a very popular activity for members of the gentry.^[6]

By 1670, the thin butt end of the mace began to be used not only for shots under the cushion (which itself was originally only there as a preventative method to stop balls from rolling off), but players increasingly preferred it for other shots as well. The cue as it is known today was finally developed by about 1800.^[6]

Initially, the mace was used to push the balls, rather than strike them. The newly developed striking cue provided a new challenge. Cushions began to be stuffed with substances to allow the balls to rebound, in order to enhance the appeal of the game. After a transitional period where only the better players would use cues, the cue came to be the first choice of equipment.^[6]

The demand for tables and other equipment was initially met in Europe by John Thurston and other furniture makers of the era. The early balls were made from wood and clay, but the rich preferred to use ivory.^[6]

Early billiard games involved various pieces of additional equipment, including the "arch" (related to the croquet hoop), "port" (a different hoop) and "king" (a pin or skittle near the arch) in the 1770s, but other game variants, relying on the cushions (and eventually on pockets cut into them), were being formed that would go on to play fundamental roles in the development of modern billiards.^[6]

Illustration of a three-ball pocket billiards game in early 19th century Tübingen, Germany, using a table much longer than the modern type.

The early croquet-like games eventually led to the development of the carom or carambole billiards category – what most non-US and non-UK speakers mean by the word "billiards". These games, which once completely dominated the cue sports world but have declined markedly in many areas over the last few generations, are games played with three or sometimes four balls, on a table without holes (and without obstructions or targets in most cases), in which the goal is generally to strike one object ball with a cue ball, then have the cue ball rebound off of one or more of the cushions and strike a second object ball. Variations include three-cushion, straight rail and the balkline variants, cushion caroms, five-pins, and four-ball, among others.

Over time, a type of obstacle returned, originally as a hazard and later as a target, in the form of pockets, or holes partly cut into the table bed and partly into the cushions, leading to the rise of pocket billiards, including "pool" games such as eight-ball, nine-ball, straight pool and one-pocket; Russian pyramid; snooker; English billiards and others.

In the United States pool and billiards had died out for a bit, but between 1878 and 1956 pool and billiards became very popular. Players in annual championships began to receive their own cigarette cards. This was mainly due to the fact that if was a popular pastime for troops to take their minds off from battle. However, by the end of World War II pool and billiards began to die down once again. It wasn’t until 1961 when the film "The Hustler" came out that sparked a new interest in the game. Now the game is generally a well-known game and has many players of all different skill levels.^[7]

There are few more cheerful sights, when the evenings are long, and the weather dull, than a handsome, well-lighted billiard room, with the smooth, green surface of the billiard table; the ivory balls flying noiselessly here and there, or clicking musically together.^[8]

—Charles Dickens Jr., (1889)

As a sport[link]

At least the games with regulated international professional competition have been referred to as "sports" or "sporting" events, not simply "games", since 1893 at the latest.^[9] Quite a variety of particular games (i.e., sets of rules and equipment) are the subject of present-day competition, including many of those already mentioned, with competition being especially broad in nine-ball, snooker, three-cushion and eight-ball.

Snooker, though technically a pocket billiards variant and closely related in its equipment and origin to the game of English billiards, is a professional sport organized at the international level, and its rules bear little resemblance to those of modern pool, pyramid and other such games.

A "Billiards" category encompassing pool, snooker and carom was featured in the 2005 World Games, held in Duisburg, Germany, and the 2006 Asian Games also saw the introduction of a "Cue sports" category.

Equipment[link]

Billiard balls[link]

Cue balls from (left to right):

• Russian pool and kaisa—68 mm (2 ¹¹⁄₁₆ in)
• Carom—61.5 mm (2 ⁷⁄₁₆ in)
• American-style pool—57 mm (2 ¹⁄₄ in)
• British-style pool (largish) —56 mm (2 ³⁄₁₆ in)
• Snooker—52.5 mm (2 ¹⁄₁₅ in)
• Scaled-down pool—51 mm (2 in) for children's smaller tables

Not shown: half-scale children's miniature pool—approximately 28.5 mm (1 ¹⁄₈ in).

Billiard balls vary from game to game, in size, design and quantity.

Russian pyramid and kaisa have as size of 68 mm (2 ¹¹⁄₁₆ in). In Russian pyramid there are sixteen balls, as in pool, but fifteen are white and numbered, and the cue ball is usually red.^[10] In Kaisa, five balls are used: the yellow object ball (called the kaisa in Finnish), two red object balls, and the two white cue balls (usually differentiated by one cue ball having a dot or other marking on it and each of which serves as an object ball for the opponent).

Carom billiards balls are larger than pool balls a diameter of 61.5 mm (2 ⁷⁄₁₆ in), and come as a set of two cue balls (one colored or marked) and an object ball (or two object balls in the case of the game four-ball).

American-style pool balls of 57 mm (2 ¹⁄₄ in), are used in any pool game and found throughout the world, come in sets of two suits of object balls, seven solids and seven stripes, an 8 ball and a cue ball; the balls are racked differently for different games (some of which do not use the entire ball set). Blackball (English-style eight-ball) sets are similar, but have unmarked groups of red (or blue) and yellow balls instead of solids and stripes, and at 56 mm (2 ³⁄₁₆ in) are smaller than the American-style; they are used principally in Britain, Ireland, and some Commonwealth countries, though not exclusively, since they are unsuited for playing nine-ball.

Snooker balls are smaller than American-style pool balls with a diameter of 52.5 mm (2 ¹⁄₁₅ in), and come in sets of 22 (15 reds, 6 "colours", and a cue ball). Other games, such as bumper pool, have custom ball sets.

Billiard balls have been made from many different materials since the start of the game, including clay, bakelite, celluloid, crystallite, ivory, plastic, steel and wood. The dominant material from 1627 until the early 20th century was ivory. The search for a substitute for ivory use was not for environmental concerns but based on economic motivation and fear of danger for elephant hunters. It was in part spurred on by a New York billiard table manufacturer who announced a prize of $10,000 for a substitute material. The first viable substitute was celluloid, invented by John Wesley Hyatt in 1868, but the material was volatile, sometimes exploding during manufacture and was highly flammable.^[11][12]

Tables[link]

Pool table with equipment.

There are many sizes and styles of pool and billiard tables. Generally, tables are rectangles twice as long as they are wide. Most pool tables are known as 7-, 8-, or 9-footers, referring to the length of the table's long side. Full-size snooker and English billiard tables are 12 feet (3.7 m) long on the longest side. Pool halls tend to have 9-foot (2.7 m) tables and cater to the serious pool player. Pubs will typically use 7-foot (2.1 m) tables which are often coin-operated. Formerly, 10-foot (3 m) tables were common, but such tables are now considered antique collectors items; a few, usually from the late 19th century, can be found in pool halls from time to time. Ten-foot tables remain the standard size for carom billiard games. The slates on modern carom tables are usually heated to stave off moisture and provide a consistent playing surface.

The length of the pool table will typically be a function of space, with many homeowners purchasing an 8-foot (2.4 m) table as a compromise. High quality tables are mostly 4.5 by 9 ft (2.7 m). (interior dimensions), with a bed made of three pieces of thick slate to prevent warping and changes due to humidity. Smaller bar tables are most commonly made with a single piece of slate. Pocket billiards tables of all types normally have six pockets, three on each side (four corner pockets, and two middle or side pockets).

Cloth[link]

Women playing on an elaborately decorated green-covered table in an early 1880s advertising poster.

All types of tables are covered with billiard cloth (often called "felt", but actually a woven wool or wool/nylon blend called baize). Cloth has been used to cover billiards tables since the 15th century. In fact, the predecessor company of the most famous maker of billiard cloth, Iwan Simonis, was formed in 1453.

Bar or tavern tables, which get a lot of play, use "slower", more durable cloth. The cloth used in upscale pool (and snooker) halls and home billiard rooms is "faster" (i.e., provides less friction, allowing the balls to roll farther across the table bed), and competition-quality pool cloth is made from 100 % worsted wool. Snooker cloth traditionally has a nap (consistent fiber directionality) and balls behave differently when rolling against versus along with the nap.

The cloth of the billiard table has traditionally been green, reflecting its origin (originally the grass of ancestral lawn games), and has been so colored since the 16th century, but it is also produced in other colors such as red and blue.^[13]

The cloth was earlier said to be the most important part of the game, most likely because of the reflection of the game's origin. The players were stubborn in the fact that the cloth should not be ripped. They even made women continue to use maces after cues were invented, for fear that they would rip the cloth with the sharper cues.

Rack[link]

Aluminium billiard rack that is used for 8-ball, 9-ball, and straight pool.

A rack is the name given to a frame (usually wood, plastic or aluminium) used to organize billiard balls at the beginning of a game. This is traditionally triangular in shape, but varies with the type of billiards played. There are two main types of racks; the more common triangular shape which is used for eight-ball and straight pool and the diamond shaped rack used for nine-ball.

Cues[link]

Main article: Cue stick

Billiards games are mostly played with a stick known as a cue. A cue is usually either a one piece tapered stick or a two piece stick divided in the middle by a joint of metal or phenolic resin. High quality cues are generally two pieces and are made of a hardwood, generally maple for billiards and ash for snooker.

The butt end of the cue is of larger circumference and is intended to be gripped by a player's hand. The shaft of the cue is of smaller circumference, usually tapering to an 0.4 to 0.55 inch (10 to 14 mm) terminus called a ferrule (usually made of fiberglass or brass in better cues), where a rounded leather tip is affixed, flush with the ferrule, to make final contact with balls. The tip, in conjunction with chalk, can be used to impart spin to the cue ball when it is not hit in its center.

Cheap cues are generally made of pine, low-grade maple (and formerly often of ramin, which is now endangered), or other low-quality wood, with inferior plastic ferrules. A quality cue can be expensive and may be made of exotic woods and other expensive materials which are artfully inlaid in decorative patterns. Many modern cues are also made, like golf clubs, with high-tech materials such as woven graphite. Skilled players may use more than one cue during a game, including a separate generally lighter cue for the opening break shot (because of cue speed gained from a lighter stick) and another, shorter cue with a special tip for jump shots.

Mechanical bridge[link]

The mechanical bridge, sometimes called a "rake", "bridge stick" or simply "bridge", and "rest" in the UK, is used to extend a player's reach on a shot where the cue ball is too far away for normal hand bridging. It consists of a stick with a grooved metal or plastic head which the cue slides on. Many amateurs refuse to use the mechanical bridge based on the perception that to do so is unmanly. However, many aficionados and most professionals employ the bridge whenever the intended shot so requires. Some players, especially current or former snooker players, use a screw-on cue butt extension instead of or in addition to the mechanical bridge. Bridge head design is varied, and not all designs (especially those with cue shaft-enclosing rings, or wheels on the bottom of the head), are broadly tournament-approved. In Italy a longer, thicker cue is typically available for this kind of tricky shot. Commonly in snooker they are available in three forms depending on how the player is hampered; the standard rest has a simple cross, the 'spider' has a raised arch around 12 cm with three grooves to rest the cue in and for the most awkward of shots, the 'giraffe' (or 'swan' in England) which has a raised arch much like the 'spider' but with a slender arm reaching out around 15 cm with the groove.

Chalk[link]

Billiard chalk is applied to the tip of the cue.

Chalk is applied to the tip of the cue stick, ideally before every shot, to increase the tip's friction coefficient so that when it impacts the cue ball on a non-center hit, no miscue (unintentional slippage between the cue tip and the struck ball) occurs. Cue tip chalk is not actually the substance typically referred to as "chalk" (generally calcium carbonate, also known as calcite or carbonate of lime), but any of several proprietary compounds, with a silicate base. It was around the time of the Industrial Revolution that newer compounds formed that provided better grip for the ball. This is when the English began to experiment with side spin or applying curl to the ball. This was shortly introduced to the American players and is how the term “putting English on the ball” came to be. "Chalk" may also refer to a cone of fine, white hand chalk; like talc (talcum powder) it can be used to reduce friction between the cue and bridge hand during shooting, for a smoother stroke. Some brands of hand chalk actually are made of compressed talc. (Tip chalk is not used for this purpose because it is abrasive, hand-staining and difficult to apply.) Many players prefer a slick pool glove over hand chalk or talc because of the messiness of these powders; buildup of particles on the cloth will affect ball behavior and necessitate more-frequent cloth cleaning. Some players find it useful to moisten the chalk with saliva thereby creating a chalky paste which performs as a lubricant on the cue stick. This lubrication method is usually attributed to professional pool player Hal "Spitty-Smitty" Smith.

Cue tip chalk (invented in its modern form by straight rail billiard pro William A. Spinks and chemist William Hoskins in 1897)^[14][15] is made by crushing silica and the abrasive substance corundum or aloxite^[15] (aluminium oxide),^[16][17] into a powder.^[15] It is combined with dye (originally and most commonly green or blue-green, like traditional billiard cloth, but available today, like the cloth, in many colors) and a binder (glue).^[15] Each manufacturer's brand has different qualities, which can significantly affect play. High humidity can also impair the effectiveness of chalk. Harder, drier compounds are generally considered superior by most players.

Major games[link]

Carom billiards table in a Parisian café.

There are two main varieties of billiard games: carom and pocket. The main carom billiards games are straight rail, balkline and especially three cushion billiards. All are played on a pocketless table with three balls; two cue balls and one object ball. In all, players shoot a cue ball so that it makes contact with the opponent's cue ball as well as the object ball. Others of multinational interest are four-ball and five-pins.

The most globally popular of the large variety of pocket games are Pool games (especially eight-ball, nine-ball, straight pool and one-pocket) and snooker. In eight-ball and nine-ball, the object is to sink object balls until one can legally pocket the winning eponymous "money ball". Well-known but waning in popularity is straight pool, in which players seek to continue sinking balls, rack after rack if they can, to reach a pre-determined winning score (typically 150). Related to nine-ball, another well-known game is rotation, where the lowest-numbered object ball on the table must be struck first, although any object ball may be pocketed (i.e., combination shot). Each pocketed ball is worth its number, and the player with the highest score at the end of the rack is the winner. Since there are only 120 points available (1 + 2 + 3 ⋯ + 15 = 120), scoring 61 points leaves no opportunity for the opponent to catch up. In both one-pocket and bank pool, the players must sink a set number of balls; respectively, all in a particular pocket, or all by bank shots. In snooker, players score points by alternately potting red balls and various special "colour balls". English billiards, with some features of carom billiards, was one of the two most-competitive cue sports, along with balkline, at the turn of the previous century and is still enjoyed today especially in Commonwealth countries. Russian pyramid and its variants like kaisa are popular in the former Eastern bloc.

Man playing billiards with a cue and a woman with mace, from an illustration appearing in Michael Phelan's 1859 book, The Game of Billiards.

Games played on a carom billiards table[link]

Straight rail or straight billiards[link]

In straight rail, a player scores a point and may continue shooting each time his cue ball makes contact with both other balls.

Although a difficult and subtle game, some of the best players of straight billiards developed the skill to gather the balls in a corner or along the same rail for the purpose of playing a series of nurse shots to score a seemingly limitless number of points.

The first straight rail professional tournament was held in 1879 where Jacob Schaefer, Sr. scored 690 points in a single turn^{[13][page needed]} (that is, 690 separate strokes without a miss). With the balls repetitively hit and barely moving in endless "nursing", there was little for the fans to watch.

Balkline[link]

In light of these phenomenal skill developments in straight rail, the game of balkline soon developed to make it impossible for a player to keep the balls gathered in one part of the table for long, greatly limiting the effectiveness of nurse shots. A balkline (not to be confused with baulk line, which pertains to the game of English billiards) is a line parallel to one end of a billiards table. In the games of balkline – 18.1 and 18.2 (pronounced "eighteen-point-two") balkline, among other more obscure variations – the players have to drive at least one object ball past a balkline set at 18 inches (460 mm) from each rail, after one or two points have been scored, respectively.

Three-cushion billiards[link]

A more elegant solution was three-cushion billiards, which requires a player to make contact with the other two balls on the table and contact three rail cushions in the process. This is difficult enough that even the best players can only manage to average one to two points per turn.

Games played on a pool table[link]

There are many variations of games played on a standard pool table. Even within games types (e.g. eight-ball), there may be variations, and people may play recreationally using relaxed or local rules. A few of the more popular examples of pool games are given below.

Two-player or -team games[link]

• Eight-ball: The goal is to pocket (pot) all of one's designated group of balls (either stripes vs. solids, or reds vs. yellows, depending upon the equipment), and then pocket the 8 ball in a called pocket.
• Nine-ball: The goal is to pocket the 9 ball; the initial contact of the cue ball each turn must be with the lowest-numbered object ball remaining on the table; there are numerous variants such as seven-ball, six-ball, and the older forms of three-ball and ten-ball, that simply use a different number of balls and have a different money ball.
• Straight pool (a.k.a. 14.1 continuous pool): The goal is to reach a predetermined number of points (e.g. 100); a point is earned by pocketing any called ball into a designated pocket; game play is by racks of 15 balls, and the last object ball of a rack is not pocketed, but left on the table with the opponent re-racking the remaining 14 before game play continues.
• Bank pool: The goal is to reach a predetermined number of points; a point is earned by pocketing any called ball by banking it into a designated pocket (using one or more cushion.^{[18][unreliable source?]}

Games played on a snooker table[link]

English billiards[link]

Dating to approximately 1800, English billiards, called simply billiards^[6] in many former British colonies and in Great Britain where it originated, was originally called the winning and losing carambole game, folding in the names of three predecessor games, the winning game, the losing game and the carambole game (an early form of straight rail), that combined to form it.^[19] The game features both cannons (caroms) and the pocketing of balls as objects of play. English billiards requires two cue balls and a red object ball. The object of the game is to score either a fixed number of points, or score the most points within a set time frame, determined at the start of the game.

Points are awarded for:

• Two-ball cannons: striking both the object ball and the other (opponent's) cue ball on the same shot (2 points)
• Winning hazards: potting the red ball (3 points); potting the other cue ball (2 points)
• Losing hazards (or "in-offs"): potting one's cue ball by cannoning off another ball (3 points if the red ball was hit first; 2 points if the other cue ball was hit first, or if the red and other cue ball were "split", i.e., hit simultaneously).

Snooker[link]

Snooker is a pocket billiards game originated by British officers stationed in India during the 19th century, based on earlier pool games such as black pool and life pool. The name of the game became generalized to also describe one of its prime strategies: to "snooker" the opposing player by causing that player to foul or leave an opening to be exploited.

In the United Kingdom, snooker is by far the most popular cue sport at the competitive level, and major national pastime along with association football and cricket. It is played in many other countries as well. Snooker is uncommon in North America, where pool games such as eight-ball and nine-ball dominate, and Latin America, where carom games dominate. The first International Snooker Championship was held in 1927, and it has been held annually since then with few exceptions. The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) was established in 1968 to regulate the professional game, while the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) regulates the amateur games.

Speed pool[link]

Speed pool is a standard billiards game where the balls must be pocketed in as little time as possible. Rules vary greatly from tournament to tournament. The International Speed Pool Challenge has been held annually since 2006.

List of cue sports[link]

Carom billiards games[link]

• Artistic billiards
• Balkline games (18.1, 18.2, etc.)
• Cowboy pool (a hybrid carom/pocket game)
• Five-pin billiards
• Goriziana or nine-pin billiards
• Four-ball (yotsudama, sagu)
• Straight-rail
• Three-cushion billiards

Pool (pocket billiards) games[link]

• Artistic pool
• Bank pool (banks, nine-ball banks)
• Baseball pocket billiards
• Blackball and British eight-ball pool
• Bottle pool
• Bowlliards
• Chicago
• Chinese eight-ball
• Cowboy pool (hybrid)
• Cribbage pool
• Cutthroat
• Eight-ball (stripes-and-solids, highs-and-lows)
• English billiards (hybrid)
• Equal offense
• Kaisa
• Kelly pool (pill/pea pool)
• Killer
• Nine-ball
• One-pocket
• Poker pool (hybrid)
• Rotation
• Russian pyramid
• Seven-ball
• Skittle pool variants (pin pool)
• Snooker (see below; popularly regarded as its own sport, not a pool variant)
• Speed pool
• Straight pool (also called "14.1 continuous")
• Ten-ball
• Three-ball
• Trick shot competition

Snooker games[link]

• Snooker
• Six-red snooker
• American snooker
• Sinuca brasileira
• Volunteer snooker
• Snooker plus
• Golf billiards (and its variant, around-the-world)

English billiards[link]

• English billiards

Obstacle and target billiards games[link]

• Bagatelle
• Bar billiards
• Bumper pool
• Danish pin billiards and other pin billiards games
• Devil's pool and victory billiards
• Bottle pool, skittle pool (pin pool), and Italian five-pin billiards are vestigially classifiable here as well

Developments without cue or balls, or both[link]

• Boccette
• Hand billiards and finger pool (no cues)

• Crud

• Carrom (uses small disks instead of balls; some versions use miniature cues, others no cues at all)

• Novuss (a variant that uses full-size cues)
• Crokinole (some variants of this combination of carrom and shuffleboard use miniature cues)

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Billiards

• Glossary of cue sports terms
• BCA Hall of Fame
• Hustling
• Cue sports techniques

References[link]

External links[link]

Organizations[link]

• World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) – the International Olympic Committee-recognized promulgator of international rules for a variety of cue sports.

• Billiard Congress of America (BCA) – the US national WPA affiliate

• International Billiards & Snooker Federation (IBSF) (amateur)
• World Snooker and World Billiards (World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, WPBSA)
• African Billiards & Snooker Federation (ABSF)
• Asian Confederation of Billiards Sports (ACBS)
• North American Poolshooters Association (NAPA)

History[link]

• "The Billiards Family [Games] at the Online Guide to Traditional Games; includes sourced information on the early history of the sport
• "A Brief History of the Noble Game of Billiards", by Michael Ian Shamos (a BCA-published summary of Shamos's more in-depth research on the topic)

Technical information[link]

• CueTable billiard diagram software]
• "The Illustrated Principles of Pool and Billiards", by Prof. David G. Alciatore – technical billiards physics materials (and online instruction and demonstrations)
• "Physics of Billiards" resource list by Regis Petit.

News sources[link]

• Billiards Digest magazine
• Inside Pool magazine
• AZBilliards e-magazine
• Cue Sport News
• Pool & Billiards Online Community
• Snookerwiki cue sports news

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Ken Doherty

Doherty playing with the rest, at the 2011 Paul Hunter Classic
Born	(1969-09-17) 17 September 1969 (age 42)
Sport country	Ireland
Nickname	"The Darlin' of Dublin", "Crafty Ken", "Ken-do", 'The Diamond of Dublin', "Comeback Ken"
Professional	1990– Present
Highest ranking	2 (2006/07)
Current ranking	35
Career winnings	GB£3,269,385[1]
Highest break	145 (2004 Players Championship)
Century breaks	277
Tournament wins
Ranking	6
Non-ranking	11
World Champion	1997

Ken Doherty (born 17 September 1969) is an Irish professional snooker player. He is the only player ever to have been world amateur (1989) and world professional champion (1997). He was also World Under-21 champion in 1989.

Career[link]

After two semi-finals in the 1991/92 season (his second as a professional), Doherty reached the final of the 1992 Grand Prix, narrowly losing 10–9 to Jimmy White. In the same event a year later, he lost 6–9 to Peter Ebdon. His first ranking title was the 1993 Welsh Open, enough to take him into the top 16 in the world, where he remained until the 2007/08 season. In the 1994 World Championship he reached the quarter-finals, his only run past the first round before 1997.

Doherty became only the third player from outside the United Kingdom (After Australian Horace Lindrum in 1952 and Canadian Cliff Thorburn in 1980) to win the World Championship when he beat Stephen Hendry 18–12 in the 1997 final. Ken also reached the World Championship final in 1998 (losing to John Higgins) and in 2003, losing narrowly to Mark Williams. The latter run was noted for some outstanding comebacks, including final-frame wins over Graeme Dott and Shaun Murphy, a 13–8 win over John Higgins in a match where Doherty raced ahead 10–0 but Higgins fought back to 10–7, and a semi-final fightback from 9–15 to beat Paul Hunter 17–16. In that championship he played more frames than anyone before or since. In the final, Williams led 11–4 but Doherty fought back to 12–12 and 16–16. In frame 33, Doherty missed the 2nd to final red with a clearance there for the taking. Williams won that crucial frame and the next to prevail 18–16.

He is one of the few players to win back-to-back ranking events – the Welsh Open and Thailand Masters in 2001, also reaching the final of the following Regal Scottish Open.^[2]

In 2000, he narrowly failed to achieve a maximum break when he missed a routine final black off its spot in the 15th frame of the Benson & Hedges Masters final against Matthew Stevens, which he eventually lost 10–8. This one pot would have seen him win an £80,000 sports car. However, at 140 he did at least have the consolation of the £19,000 highest break prize.

In the 2005 World Championship, Doherty beat Barry Pinches in the first round 10–5, winning the last 8 frames, but was knocked out in the second round by Alan McManus 13–11.

Following an average start to the 2005/06 season, Doherty won the Malta Cup in February 2006, beating John Higgins in the final. Doherty had trailed 8–5 at one stage but managed a stirring comeback, winning four frames in a row. Doherty called the victory, which bridged a five-year gap, his "most important tournament win since the World Championship".^[3][4]

In the 2006 World Championship, Doherty started brightly winning his first match and defeated Barry Hawkins 10–1 and then he beat Matthew Stevens 13–8, playing superbly to win the last 5 frames. He was favourite in his quarter-final match against Marco Fu but lost 13–10. It was 8–8 as the final session started, but Doherty struggled despite winning a frame in which he required 3 snookers. Although he led 7–6, 8–7, 9–8 and 10–9, he could never quite take a decisive advantage to win the match. Doherty admitted afterwards that he "blew it"" but that he still had "a couple more years" to come back and win the title.^[5] He ended the 2005/06 season as the world Number 2, his highest ranking ever.

He made a solid start to the 2006/07 snooker season by reaching the quarter-final at what is the closest thing to a home tournament for him, the Northern Ireland Trophy at Belfast's Waterfront Hall. He followed this up with a last-16 defeats at the Grand Prix in Aberdeen and the UK Championship in York. He reached the quarter-finals of the next two tournaments, the Masters and the Malta Cup. He lost in the first round of the World Championship and, although clearly disappointed, the Dubliner vowed to continue.^[6] He was provisional world Number 1 for most of 2006/07 but finished the season at Number 4.

In October 2006, he won the Irish Professional Snooker Championships for a second time (having previously captured the title in 1993), an invitational event, beating Michael Judge 9–4 in the final. A year later he defended his title with a resounding 9–2 victory over Fergal O'Brien. He followed this up a week later by becoming the first Irishman to win the Pot Black invitational tournament, beating Shaun Murphy 76–31 in the one-frame final.

Doherty did not start the 2007–08 season well, winning only one match during the first four ranking tournaments. However, he did reach the semi-finals of the Masters with victories over Mark Williams and Shaun Murphy,^[7] before losing to eventual champion Mark Selby. He then reached the final of the Malta Cup for a record fifth time, defeating John Higgins in the semi-finals, before losing to Murphy in the final. Unfortunately for Doherty, neither of these events are ranking events, meaning his performances did nothing to keep him in the Top 16 for 2008/09. Defeat to Liang Wenbo in the first round of the World Championship ensured that he dropped out of the Top 16 after 15 years, and he started the new season 32nd on the provisional (one-year) list. A run of qualifying defeats saw him drop as low as 38th before the UK Championship.

Doherty's poor run of form continued during the 2008–09 season during which he won only two matches. For the first time since 1993, he failed to qualify for the World Championship having been beaten in the final qualifying round by Gerard Greene.

Doherty's form saw an upturn in the 2009/2010 season with a rise back into the top 32 (at 30) in the rankings up from 44th. This is thanks to a quarter final appearance in the 2009 Shanghai Masters, and a last 16 appearance in the 2009 Grand Prix. Doherty defeated 6 times World Championship finalist Jimmy White 10–3, and two time Crucible semi-finalist Joe Swail 10–1 to mark his return to the World Championships for the first time since 2008. In an amusing moment, Doherty got down on his knees and kissed the carpet upon his return to the venue. However, he lost his first round match 10–4 to reigning Masters champion Mark Selby.

The 2010/2011 season proved to be a mixed campaign for Doherty, who made the last 32 of the 2010 World Open, yet missed out on qualifying for the 2011 German Masters, 2011 Welsh Open (snooker) and crucially, blowing a 6–3, losing 10–6 Jimmy Robertson in the final stage of qualifying for the 2011 World Snooker Championship, meaning he has only reached The Crucible in 1 of his last 3 attempts.

The 2011/2012 season started well for Doherty as he reached the Semi-Final of the Australian Open. He lost this match against Mark Williams 2-6. He was ranked 32 going into the 2012 world snooker championship qualifers he faced Anthony Hamilton and after the first session he held a 6-3 advantage. Doherty then led 9-7 before Hamilton brought it back to 9-9. In the decider Doherty was 52 points behind but profited from a Hamilton error to produce a match-winning clearance, to earn a first round match against Neil Robertson.^[8]

Doherty had an excellent start to the 2011/2012 season as he qualified for the Australian Goldfields Open, where he reached his first ranking event semi-final since 2006. He beat Mark Selby 5–3 in the quarter-finals, sealing the match with a clearance which he described as the best of his career. Doherty also stated that he almost quit the game in 2009 following his downturn in form which saw him drop to world number 55.^[9] He couldn't replicate his form in the last 4, however, as he was beaten 2–6 by Mark Williams.^[10] In the remainder of the season Doherty qualified for the German Masters and the Welsh Open, but was defeated in the first round to Williams and Mark Allen respectively, without picking up a frame.^[11] He also reached the final of the non-ranking Lucan Racing Classic, losing 2–5 to Fergal O'Brien.^[12]

He was ranked 32nd in the world going into the World Championship qualifiers, where he faced Anthony Hamilton. The match went into a deciding frame with Doherty 40 points behind, but he profited from a Hamilton error to produce a match-winning clearance to win 10–9 and earn a first round match against Neil Robertson.^[13] He lost 4–10 and finished the season ranked world number 35.^[14][15]

Playing style[link]

Despite being most renowned as a clever tactician, he is a heavy scorer when in around the balls at close quarters and has compiled over 250 centuries to date, making him one of only thirteen players to compile over 200 centuries.^[16] This relatively cautious approach has led to the nickname "Crafty Ken".

Doherty's early career had begun with practice in Jason's of Ranelagh, Dublin, where he used to play handicap snooker tournaments on Saturday mornings before moving on to national level. This club closed in 2006 and he now practises in a Dublin hotel. In his first national event, an U-16 ranking tournament, Doherty lost in the final but would come back a month later and beat the man who had beaten him in the Irish U-16 National Championships.

Doherty has played his entire career with a warped cue randomly selected from the cue rack in his local snooker club, Jason's. Doherty humorously revealed that the club manager originally wanted £5 for it but Doherty haggled him down to £2. Ken Doherty explains, "It's warped. I must be one of the few professionals playing with a warped cue, but I wouldn't dream of changing it. I have got used to holding it in a certain way, with my eye trained on a piece of grain.^[17]

Media work[link]

Doherty has started working on TV coverage on snooker matches with the BBC snooker coverage team.

He became a regular commentator for the BBC starting with the 2009 Masters Tournament, following the sidelining of veteran expert Clive Everton.

Personal life[link]

Doherty resides in Rathgar and is married to Sarah, who is Australian. Their first child, a son named Christian, was born on 30 November 2007.^[18]

Doherty was nearly blinded in 2002 in a bathroom accident; after slipping, he struck an ornament, which narrowly missed his left eye. However, his distinctive scar on his right cheek dates back to his seventh birthday, when he fell off a shed roof on to a metal dustbin.^[17][19]

Doherty is a Manchester United fan and he paraded his trophy at Old Trafford in front of 55,000 spectators following his World Championship triumph. It is also said that Ken is a follower of Barnsley after attending Barnsley's pre-season friendly against Manchester City in 2009. The stadium announcer was heard saying at half time that there was a celebrity fan sitting in the upper East Stand at Oakwell and later revealed that it was Ken.

Although he has never made a 147 break in tournament play, Doherty did make one in a public exhibition in Ireland, in 2002. He made light of his prize on television shortly afterwards, which was allegedly €300, a BMX bicycle and a toy Ferrari car.

In May 2007, Doherty appeared on RTÉ's spoof show Anonymous, heavily disguised as a priest. Ostensibly he was a beginner at snooker and received some tips from Alex Higgins, who was initially fooled by the make-up and Doherty's hopeless play. However, as "Fr Donoghue" began to clear the table, Higgins' suspicions were aroused and Doherty was eventually rumbled. Still, Doherty's disguise was enough to fool his mother and wife.

Doherty currently represents Irish poker site 'VCPoker.ie', appearing on radio commercials, and regularly playing in tournaments where the players on the site receive a bonus for knocking him out.

Career finals[link]

Ranking event finals: 17 (6 titles, 11 runner-ups)[link]

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	1992	Grand Prix	White, JimmyJimmy White	9–10
Winner	1.	1993	Welsh Open	McManus, AlanAlan McManus	9–7
Runner-up	2.	1993	Grand Prix (2)	Ebdon, PeterPeter Ebdon	6–9
Runner-up	3.	1994	UK Championship	Hendry, StephenStephen Hendry	5–10
Runner-up	4.	1995	German Open	Higgins, JohnJohn Higgins	3–9
Runner-up	5.	1996	Thailand Open	McManus, AlanAlan McManus	8–9
Winner	2.	1997	World Snooker Championship	Hendry, StephenStephen Hendry	18–12
Runner-up	6.	1998	World Snooker Championship	Higgins, JohnJohn Higgins	12–18
Winner	3.	2000	Malta Grand Prix	Williams, MarkMark Williams	9–3
Winner	4.	2001	Welsh Open (2)	Hunter, PaulPaul Hunter	9–2
Winner	5.	2001	Thailand Masters	Hendry, StephenStephen Hendry	9–3
Runner-up	7.	2001	Scottish Open	Ebdon, PeterPeter Ebdon	7–9
Runner-up	8.	2001	UK Championship (2)	O'Sullivan, RonnieRonnie O'Sullivan	1–10
Runner-up	9.	2002	Welsh Open	Hunter, PaulPaul Hunter	7–9
Runner-up	10.	2002	UK Championship (3)	Williams, MarkMark Williams	9–10
Runner-up	11.	2003	World Snooker Championship (2)	Williams, MarkMark Williams	16–18
Winner	6.	2006	Malta Cup	Higgins, JohnJohn Higgins	9–8

Non-ranking wins[link]

• Benson & Hedges Championship: 1991
• Scottish Masters: 1993, 1994
• Premier League Snooker: 1996, 1998
• Malta Grand Prix: 1997
• Irish Masters: 1998
• Irish Professional Championships: 1993, 2006, 2007
• Pot Black: 2007
• Irish Classic: 2008

Other Wins[link]

• Pro Challenge Series – Event 2: 2009

Amateur wins[link]

• IBSF World Amateur Championship: 1989
• IBSF World Under 21 Championship: 1989

Performance timeline[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Doherty, Ken (2011). Ken Doherty – Life in the Frame – My Story. Blake Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84358-504-6. 

External links[link]

• "Ken Doherty". WorldSnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 2007–2010 [copyright date]. "Players Alphabetical" section. http://www.worldsnooker.com/page/PlayersAlphabeticalArticle/0,,13165~2233698,00.html. Retrieved 7 September 2011.  Official WPBSA player profile.
• Ken Doherty at CueTracker.net: Snooker Results and Statistic Database
• Profile at Global Snooker
• Profile at Pro Snooker Blog