Pool, also more formally known as pocket billiards (mostly in North America) or pool billiards (mostly in Europe and Australia), is the family of cue sports and games played on a pool table having six receptacles called pockets along the rails, into which balls are deposited as the main goal of play. Popular versions include eight-ball and nine-ball. An obsolete term for pool is six-pocket. Known players in the sports include Efren Reyes, Earl Strickland, Francisco Bustamante, Nick Varner, Wu Chia-ching, Ralf Souquet, Ronato Alcano, Daryl Peach, Johnny Archer, Mika Immonen among others.

The Oxford English dictionary states that pool is generally "any of various types of billiards for two or more players" but goes on to note that the first specific meaning of "a game in which each player uses a cue ball of a distinctive colour to pocket the balls of the other player(s) in a certain order, the winner taking all the stakes submitted at the start of the contest" is now obsolete and its other specific definitions are all for games that originate in the United States of America.

Nick Varner (born May 15, 1948 in Owensboro, Kentucky) is an American pool player and was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America in 1992.

Nick Varner became important on the professional pool scene after he won two ACU-I Intercollegiate Championships in 1970 while attending college. A cliché given to Varner was "Speak softly and carry a big stick" because of the way he conducted himself as well as his competitive endeavors.

In 1989, Varner became only the second man to earn over $100,000 in prize winnings accumulating 16 major nine-ball events and was "Player of the Year" in 1980 and 1989.

Varner achieved moderate success in his chosen "profession". Some of his accomplishments have included being an author, a video star, a pool room proprietor, a manufacturer's representative, and an exhibition player.

Scott Andrew Frost (born January 4, 1975) is an American football coach. He played collegiately for Nebraska as a quarterback. He was drafted in the third round (67th pick) by the New York Jets and played six years in the National Football League as a defensive back with the New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, Green Bay Packers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Scott Frost started his college career at Stanford University. He attended Stanford for two years before transferring to Nebraska.

Frost started for Nebraska during the 1996 and 1997 seasons, going 11-2 and 13-0 respectively. In 1997, he was the starting quarterback for the final National Championship team for legendary coach Tom Osborne and was a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. He was also involved in an incident involving Nebraska's star running back Lawrence Phillips, in which Kate McEwen, Phillips' girlfriend and a member of the Nebraska women's basketball team, had been in Frost's room when Phillips broke in and assaulted McEwen. Phillips was later charged with domestic abuse.

Mika Immonen (born 17 December 1972) is a Finnish professional pool player, nicknamed "the Ice Man."

He won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship in Cardiff, Wales in 2001. That same year, he was the runner-up to Corey Deuel in the US Open Nine-ball Championship

He has represented Team Europe on thirteen occasions in the Mosconi Cup, most recently in 2010. During the 2008 event Mika was crowned MVP, forever banishing bad memories of a costly miss in the final game of the 2006 event.

In early 2009, Mika was awarded the title of Player of the Year. Subsequently, he also claimed that title for season 2009 and was awarded early 2010.

Mika was born in London, England, and is also an extremely accomplished snooker player, having amassed more than 100 century breaks.

Mika is a two-time Men's Division title-holder of the US Open Nine-ball Championship, where the worlds top professional billiard players compete in Chesapeake, Virginia. In 2009 Mika won 14 straight matches, finishing with a close 13-10 victory over Ralf Souquet in the finals. On October 26, 2008, Mika claimed a 13-7 victory and pocketed the first-place prize of US$40,000 against runner-up Filipino Ronato Alcano, who settled for $20,000.

Frank Taberski (1889–1941) was a professional pocket billiards champion from Schenectady, New York. He won 10 consecutive challenge matches. He was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame in 1975. He was ranked number 7 on the Billiards Digest 50 Greatest Players of the Century.

He was born in 1899. In 1915, at age 26, he turned pro after attending the New York City pocket billiards championship.

Between 1915 and 1916 he became the world champion.

In 1916 he defeated Ralph Greenleaf of Monmouth, Illinois.

In 1917 he retained his title by defeating James Maturo of Kansas City.

By 1918 he had won 10 consecutive challenge matches. He died in 1941.

He won 10 consecutive challenge matches. There can be multiples matches in a single year.