Cue sports (sometimes written cuesports), also known as billiard sports, 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:

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.

Efren Manalang Reyes (born August 26, 1954) is a Filipino professional pool player and a two-time world champion.

Reyes was born in Pampanga in 1954. He moved to Manila with his family at the age of 5. In Manila, he worked as a billiards attendant at his uncle's billiards hall, where he started learning the various cue sports. Because he was not tall enough to reach the pool table, he played while standing on Coca-cola cases that he moved around. At night, while he was dreaming of playing pool, the pool table was his bed.^{[citation needed]}

He is called Bata, which is Filipino for "Kid", because there was another older pool player named Efren when he was young. To distinguish between the two, he was referred to as Efren Bata.

Gambling from a young age, Reyes played three cushion billiards in the 1960s and 1970s. After establishing himself as a winner, he was discovered by promoters. This gave him the opportunity to compete in big time tournaments.

During the 1980s, when Reyes was considered a top-class player in his homeland but not yet internationally recognized, he went to the U.S. to hustle. Popular legend claims that Reyes earned US$80,000 in a week; this feat made him a folk hero back home.

Earl "The Pearl" Strickland (born on June 8, 1961, Roseboro, North Carolina) is an American professional pool player and was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's Hall of Fame in 2006. He is considered one of the best nine-ball players of all time because of his numerous championship titles within a 25-year time span, and also one of the most controversial, for his often-outspoken views and sometimes volatile behavior at tournaments.

Strickland started playing pool at the age of nine, and after intensive practice he entered his first pro tournament at 15.

Strickland rose to national prominence in 1983, with a victory in Lake Tahoe. This was followed in 1984, in Caesars Palace Pro Billiard Classic, Las Vegas.

According to sources, Strickland played "like a polished gem." He was beginning to be a dominant force on the tournament trail and recognized as a future world champion. He had the "skill, endurance, patience, temperament, and tenacity of which champions are made." Because of his dominance, Strickland was named The National Billiard News Player of the Year in 1984. He won the 1988 World Open championship, after a momentous final confrontation between himself and Mike 'Captain Hook' Sigel".

Shane Van Boening (born 14 July 1983) is an American professional pocket billiards (pool) player from Rapid City, South Dakota, currently ranked No. 1 in the U.S. Rankings published by the UPA Tour.

Van Boening is hearing-impaired and uses a hearing aid, but it has not limited his pool ability. He has received praise for his attitude towards the sport, partially for his behaviour during matches, and for eschewing alcohol.

Van Boening's family has a strong pocket billiards background. His grandfather, Gary Bloomberg, was a trick-shot artist; his grandmother, Jeanne Bloomberg, a VNEA national champion; his mother, Timi Bloomberg, a BCA national champion; and his aunt, Gari Jo Bloomberg, a three-time VNEA national champion.

Van Boening defeated Hungarian Vilmos Foldes at the International Pool Tour qualifier in 2006, and was one of several players to earn a bonus of US$5,000 for breaking and running six consecutive racks in tournament play. Shane was one of only 10 players to earn their IPT tour card by finishing in the top two spots of one of five qualifiers. Shane won the second stop held at the Pool Room in Atlanta, Georgia. He has been ranked number one in the world by AZBilliards.com. When he is not competing professionally, he can be found practicing in downtown Sioux Falls at Lucky Billiards, where he is the house pro and co-owner.

Thorsten Hohmann (born 14 July 1979 in Fulda, Germany) is a German professional pool player, nicknamed "the Hitman." He has been described^[who?] as having a steely demeanor, and being a very precise player.

Thorsten was born and rasied in Fulda, Germany and at a very young age had always been interested in sports playing soccer, table tenis, and badminton. At the age of nine Thorsten's father took him to a local pool hall and on his 10 birthday Thorsten received a miniature pool table. By age twelve Thorsten and a friend began playing pool at a local pool hall. To try and save money Thorsten began paying a monthly fee to play at a local pool hall called Pool-Billard Club Fulda. By age 16 he had won his first open adult tournament with 128 players in the State of Hessia.

Hohmann first made a name for himself in 2003 by winning the WPA World Nine-ball Championship at the expense of Alex Pagulayan, 17–10, becoming the third German to become World Champion after Oliver Ortmann (1995) and Ralf Souquet (1996).