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Monday, 11 December 2006 07:18 |
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The History of Billiard Billiards is a family of games played on a table with a stick, known as a cue stick which is used to strike balls, moving them around the table.
The word "pool" generally refers to pocket billiard games such as 8-ball and 9-ball. 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. Because such rooms commonly provided billiard tables, pool became synonymous with billiards by association.
The origin of billiards will probably never be exactly pinpointed. While it may have sprung from earlier games played with balls on a table in China , Italy , or Spain , the best guess is that it originated in France as an indoor version of a lawn game similar to croquet.
When first recorded, in the 15th century, the object of the game was to push a ball through a croquet-like wicket to hit a peg, similar to the stake in croquet.
The first known rule book was published in 1675, and its writer claimed that there were "few towns of note therein which hath not a publick Billiard-Table."
During the French Revolution, "Captain Mingaud" took the first steps in developing billiard towards the game we play today. He began rounding his cue tip, making his shots more accurate. Moreover, he was the first to add a leather tip to the cue, which later evolved into the chalk we use today. By 1820, there were several different versions of billiards. In France , the most popular game was carom billiards, played with three balls (occasionally four balls) on a pocketless table. The most common game in England was also played with three balls, but on a table with six pockets. There were two ways of scoring: By pocketing a ball (other than the cue ball) or by hitting both of the other balls with the cue ball. This game is the ancestor of modern pocket billiards and English Snooker. Back to Articles Page
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