Do you love to spend time on a pool table for hours? Well, this is a common trend among pool lovers.
Even if they don’t get a chance, they turn the silent bystanders beside the table. And enjoy the game till the last minute. Great!
But do you have any solid idea about the differences between pool, billiards and snooker? I’m pretty sure that many of you cannot explain the differences with proper facts and figures. Many of them will interchange the games, naturally. So, I have made this post so that you can get some comprehensive ideas.
Wait! I have something more.
There are some other factors too which need explanation. And in the end, I will explain all the issues which will inject some newer knowledge in your mind.
Let’s start the exploration.
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What is the cue sport?
Before we move into the deep, let’s get some idea about cue sports. It is a form of sport that you need to play with a cue stick. The stick strikes some cue balls to deposit in the pockets.
There are three main categories of this sport form available. They are
Carom billiards – it is played on a table which has no pockets.
Pool – this is played with six pockets.
Snooker – Similar to pool but has some historical differences.
What are the differences?
There are some fundamental differences available in these three types of sports modes. Though all of them are played with cue stick and balls, you need a sharp eye to figure out the differences. Here are the explanations.
Number of balls
The first and most impressive difference is the number of balls on the game. When you are playing snooker, the number of balls is 22. When you are in a pool, the number of balls is nine, and for billiards, there are only three balls.
Snooker
In snooker, it has 22 balls – as I said earlier. But they have a different meaning. Among the 22, one of the balls is solid white. This is also known as the striker ball. A player strikes with the ball to break the triangle.
Besides, there are some colored balls too. Among the colored balls, 15 of them are red. One of them is brown; one is yellow, one is white, one is pink, one is black, one is blue, and the remaining one is green.
Billiards
While playing billiards s, there are only three balls. One of them is white, the other one is red, and the remaining one is yellow. Interestingly, there are no pockets in the table. And most of the cases, the game begins through striking from the white ball. But the rule is different here.
You can use both the yellow and white ball to strike the red one.
Pool
If you play pool, you will find nine balls. In some cases, there are 15 balls too, with an additional cue ball that is not on the total ball count. The balls come with numbers and stripes. The numbers and stripes are in printed form.
Difference in sticks
Besides, the sticks are also different. Have you ever noticed the stick that you use for the pool is different than the ones used in snooker? Usually, the tip size is different. For a pool cue, the tip size is between 11.5 millimeters to 13 millimeters. They are larger a bit in size as the player needs to take a break shot.
On the other part, a snooker cue tip is around eight to ten millimeters. The snooker players need not have break shots or any stronger shots. However, the snooker cues have holes, in the end, to attach them with the extension. Such cues are made from maple wood.
Moreover, the snooker cues are available in a single shape. But the pool cues are available in three different versions. They are: break cue, plane cue and jump cue. All the three cues help to make the player successful in sinking the balls. Most of the cues are from Ashwood for additional durability.
Difference of balls
On the other part, the balls of snooker and pool are also different. They have different sizes and shapes.
The snooker balls are smaller in size while the pool balls are more massive. The diameter of standard size pool balls is two and a quarter inches. And the diameter for snooker balls is two and one fifteen inches. So, there is a primary difference between the balls.
Tables
There are also differences among the tables of this game. In fact, the tables will not match each other for the differences. So, the explanations here will make it clearer.
Billiards table
A billiards table is made with either using wood, or slate or metals. The first aim is to make it durable. Besides, the table length is nine feet. To some points, the length may get a raise to ten feet as well. The width is half of the table length.
For instance, if the table is ten feet long, it will be five feet wide. The same approach is applicable to the other types of tables of this sports genre.
The table surface is covered with wool and fabric. And it comes with a flat surface. If there are ups and downs on the table, it would be tough to strike the ball in directions.
Remember, there are no pockets in a billiards table.
Pool tables
On the other part, a pool table comes with six pockets. This is a basic difference with the billiards table. The pockets are located in the middle and corners of the table. Four of the pockets are in the four corners while the remaining two is on the middle of that table.
The size of a pool table varies. You can have several sizes ranging from six feet to nine feet in length. The width is same – half of the length. But playing pool on the table with nine feet length is more comfortable. You get ample space to move and plan your next shot.
Snooker tables
Snooker tables are gigantic in terms of pool or billiards tables. Besides, the height is also lower while the pocket sizes are smaller too. Generally, a snooker table is twelve feet in length, and the width is six feet.
This is comparatively larger than its cousins.
However, the twelve feet table is available in the European region. A smaller version of the snooker table is available in the US. The players in the US region use ten feet table with a five feet width.
Different rules
The rules of the games are also dissimilar. Basically, the score is on the point count. For billiards, you have to make points by bouncing your cue ball.
But there is a difference in snooker. You have to pocket the red and other colored balls. The red ball bears a single point while the yellow is two, green is three, brown is four, blue is five and pink is six. The highest point is in sinking the black ball – it contains seven points.
In the pool, there are 16 balls and including the cue ball that comes with white color. Each of the balls contains a single point. And you are to sink the balls to make a specific score to win the match.
To win the match, in the pool – you are to sink the black ball. In Snooker, you are to make more points than your opponent. And in billiards, you have to score more than your opponent in a given timeframe.
Number of players
This is an interesting aspect. There are different numbers of players for these three types of game.
But when you are playing pool, the number of maximum players is eight.
For snooker, the maximum number of players is 36. And for billiards s, there is no limit of players. This is interesting, isn’t it?
Last thoughts
I think you are now well aware about the key difference among pool, snooker and billiards. And the knowledge will help you score better in the next game. Moreover, you can also share the information with others.
We also welcome your ideas and thoughts. You can make comments or any other ideas in the comment section below that can enrich the wisdom arena of the other readers. Sharing is also caring for us.
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