Why Not Try Snooker Instead?

Care for a game of snooker? In America, many people haven't even heard of this variation on billiards. Players in other parts of the world opt for snooker as their game of choice at pool halls and billiards rooms. Snooker is actually the most widely watched television sports program in England, but Americans are only beginning to recognize the game.

Snooker has its roots as a simple variation on pool. In the beginning, it was known as "pyramid pool", a new vesion of "black" or "life" games already being played. But Sir Neville Chamberlain modified the game around 1875, and its popularity took off sharply. Soldiers in England loved the new game, and helped spread it around the world. Today it is even more popular in modern England.


Newcomers may find it a bit intimidating to learn snooker, but the actual rules are not that complicated. Perhaps the most difficult part is setting the table properly:

* Snooker is played on 6 feet by 12 feet traditional billiards tables.

* Snooker balls come in standard sets of 22 balls. Each includes a white "cue" ball, and one each of green, black, blue, brown, yellow, and pink. Finally, there are 15 red balls in each set.

* Place the green, brown, and yellow balls side by side at one end of the table. Give them a gap of about six inches. In the exact center of the pool table goes the blue ball. Pink goes between the blue ball and the far end of the table. There is a special marked spot for the black ball, and it is about 13 inches from the top cushion.

* The fifteen red balls are set in the triangle rack and placed immediately behind the pink ball. The apex ('point') of the red triangle should come as close as possible to the pink ball, without actually touching it.

Once the balls are properly set, the game can begin. The breaking player strikes the triangle of red balls. When a player sinks a red ball, he or she is then free to shoot and sink any one of the six colored balls. The yellow ball is worth two points, the green is worth three, the brown ball is worth four, the blue is five, the pink is six, and the black is worth seven points. When a colored ball has been sunk, the point is scored and the ball is retrieved and re-spotted on the table.

There are also varieties of snooker that you can try out after you have mastered the basic game. As you can see, snooker is not terribly complex, but it can still be a drag on the fun part of the game for newcomers trying too remember all the rules, so it is best to have an experienced player explain the snooker rules to you.

Snooker has been a much beloved sport in England for more than a century, and with good reason. It is a fun game, that is easy to play, yet offers many skills challenges as one progresses. If your house already has a regulation-sized pool table, make sure you purchase a set of snooker balls and instructions soon, and add this fantastic game to your family's activities.

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