Cues: Players have a cue each which can be made from wood, carbon fibre, or fibreglass and this is used for striking the cue ball.Balls: 16 balls in total, comprising a white cue ball, seven striped balls, seven solid balls, and one black ball (8 ball).Table: The table used in pool is approximately 9 feet by 4.5 feet although games can often be played on differing sized tables.To play pool, the following pieces of equipment are required: Players must use their skills in both attack and safety play, as well as tactical nous to help them win the match. As pool matches often consist of several games in a ‘best out of’ format, players attempt to win as many games as needed to win the match. The object of pool is to pot all of your designated balls (either stripes or solids) and then pot the 8 ball, thus winning the game.

Pool can be a relatively high-speed game compared to its close relatives snooker and billiards but that makes it no less skilful with players requiring a high degree of skill, concentration, and tactical thinking to play the game at a high level. However, it is eight-ball that is the more common game – the one you’ll most likely see being played at your local pool hall and the one that most people first think of when the word pool is mentioned.Įight-ball pool can be played as a singles or doubles game and is played with cues and 16 balls, 15 object balls, and one cue ball (the ball the players strike to try and hit the other balls).

By far, the most popular forms of the game are the ones that originated in the USA, known as ‘eight-ball’ and ‘nine-ball’ pool.īoth are played on a normal sized pool table with the regulation six pockets and both have multiple championships around the world. However, there are many different varieties of the game, all with distinctly different rules and regulations. Pool is a popular game that is played all over the world by millions of people.

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