Pub pool usually consists of minor local variations on one of these two standardised rule sets. Commonly, social games adopt further non-standard variations to adapt play to the conditions. In addition, some variations of the game allow the player to pot one of the opposition's balls, on the first visit only, without the loss of a "free shot". Also bigs, big balls, big ones. The term billiards is sometimes used to refer to all of the cue sports, to a specific class of them, or to specific ones such as English billiards; this article uses the term in its most generic sense unless otherwise noted. Some of the more popular ones are carom, snooker, and British style pool. CFL bulbs use much less energy and last longer than incandescent bulbs, and are generally recommended by lighting manufacturers for pool tables. Plus, CFL bulbs must carefully recycled due to their mercury content. In one-pocket, in which a set number of balls must be made in a specific pocket, upon a foul the player must return a ball to the table. Otherwise (i.e., if the 8 ball is neither pocketed nor knocked off the table), the shooter's turn is simply over, even if a foul occurs.

The following is a glossary of traditional English-language terms used in the three overarching cue sports disciplines: carom billiards referring to the various carom games played on a billiard table without pockets; pool, which denotes a host of games played on a table with six pockets; and snooker, played on a large pocket table, what is billiards and which has a sport culture unto itself distinct from pool. The governing body of the sport is the Confédération International de Billard Artistique. Blackball was chosen because it is less ambiguous ("eight-ball pool" is too easily confused with the international standardized "eight-ball"), and blackball is globally standardized by an International Olympic Committee-recognized governing body, the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA); meanwhile, its ancestor, eight-ball pool, is largely a folk game, like North American bar pool, and to the extent that its rules have been codified, they have been done so by competing authorities with different rulesets. All that being said, felt color may not necessarily have a direct impact on your game - again, it’s mostly subjective.

A stack of shims under two of the legs isn’t the most pleasing sight, but it’s a small price to pay for a level table in the garage. Ball-and-pocket are called for each shot, with fouls (faults) resulting in cue ball in-hand for the opponent, anywhere on the table. Backwards eight-ball, also called reverse eight-ball, is a variant in which, instead of shooting the cue ball at an object ball to force the object ball into a pocket, the player strikes the object ball with their cue so it caroms off the cue ball and into a pocket, in a fashion similar to Russian pyramid. At the other end put the cue ball. Players start at one stake, navigate one side of the double diamond, hit the turning stake, then navigate the opposite side of the double diamond and hit the starting stake to end. Skilled players thus often shoot cut shots with a small amount of outside english - gearing outside english - to neutralize the cut-induced throw that widens the shot away from the tangent line, though other techniques may be required instead or in combination with that, depending on the desired cue-ball position at the end of the shot.

The amount of this deflection of an object ball from its expected path is increased by several things, including by dirty or pitted balls that briefly grip each other more, by a thick cut-shot angle that provides for extended friction between the balls (cut-induced throw), by slow ball-contact speed (speed-induced throw) for the same reason, by stun shots for the same reason, and by the object ball being impacted by a ball that is rapidly side-spinning (spin- or english-induced throw), which causes the object ball to roll in a curve more toward that throw direction. Archived from the original on January 28, 2007. Provides an animated illustration of precisely how the chuck nurse works. Alciatore, David G. (January 2007). "Throw - Part IV: Inside/Outside English" (PDF). Alciatore, David G. (2020). "Pool Ball 'Cling,' 'Skid,' or 'Kick'". Once this mindset is adopted, in many ways the game becomes more complex. Few players attain the attitude and mindset that is detailed here.