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Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!news-out.cwix.com!newsfeed.cwix.com!border1.nntp.ash.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!news.glorb.com!prodigy.com!agilent.com!not-for-mail From: Bob Jewett <jewett@sfbilliards.com> Newsgroups: rec.sport.billiard,alt.sport.pool,alt.answers,rec.answers,news.answers Subject: Pool & Billiards Frequently Asked Questions Followup-To: rec.sport.billiard Date: Sat, 1 May 2004 01:54:23 +0000 (UTC) Organization: San Francisco Billiard Academy Lines: 1554 Sender: Bob Jewett <jewett@bill.labs.agilent.com> Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU Expires: Fri, 1 May 2004 00:00:00 GMT Message-ID: <1083376463.16372@emperor.labs.agilent.com> Reply-To: jewett@sfbilliards.com NNTP-Posting-Host: emperor.labs.agilent.com X-Trace: cswtrans.cos.agilent.com 1083376463 5174 130.29.252.172 (1 May 2004 01:54:23 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@cswtrans.cos.agilent.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 1 May 2004 01:54:23 +0000 (UTC) Summary: Billiards, pool and snooker game rules and definitions. Hints on cue buying and care. Shooting hints and further references. Keywords: Pool, billiards, snooker, table sports, cue sports User-Agent: tin/1.4.4-20000803 ("Vet for the Insane") (UNIX) (HP-UX/B.10.20 (9000/785)) Cache-Post-Path: emperor.labs.agilent.com!jewett@bill.labs.agilent.com X-Cache: nntpcache 3.0.1 (see http://www.nntpcache.org/) Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu rec.sport.billiard:259739 alt.sport.pool:91726 alt.answers:72704 rec.answers:86851 news.answers:270641 Archive-name: sports/billiards/faq Posting-Frequency: monthly Version: $Revision: 3.120 $ Maintainer: Bob Jewett <jewett@sfbilliards.com> URL: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/sports/billiards/faq [The section on dominant eye is not finished yet.] Recent changes: (Oct. 2003) misc changes/corrections (Aug. 2003) misc -- fixed more broken links Frequently Asked Questions About Cue Sports Questions: 0. What are Frequently Asked Questions About Cue Sports? 1. What does XXX mean? 2. What are the rules for XXX? 3. How do I hit a jump shot? 4. How can I put back spin on the ball? 5. What is a push shot? 6. What is the "Diamond System"? 7. How should I choose a cue? 8. Ok, I've got a cue. How do I take care of it? 9. My shaft has a dent. What now? 10. How much room do I need for a table? 11. Can I build my own table and cue? 12. How can I learn about billiard physics? 13. Where can I go for more information? 14. What is the record for X? 15. How does the APA handicapping system work? 16. Where's the TV schedule for cue sports? 17. Where can I buy/sell a billiard thingy? 18. What are the different hardnesses of cue tips? 19. Where can I play Virtual Pool on the Internet? 20. Which rooms are in X City? 21. What is a dominant eye? 22. What are some common strategies in the various games? 23. Where can I find tournament brackets (flowcharts) 24. How can I heat a billiard table? 25. How well do I play? Am I an A or a D? 26. What is good table maintenance? 27. What are those funny numbers people post to the group? 28. Do billiard balls wear down? 0. ** What are Frequently Asked Questions About Cue Sports? This is intended as a general guide and introduction to pool and billiards games; it does not attempt to be comprehensive. If you want to know the details of how to put spin on a ball, how to run a table, or how to shoot trick shots, you will find only limited help here. Check out some of the resources listed below. You really need good diagrams and pictures to explain these things, and ASCII format just doesn't cut it. Comments and suggestions are welcome! 1. ** What does XXX mean? Ball in hand The freedom to place the ball anywhere on the table, or sometimes in a restricted area Baulk Cushion The end rail farthest from where you rack (British). Also called the "bottom" cushion. Break At pool, the first shot of a game, often a smash shot which is called an "open break". On an English table, a succession of scoring shots that would be called a "run" in the US. Cut shot A shot in which the object ball is driven other than straight ahead. The difference between straight and the angle the object ball takes is called the cut angle. Double Bank shot (British) Drag shot A draw shot played slowly enough that the back spin has turned into follow by the time the cue ball gets to the object ball. The goal is to reduce cue ball movement after contact but to avoid "slow rolling" the cue ball, which may roll off if the table isn't level. Draw Back spin on the cue ball, and the opposite of follow. It generally makes the cue ball come back towards you after contact with an object ball. See below for how to do it. End rail The two shorter cushions at each end of the table. English Spin on the cue ball, especially side spin ("side" in the UK) Ferrule That little white thingy just behind the cuetip :-) In the UK, they use brass for ferrules. Follow Topspin on the cue ball. It comes from friction with the cloth (natural roll) or from hitting the cue ball above center. It generally carries the the cue ball forward after contact with an object ball. Foot spot A point marked on the cloth two diamonds from the foot rail (the end rail where the balls are racked on a pool table), on the center line of the table. Foul An infraction of the rules that generally ends a player's inning (though it is possible to foul when not shooting). Head spot A point two diamonds from the head rail on a pool table (the end rail that you break from), in the center of the table. It's the center of the head string. Inning A turn at the table, usually ending in a miss, foul or win. In The Kitchen Same as "ball in hand" but requires the cue ball to be behind the head string. Inside english If you play a cut shot, and the object ball goes to your right, right english would be inside english. Similarly for a left cut with left english. Inside/outside pertaining to english has nothing to do with the location of the cushion on the shot, only with the cut angle and the side of english. You can remember which is inside by the location of the stick relative to the the "body" of the shot. Kick At snooker and English billiards, the action you get when the cue ball sticks to the object ball for an instant. The most likely explanation is that it is from dirt, and especially chalk, between the balls at the instant of impact. Kick shot At pool, a shot where the cue ball hits a rail first, commonly as a return of safety. Kitchen Area behind the head string. Lagging A way to determine who shoots first. Each player puts a ball behind the head string and banks it off the foot rail. The player whose ball stops closer to the head rail has choice of shooting first or second. ("Stringing" in the U.K.) Masse A shot with the stick nearly vertical to make the cue ball curve (with side spin) or reverse direction (with back spin) or both. Less elevation is called "half-masse" which grades down into "swerve" (see below). (moss-say or mass-say) Outside english The opposite of inside english (see above). On a cut to the left, it is right english. Pot To pocket a ball without a foul (British) Reverse english Side spin on the ball that tends to make it go slower when it contacts a cushion. (check side in the UK) Also called hold-up. Running english Side spin on the ball that tends to make it go faster when it contacts a cushion. (running side in the UK) Safety A shot intended to leave nothing for the opponent Scratch Cue ball into a pocket, off the table, or sometimes any foul Screw Back spin in the UK ("draw" in the US) Skid Also called cling. The US term for "kick" -- see above. Squirt A cue ball hit with side spin does not start out parallel to the axis of the cue stick, but instead moves slightly away from that by an angle up to four degrees, depending on the stick and the spin. No one understands exactly why this happens, but it seems to go up with the amount of mass in the front six inches of the stick. See Ron Shepard's paper at http://www.sfbilliards.com/Shepard_squirt.pdf for current theory. It is also called "deflection", but since there are many different deflections in pool and billiards, and because this phenomenon is critical to playing well with side spin, it gets its own name. Stop/Stun Shot A stop shot is when the cue ball hits the object ball full and has no follow or draw, so it stops completely upon contact. If there is an angle, it is called a stun shot, and the cue ball will travel at (close to) a right angle to the path of the object ball. Swerve A cue ball hit with side spin and an (even slightly) elevated cue stick will curve in the direction of the applied English. Elevate more and it's masse. You elevate on nearly all shots, whether you intend to or not. Throw The divergence of an object ball from the line through the centers of it and the impacting ball. Throw is induced by the friction between the two balls and the relative motion of their surfaces. [Note: in UK usage, "throw" is synonymous with "squirt", and has nothing to do with friction between two balls.] On-line pool jargon is available at http://www.onthesnap.com/jargon.htm and at http://www.sfbilliards.com/jargon.html 2. ** What are the rules for XXX? The *exact* rules for games of the BCA are copyrighted, and should not be reproduced in electronic form without permission. See below for information on ordering copies and the World Pool-Billiard Association's site at http://www.wpa-pool.com/rules.htm In almost every pool game, a shot that does not pocket a ball is required to have at least one ball contact a rail after the cue ball contacts a ball. STRAIGHT POOL (or 14.1 continuous pocket billiards) Rack all 15 balls on the foot spot, cue ball behind the head string. The break must send two balls and the cue ball to a rail. Failure to do so is -2 points, and the opponent has the choice of accepting the table or having the breaker break again. You need only name the ball and the pocket in calling a shot. How it gets there is immaterial, and anything else that goes down counts. Scoring: 1 point for sunk balls, -1 for fouls (i.e. scratching, not driving a ball to a rail, etc.), -2 for not driving 2 balls and the cue ball to a rail on the break, and -15 for 3 fouls in a row (tacked on the the -1 for the 3rd foul). After the third foul the offender must break as in the start of the game. When one object ball is left, rerack the other fourteen with the front ball missing, and continue play. EQUAL OFFENSE Same rules as straight pool (14.1) except as noted. (You must be familiar with those rules, or EO won't make much sense, especially the break shot with the 15th ball.) Each player gets ten turns alone at the table; a turn begins with an open break of a full rack, and ends on a miss, foul, or run of twenty. Respot any balls that go in on the open break, and start with ball in hand in the kitchen. There is no penalty for scratching on the break. A foul does not subtract points, it just ends the turn, but balls made on a foul do not count. There is no head-to-head play, so there are no safeties. Beginners may want to try the following changes: Stop at 15 balls so that you don't have to execute a straight pool break shot; take ball in hand anywhere after the break instead of behind the line; take up to three misses before starting the next frame. See some other variations in the skill definitions under "How well do I play?" below. NINE BALL Rack the lowest numbered nine balls in a diamond, with the one ball at the foot spot and the nine in the middle. Any ball that goes in counts as long as the lowest numbered ball on the table is hit first. The winner is the player who makes the nine on a legal shot. If a player fails to hit the lowest numbered ball first, the opponent has ball in hand anywhere on the table. On the first shot after a legal break, regardless of who the shooter is, the player can call "push", and merely push the cue ball somewhere, without restrictions on driving a ball to the rail or hitting the lowest numbered object ball. Opponent can either accept the table and shoot, or force the player to shoot. From then on, normal ball-in-hand for failure to hit the lowest-numbered object ball applies. After a foul, no balls are spotted except the nine (when necessary). On a coin-op table, substitute the ten-ball for an escaped nine. Three consecutive fouls by one player, loses the game. ONE POCKET Each player chooses one of the two corner pockets at the foot of the table. Whoever makes eight balls in their pocket first wins. If you make a ball in your pocket and one in your opponent's, you each get credit for a ball. If you make a ball in an unassigned pocket, it gets spotted either when you miss or when there are no other balls left on the table. If you foul, you spot any ball made on the shot plus a penalty ball. If you make a ball in your opponent's pocket and scratch, it does not count for him, but is spotted along with a penalty ball. You only shoot again if you make a ball in your own pocket. EIGHT BALL You know, stripes and solids :-) Basically, the answer to any question about American 8-ball is "It's a house rule." If you'd like to post a comment on 8-ball rules, please quote your source - e.g., the BCA, Nippon Billiards Association, this little bar in Los Angeles, or whatever. Some common house rules are: You must take the balls that are sunk on the break, you must call the exact path the balls will take (e.g. combinations and banks), and if you sink the 8-ball on the break you win the game. This last, and some others, presumably reflect the fact that most bars are outfitted with pay tables, in which, once an object ball is sunk, it cannot be recovered without paying for a whole new game. None of these are Billiards Congress of America (BCA) rules. Here are some of the actual BCA rules: 1. Table is open after break, no matter how many of either stripe or solid balls are sunk. 2. Call shot- your inning ends when the called ball does not go into the called pocket. Any balls not called remain pocketed. Note- you do not have to call combinations, caroms, or banks-- only the ball and pocket. 3. Foul penalty-- No balls are spotted except the eight, and no previously sunk balls are pulled), and opponent gets ball in hand, anywhere on the table, not just behind headstring. Jumped balls are spotted. If you call a safety and still sink your own ball, your inning ends. Scratch on break is still cue ball behind headstring. 4. Same penalty, ball in hand, applies on foul on 8 ball, when it stays on the table. 5. Sinking the 8 ball on the break is not a win or loss; breaker has choice of spotting the 8 or rebreaking. It's not clear what happens if the breaker makes all seven stripes on the break. It seems that he would be required to take solids, since groups haven't been decided yet, and he must pocket all the balls of his group before calling and shooting at the eight. The rules in Britain are slightly different, emphasizing tactics rather than shooting skill. The most significant difference is that after a foul, the opponent takes two consecutive innings. Also, on pub tables, the cue ball is *smaller* than the object balls (on American bar tables it is larger) and lighter. See http://arseweb.com/rupe/pool/uk_rules.html for comparisons of the various forms of UK 8-ball. CUT-THROAT A common three player game, better socially than as a test of skill. Each player takes five balls, 1-5, 6-10, and 11-15, and the last player with a ball on the table wins, so the goal is to sink your opponents' balls. There are several variations. The penalty for a foul is to bring one of each of the other players' balls back onto the table. THREE BALL A social game for two to "n" players. Each player seeks to pocket a rack of three balls in the least number of shots (including the break). Scratches count as an extra shot. Winner gets the pot. If there's a tie for low score, the game rolls over to another round and all players re-ante. BUMPER POOL Played on a special table with a two round holes and a number of pin- ball-like bumpers on the playing surface. The goal is to shoot all of your set of balls into your hole, which is opposite to the end your balls start on. The full rules are TM by the Valley Company and are in the BCA rule book. SNOOKER This game uses 21 object balls and a cue ball. Fifteen object balls are red and worth one point. The other six object balls are Yellow, Green, Brown, Blue, Pink, and Black. Highest score wins, and the game ends when all balls are pocketed (or when a foul is made on the final black). You alternate hitting reds and colors, and each time a color goes in it is respotted, until all the reds are off the table. The balls are placed as in the fig: (red on spot in American snooker, pink on spot otherwise) -------------------- ------------------- | | | | | r | Reds: 1 point each | . (3) r | Yellow: 2 points | . | r r | Green: 3 -"- | . | r r | Brown: 4 -"- | . (4) (5) (6)r r r (7)| Blue: 5 -"- | . | r r | Pink: 6 -"- | . | r r | Black: 7 -"- | . (2) r | | | r | | | | -------------------- ------------------ The ball on for the first shot of each inning is a red if any are left. After all reds are gone, the colors become on in ascending order of value. After a cue ball scratch, it becomes in-hand from the D (you may shoot at any ball on). The penalty for all fouls is the value of the ball on (but at least four points). Penalties are added to opponent's score. The striker must attempt to hit the ball on, no deliberate misses are allowed. The International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) publishes the official snooker rules used in amateur competitions worldwide. The rules were rewritten for clarity late in 1994 and approved by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) in 1994 and the IBSF in 1995. The new rule booklet can be ordered from your national Snooker association, if it is a member of the IBSF, or directly from the EASB at EASB Freya Broad 27 Oakfield Road Clifton Bristol BS8 2AT UK for 5 pounds and P&P. The BCA book has the IBSF rules too, but the 1995 book has the old version before the major rewrite with some minor differences, notably the new foul-and-a-miss rule. The rules are available on-line (as of October 2001) at http://worldsnooker.com/snooker_and_billiards_rules/snookercont.asp There is a Snooker referees' test paper from 1987 at: http://apeli.tky.hut.fi/~sbo/pub/English_documents/Rules/Refs_test.txt ENGLISH BILLIARDS Two cue balls and a red ball are used on the same table as for snooker; each player has his own cue ball. Point are awarded for a cannon (2 points for making your cue ball contact both other balls), going in-off (pocketing the cue ball after contacting a ball, 2 for white, 3 for red), or potting (pocketing) the red (3) or the other white (2). It is possible to score 10 points on one stroke. A pocketed white is not returned to the table, but the red ball comes back to the black (7 or billiard) spot, usually. If the cue ball has gone in-off, it is returned to the D and must be shot towards the top of the table (end by the black spot). There are several advanced rules to prevent repetitive scoring plays, such as no more than 75 shots that are simple cannons, and the red spotting on the center spot after twice being made from the black spot. The full rules of English Billiards are in the same official rule book as snooker, given above. The rules are available on-line (as of October 2001) at http://worldsnooker.com/snooker_and_billiards_rules/billiardscont.asp CAROM BILLIARDS Played with two white balls and a red ball, on a table without pockets. One of the white balls has two dots on it, and the two players each use one for their cue ball. If your cue ball hits both object balls, you score a point. Variations are three-cushion and one-cushion - in each case, you must hit the required number of rails before hitting your second object ball. Tournaments are now played with a set consisting of a yellow, red, and white ball, which makes the game easier to follow. A long list of links to online rules for various games is available at: http://poolshark.com/rules.htm 3. ** How do I hit a jump shot? Is about a 45 degree angle of elevation for the cue correct? For most practical shots, it will be less than 45 degrees. It depends on how much of the ball you need to clear and how soon. Should I hit the cue ball right in the center or a little above center? Below center is better, but not so low you miscue, which is a foul on jump shots, at least at nine ball. If you hit above center, the cue stick tends to trap the cue ball on the cloth. Rule 3.24 says it is illegal to "dig under" the ball to get it to jump. Hitting the cue ball below center is not "digging under". By "digging under" I assume they mean a miscue. Miscues are illegal by rule 3.25. Should I stroke through the cue ball, or does that interfere with the cue ball jumping? You need to use a somewhat shorter stroke to avoid hitting the cloth. If you are already slowing the cue down at the instant of contact, it will act as if it were lighter, which is better. Does it have to be hit extremely hard? It depends on the distance from the cue ball to the obstruction, the weight of the cue stick, and how much of the obstruction you need to clear. The cue ball's path while in the air is a parabola, and you can calculate how fast the ball must be going to just clear the obstruction at the peak of the trajectory. The most important factor is the kind of cloth on the table. If it is very high quality, thin cloth, jumping will be very difficult. If it is thicker or maybe rubber-backed, jumping will be easy. Start with an easy drill: Freeze three balls together in a line parallel to and about a foot from a rail. Remove the middle one. Place the cue ball an inch from the rail, and shoot it through the hole. Twenty degrees elevation should be plenty for this shot. Do the same, but place an object ball to be pocketed after the jump. Move the two obstructing balls closer to each other and/or farther from the cue ball. Can I make an object ball jump over an obstruction? Yes, this is the "double jump." If the cue ball is in the air when it hits the object ball, the object ball will jump some. Details are left as an exercise for the reader. At snooker, it is a foul for the cue ball to jump over a ball, whether intended or not (unless the cue ball has already struck an object ball) 4. ** How can I put back spin on the ball? You will probably receive all sorts of contradictory advice on this one. The only real requirement is that you hit the ball low. If the object ball is far away, you will also need to hit the ball hard to keep back spin (also known as draw or screw) on the cue ball, as the cloth rubs the spin off. Some things to keep in mind: You must chalk your tip well; most players don't. A shorter bridge (hand to cue ball spacing) will let you hit where you want more accurately. If your elbow is pumping up and down, hitting the intended spot on the cue ball is more of a challenge. Do you jump up at the end of the shot? Do you follow through so the tip ends at least a ball diameter or two beyond the original position of the cue ball, or do you jerk abruptly to a stop at the instant of contact? 5. ** What is a push shot? Careful! There is some variation in usage of this term, so you need to make it clear which way you are using the word. First, a "push out" is something very different from a "push shot". At nine ball, the first shot after the break can be played as a push out if declared in advance, and the requirements of ball and rail contact are waived. The incoming player can pass the shot back to the pusher. At pool, a push shot involves a very special kind of stroke and is played when the cue ball is frozen to the object ball -- this stroke is a foul. (At pool it is legal to shoot towards a ball the cue ball is frozen to, assuming no other foul, and with a normal stroke.) In a push shot, the tip is brought slowly, slowly, very slowly up to the cue ball until it is just touching or about to touch, and then the tip is accelerated for the shot. Two examples: 1. A ball is frozen to the rail close to a corner pocket. The cue ball is frozen to the object ball and straight out from the rail. The shot is straight towards the object ball, with the tip placed on the equator of the cue ball with lots of side away from the pocket. Once very gentle contact of tip-to-ball is made the tip is gradually pushed forward and the object ball sort of slips out from behind the cue ball and goes straight into the near pocket. 2. The cue ball is on the foot spot, and an object ball is frozen as if it had been spotted; both are on the long string. A desirable object ball is in the jaws of one of the foot pockets. A legal way to pocket the hung ball is to point the cue stick at a point on the foot rail half way between the center of the rail and the target pocket, and shoot a normal center ball stroke. An illegal push shot is to elevate the butt of the stick to about 45 degrees, address the cue ball for extreme follow, and shoot a gradual push shot. In this case the cue ball will nearly ignore the object ball, and go close to the line of aim, rather than the double "angle" of the first (legal) method. At pool, when the cue ball is close to but not frozen to the object ball, and the cue ball is shot straight at the object ball with a normal stroke, usually a "double hit" occurs. This is a foul. At snooker, you are not permitted to play the cue ball towards a ball it is frozen to, nor to play double hits. At carom billiards, "push shot" includes any shot where the cue ball is close to or touching the object ball and the shot is a foul. 6. ** What is the "Diamond System"? There are many diamond systems. In general, they allow you to plan shots that require the cue ball or object ball to contact one or more rails. One of the best treatments for pool is in Eddie Robin's first one pocket book. A large part of Byrne's books and articles are about diamond systems. Walt Harris has four books out ("Billiard Atlas [1-4]") that cover mostly carom diamond systems, but he also discusses their use on pool tables. If a system is called simply the "Diamond System" the speaker probably means the "corner five" system. A shot from that (for pool tables): Place the cue ball as shown, and shoot it to "a" with running english (side spin). The cue ball should hit cushions at a-b-c and go towards the other corner to pocket "o". The system tells you how to adjust to go to any destination on the third rail from any origin for roughly the same kind of path. This is done by assigning numbers to the spots (diamonds) on the rail and doing some simple arithmetic. See Byrne's "Standard" book for use of the formula. Tables, balls, stroke and sticks vary. A very simple example: ___________ ____________ q c | | (Use a fixed-width font to view this.) | | ("Courier" might work.) | b| | | "a" is roughly 2 diamonds from the corner | | "c" is roughly 3 diamonds from the corner o__________ ______a_____ "q" is at the corner which is assigned "5" 3 = 5 - 2 (Other situations use fractions of a diamond.) An on-line discussion by Jim Loy of using the diamonds for kick shots is at http://www.jimloy.com/billiard/billiard.htm along with a lot of other billiard topics. 7. ** How should I choose a cue? In general, it is difficult to tell if you would like a cue stick just by reading about it. Even the terms that different people use to describe these characteristics (hard, soft, harsh, stiff, forgiving, well-balanced, etc.) are subjective and difficult to quantify. Some of the important things can be quantified (length, weight, balance point, shaft taper, shaft diameter, squirt), but they're not the whole story. And if you are a beginner, or seriously working on your game for the first time, you can expect your own preferences to change as your game matures. Robert Byrne says: Getting a two-part cue will add about $30 to the price. You can get one with good wood, good workmanship, a twine or leather grip, and some decoration for $50 to $90. (This was in 1987 - ed.) If you pay more than $100, you'll be paying for ornamentation and brand name. A good tip is probably more important than the cue. Shun a cue that's more than two parts, has a screw-on tip, is painted in festive colors, or is made in Taiwan. Made in Japan is OK, the Adam line, made there, is one of the best. Get the best tips you can, the return on the money you spend is greater there than anywhere else. Bob Jewett says: 1. The plainest butt is probably also the most solid. If you want fancy inlay work, consider Baroque antiques, not cues, unless you are collecting rather than playing with them. 2. Beyond being solid and the right weight and length, and perhaps having the style of grip you prefer, there is little the butt does for the cue. 3. The tip is important. Many tips are no good. Tips can be replaced; learn how to do it yourself. The tip has more effect on how the cue plays than the butt. 4. The shaft is the most important part of the cue. Shafts are relatively cheap. Some highly regarded cue makers make unusable shafts. Here's a quick test to see if the cue is worth looking at further. It tests the amount of "squirt" or deflection on extreme english shots. Many expensive sticks fail this test. This idea can also be used to compensate for squirt for some sticks, and when it is used for that it is sometimes called "backhand english" since the back (grip) hand is moved over to get side spin. (The definition of squirt is in the glossary (Answer #1) above.) The "aim-and-pivot" method of squirt compensation: For each cue stick, there is a particular length of bridge for which you can aim straight at a close object ball and then pivot about your bridge hand and shoot straight through the new line and hit the object ball full. (You can also use this (very old) method for non-full shots too, but a full shot is best for finding the right bridge length.) For a stick you want to measure, just find the needed bridge length. A hint: if you shoot softly at a ball far away, the cue ball will curve on its way to the object ball, and your measurement will be useless. Do not give the cue ball the time or distance to curve. Shoot firmly. Use as much side spin as you can without miscuing. The shorter the bridge, the more squirt the stick has. ("Close object ball" means about a diamond away.) The cue ball should sit in place spinning like a top when it hits the object ball full. For a long pivot length, the bridge is too long to be a comfortable pivot. Arrange to have the pivot over the rail, and use your back hand to hold the stick at the pivot while the bridge hand moves. An alternative is to slide the bridge hand forward after the pivot to a more comfortable bridge length. Take care to keep the stick aligned in the new direction. If several cues are available, including house cues, compare them. Squirt is the most important characteristic of a cue stick after solid construction. Less squirt is usually better, especially if you use something close to "parallel aiming" on spin shots. More squirt means more aiming compensation on any shot with side spin. The one possible advantage of squirt is that if the pivot length is the same length as the bridge, it can compensate for inaccuracies left-to-right in the final stroke. 8. ** Ok, I've got a cue. How do I take care of it? If you don't have one, get a case that will protect your cue from humidity. Moisture is one of the main causes of cue warping. Hard cases give better protection than soft cases. Store your case upright, not lying down. If it's a soft case, hang it on a nail in your closet. Remember, wood will warp, especially if its a long, thin piece (like a cue). A slight warp is nothing to be too upset about. Just make sure you shoot with the cue in the same position _every_ shot (i.e. turn the cue so that any warp is on the vertical plane and not the horizontal). Pick some distinctive mark on the cue that will make it easy to identify this position, or hold the butt the same way if it's angled. If it's a slight warp, you may be able to just bend the cue back into shape. If it's more severe, you could consider buying a new shaft for it. How do you measure the warp? Rolling it on a table is one way that seems like a good measure but is, in fact, not. The best way to look for straightness is by 'sighting.' Simply stated, just look down your cue from the butt-end like a rifle. Rotate the cue as you do this and any warp should be immediately apparent. More often than not, rolling a cue will show defects in the joint rather than the shaft, which is not a serious problem, as long as it's a tight fit. If you have a multi-piece cue, you might consider joint protectors. They screw onto both the shaft and butt of your cue and help prevent moisture from entering the wood at these points. The joint ends of the cue are very susceptible to moisture since they are cross-cut though the grain of the wood. How should I maintain my tip? The spin/speed ratio on the cue ball depends primarily on the actual tip-ball contact point. With a rounded tip there is a smooth relation between the shaft displacement and the resulting spin/speed ratio. But with a flat tip, you can displace the shaft up to 1/2 of the tip diameter before the actual contact point on the cue ball changes. Then with a little more shaft displacement there is some sidespin imparted, and then the tip starts to miscue because you are hitting right on the square edge of the tip. Here is some ascii art to show the difference in the spin as a function of shaft displacement for a rounded tip and for a flat tip. | * | | . | | . | | . | * <-- miscue Spin | . | . | . | . -------|------- ----.......----- [view with a .| . | fixed-width font] . | . | . | * | . | | . | | * | | shaft displacement shaft displacement rounded tip flat tip You seldom want to hit the ball right in the middle, you don't want to miscue, and you want to have precise control of the spin. Therefore, a rounded tip is better than a flat tip. You shape the tip with a tip scuffer, a file, a piece of sandpaper, and other similar abrasive tools. Most players like their tips rounded with the radius of either a nickel or a dime; a coin can be held next to the tip for reference. In the case of well-rounded tips, miscues occur when the tip slides on the surface of the ball. Along with other reasons, this happens when the tip doesn't hold chalk. The tip doesn't hold chalk when it is packed down from hitting the cue ball and the surface is slick. If you tap the tip to give the surface some texture, it will hold the chalk better. You can buy special tools to tap the tip, or you can use a rasp, or a coarse file, or coarse sandpaper glued to a wood backing can be rolled over the tip surface. Scuffing with sandpaper also works, but it wears the tip away too fast. For maximal tip life, tap more, scuff less. Tips can also mushroom, meaning that the leather bulges at the sides so that the tip is wider than the ferrule. Most pool players prefer to remove this bulge. The best way is to use a lathe, but there are other methods too. Fine sandpaper (600 grit or finer) can be used, but some care should be taken not to scratch the ferrule. Cutting tools designed especially for this purpose are available, and pocket knives and razor blades can also be used, but utmost care should be taken to avoid ferrule damamge. A homemade jig can be devised with a wood block, sandpaper, and slick magazine paper to help avoid ferrule damage; the process is described below. After the mushroom bulge has been removed, the edge of the tip can be polished by wetting the sides and rubbing the leather edge firmly against the cloth on the top of a cushion or against a leather pad. How can I "demushroom" the edge of the tip? Get a piece of sandpaper, #120 to #600 depending on the state of the tip, a block of wood or a large sharpening stone, a piece of paper, perhaps thicker than notebook paper, and a magazine. Place the components like this as seen from the side on a very flat surface: BBBBBBBBBBBBB BBBBBBBBBBBBB BBBBBBBBBBBBB MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM BBBBBBBBBBBBB ppppppppppppppppppppppppppp MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM sssssssssssssSSSSssssssssssssssssss MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM Tape the near and far sides of the paper down. Now place the stick so the tip is butted against the block BBB, while the joint end is on the magazine MMM. Adjust the separation between the paper pppp and the block so that it is just the thickness of the tip. Only the side of the tip will touch the exposed sandpaper at SSSS. The ferrule will be resting on the paper. Now holding the shaft near the ferrule, rub the stick back and forth on the narrow exposed strip of sandpaper. If the paper is taped to the table, but the sandpaper is not, the latter can be easily slid to expose a new strip as necessary. The magazine may or may not be necessary to give the tip a little bevel -- you may want to make the first cuts without the magazine if the tip has a lot of mushrooming. The main trick here is to keep turning the shaft as you slide it back and forth on the sandpaper. To finish the tip, wet it and rub it in the same way but on the paper rather than the sandpaper. 9. ** My shaft has a dent. What now? Small dents can be caused by anything from hitting an overhead light fixture to simply leaning your cue against a table or chair. If your shaft is made of metal, graphite, or wood covered in graphite, fiber glass, or some other material, then you may need to return the shaft to the manufacturer for repair or replacement. If you have a wood shaft, and especially if the wood fibers are not cut or damaged, then there are several things that you can do yourself to repair the damage, safely, and with minimal risk of making things worse. If the dent is small, then place a drop of water directly on the dent, let it soak in, and dry overnight; the water softens the wood, and it may return to its natural shape by itself. If this doesn't work, then fold a few layers of paper towel or tissue paper to a size slightly larger than the dent, place the paper against the shaft, and hold it in place with a rubber band. Wet the paper, and leave it in place overnight. The wet paper allows the water to soak in deeper before evaporating, allowing the wood to return to its natural shape slower than the first method. If this doesn't work, then more drastic measures are required. Soak the dented area with water. While the water is soaking into the shaft, boil some water in a steam kettle or tea pot with a thin spout. Heat the dented area with the steam from the spout. The steam heats the water that has soaked into the wood, causing pressure to push out the dent from the inside. Do not allow the steam to heat the ferrule or joint; it may weaken the glue joints. Do not allow the shaft to come close to the stove top, flame, or other heat source. If the spout from your steam kettle is too wide, then try wrapping aluminum foil around the spout, and punch a small hole in the foil with a needle or toothpick. If you don't have a steam kettle, you can use a regular pot covered tightly with aluminum foil with a small hole in the middle. You can also use the steam from a clothing iron, or from a hand-held suit steamer, but take particular care to not allow the shaft to touch the hot metal. With all of these methods, the water will cause the wood grain to raise and after drying it will feel slightly rough to the touch. You should polish the shaft before using it with a couple of strokes with a leather pad, a clean cloth, or whatever you usually use for routine periodic cleaning and maintenance. When successful, these approaches restore the shaft perfectly to its original form, without the need to use sandpaper. Some other common suggestions for removing dents are riskier and should probably be avoided. Some examples include placing a wet piece of cloth on the dent and using a hot soldering iron to steam the dent, or using the open flame from a cigarette lighter to expand the dent. Although these methods may work successfully, the same thing can be accomplished without the associated risk of permanent damage to the shaft. In general, try to keep the heat source as far away from the wood as possible. Another commonly suggested way to remove dents is to rub a glass rod (or a beer bottleneck, or a shot glass, or a glass ashtray, or some other piece of smooth glass) over the dent. This doesn't exactly remove the dent, but rather it spreads it out over a larger area so that it isn't as noticeable. Some believe that the glass rod generates heat from the rubbing friction, and this heat removes the dent, but the simpler explanation seems more plausible. Since this approach seems to change the shaft shape slightly, it is not recommended except possibly, as a last resort. What if the wood fibers are cut or otherwise damaged to the point that the above methods do not work? If you are skilled in woodworking, then perhaps you can sand away the dent; this probably means that the shaft will no longer be exactly round. Another option is to take the shaft to a skilled cue repairman. He will probably use a lathe to remove wood from the shaft; the resulting shaft will be round, but with a different diameter and/or taper than the original. In both of these cases, the shape of the shaft is changed, and the feel and playing characteristics may change with it. Another possibility is to use a drop of firearms-specification two-part epoxy (eg., _AcraGlass_ from Brownell's, Inc.). It gives good working time, will become thin and penetrate under a 100W bulb, set up quickly when the heat is removed, can be tinted any color, and will sand out with 600 followed by 1200 wet-or-dry silicon carbide paper (local body supply shop) to feel like the original wood. And finally, in case everything else fails, a new shaft may be purchased for your cue. In some cases, replacement shafts may be purchased simply by specifying your cue make and model; otherwise the old shaft is needed to match threads, joint designs, and taper. New/replacement shafts cost between $50 and $200. 10. ** How much room do I need for a table? The minimum space for a table is the playing area plus the length of a cue (58") plus about 6 inches for the back swing, more for comfort, on each side. This gives the table: table playing area room size in meters 8' 44" x 88" 14'4" x 18' 4.4m x 5.5m 9' 50" x 100" 14'10" x19' 4.5m x 5.8m 12' (snooker) 70" x 140.5" 16'6" x 22'5" 5.0m x 6.8m "Seven foot" tables vary in size. Work down from the 8' dimensions. If your room does not meet these minimum size requirements, many billiard retailers will suggest that you can still put a table in, and use short cues (52", or 48"). Many people have found they are unhappy having to resort to shorter cues, and should have either gotten a smaller table, or no table at all. Others, of course, take the opposite view -- they are delighted to have any table. In the end, only you will know whether you are happy with the room dimensions and need for short cues. Before you spend $2000 for a table that will cause you to smash the walls in frustration, try this: (1) Find an indulgent pool hall when it's not busy. (2) Measure your space (at home) carefully, including the distance from the table to all walls that require a special cue (3) Go to the pool hall with a piece or pieces of plywood or some such, and a short cue, and set up the "walls" to replicate where the walls would be in your house. Play for several hours, using the short cue when needed. Between two tables you can do with about the length of a cue, the limit is caused not by the cue, but by the player being able to go into his stance between the tables. Deluxe rooms really need more room on all sides to let possible passers-by move without bumping into the players. 11. ** Can I build my own table and cue? John Kirchel has documented his table project on-line complete with pictures and drawings at http://pooltable.kirchelconsulting.com His email address is there in case you have questions. Bob Stantley's long article on how he built a table is at http://apeli.tky.hut.fi/~sbo/pub/English_documents/ Miscellaneous/Build_a_table.txt You can request a free reprint of the article he used for plans and materials from Fine Woodworking (March/April 1989) at: 1-800-477-8727 or from the land-mail address given in Bob Stantley's article. Or see: http://www.bestbilliard.com/resources/buildtable.cfm Complete plans and instructions in a 70-page booklet for building a 9-foot table are available from the site http://www.pooltableplans.com/ for $70. In the July/August 1986 issue, Fine Woodworking covered how to make a cue stick. (But this article was described by a cue maker in RSB as "immensely inaccurate and misleading.") Also, many of the pool magazines carry ads for videos on how to make sticks, in case you want to get into the business. See also http://www.cuemaker.com/ for a book (some of it on-line) about making cues. 12. ** How can I learn about billiard physics? There are several books available that discuss the physics of balls on cloth struck by pointed sticks. A fairly non-technical treatment is in Jack Koehler's "The Science of Pocket Billiards". It has many good observations and plausible explanations but no real theory or equations. For the latter, get Wayland Marlow's "The Physics of Pocket Billiards" which has great steaming piles of equations. Marlow died in September, 2002 A 100-page online discussion is in Ron Shepard's "Amateur Physics for the Amateur Pool Player" available at the download section of PlayPool.com at http://www.playpool.com/download.php and at http://www.sfbilliards.com/shepard_apapp.pdf Also available at playpool.com and at http://www.sfbilliards.com/shepard_squirt.pdf is Shepard's 19-page analysis of the causes of squirt. These include theory and equations and diagrams, along with useful worked examples. If you have access to a college physics library, many "mechanics" texts from around 1900 have entire chapters devoted to billiards physics (Williamson or Routh). The granddaddy in this field is a 176-page book by Coriolis (1835) in French. It has recently been republished by Jacques GABAY in Paris, ISBN 2-87647-081-0. A recent book in French is "Billard - Theorie du Jeu", ISBN 2-7027-0573-1, by Regis PETIT, published by Editions CHIRON/CASTEILLA, 128 pp., price: 98FF. In Canada, available from PROLOG (Bois-Briand QUEBEC), for $31.95 It contains material for the player as well as the theoretician. Some results of recent measurements: The tip is on the ball for about one thousandth of a second. During this time the ball moves no more than a few millimeters on a typical shot. It is unlikely that the grip hand can have much effect on the shot during this brief time. The tip has only one contact with the ball. The fastest cue ball reported (shot by a martial arts student) was about 35MPH (15.6 meters/second). More typical break speeds are around 20MPH. The energy in the ball goes up with the square of the speed, so the first is about three times as energetic as the typical break. 13. ** Where can I go for more information? Several years of articles from rec.sport.billiard are available to Web browsers at Google/Usenet: http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search You can search by key words, title, author, etc. Full URL: http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&group=rec.sport.billiard In the United States, the Billiards Congress of America. You can join the BCA as an individual. The annual membership is $25 and includes the rule book and a quarterly newsletter. Billiard Congress of America 4345 Beverly Street, Suite D Colorado Springs, CO 80918 Tel. 719-264-8300 / Fax. 719-264-0900 Web page: http://www.bca-pool.com BCA email: see: http://www.bca-pool.com/aboutus/ then "Who's Who" and then "Office Staff" for the person you want to contact For US snooker: The United States Snooker Association (USSA) 9728 Mill Court East, B-1 Palos Park, IL 60464 USA $25/year Membership (630) 262-9039 Tele (630) 361-9040 Fax http://www.snookerusa.com For US carom: Louis D. Bean, Secretary US Billiard Association (USBA) 1800 Beach Drive, Room 1823 Gulfport MS 39507-1508 $25/year membership http://www.uscarom.org/ email: usbasecretary@uscarom.org In Japan, the Nippon Billiard Association. NBA Maruhuzi building 5F, 1-10, 3-chome, Sinbasi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105 Japan; Tel: +81 3 3593-2543; Fax: +81 3 3593-2545 For lists of associations see: http://www.bca-pool.com/industry/ and http://www.rileyleisure.com/govbod.htm BOOKS A good web search site for both new and used books is the meta-site http://used.addall.com/ which searches a lot of book stores and other sites. See also http://www.amazon.com which has some reviews and http://www.bn.com for Barnes&Noble's on-line store. Billiards -- The Official Rules and Records Book. ISSN 1047-244 Published annually by the Billiard Congress of America. Rules for 32 games -- carom, pocket billiards and snooker. Lists world's championships and records. Instructional section. Specs on official playing equipment. Approx. 170 pp/5-1/2x8-1/2. Available from mail-order suppliers, some bookstores, and the BCA. About $7 list. "The 99 critical shots in Pool", written by Ray Martin. ISBN 0-8129-2241-7, suggested retail price is US$ 14.00 (Canada: $19.50) (It starts out assuming you know nothing about pool, and by the end of the book (if you work through all the shots presented, you will become a VERY good player.)) "Standard Book of Pool and Billiards," by Robert Byrne. $16.95. ISBN 0-15-614972-9 (This is a detailed description of some of the more complex aspects of the game, including English, spin, and throw. Includes rules and strategy for several games, including at least a hundred diagrams of three-cushion billiard shots). This has been superceded by "Byrne's New Standard Book." "Mastering Pool," by George Fels. $12.95. ISBN 0-8092-7895-2 (Warmly recommended to straight pool players) "Advanced Technique in Pool and Billiards," by Robert Byrne, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich publishers, ISBN 0-15-614971-0. $16.95 (A collection of Byrne's articles from Billiards Digest, revised and updated. It includes sections on pool, billiards, and sidelights of the various cue sports.) "Byrne's Treasury of Trick Shots in Pool and Billiards," by Robert Byrne (Trick and fancy shots from the last 200 years, documented and explained.) "The Science of Pocket Billiards," by Jack H. Koehler. $22.95 paperback, $26.95 hardcover. (Has a good double-elimination tournament format description) "Winning One-pocket," edited by Eddie Robin. (Lots of shots, breaks, moves, an entire chapter devoted to banking systems and methods.) This is now only available as a used book and appears on eBay from time to time. "Upscale One Pocket," by Jack Koehler, the author of "The Science of Pocket Billiards." Order from: Sportology Publications, 25832 Evergreen Road, Laguna Hills, Ca 92653. Cost is $14.95 plus $3 shipping. Recommended by Bob Campbell. "New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards" by Mike Shamos. Almost certainly the most thoroughly researched book on the terminology and history of cue sports ever written. Over 2000 words and terms defined, with over two hundred illustrations. ISBN 1558217975 "The Physics of Pocket Billiards" by Wayland C. Marlow, Marlow Advanced Systems Technologies, January 1996, 0-9645370-0-1, 291 pages, illustrated, paper, 6x9, $36.00 Trade. This book begins with a chapter on fundamentals, which covers, on an introductory level, topics that are treated in detail later on in the book. These subjects include break shots, friction, the masse shot, banks, combinations, and more. An appendix on equipment specifications collects the many values of various material properties for the relevant equipment. "Play Your Best Pool" by Phil Capelle, 1995, self published, Billiards Press, P.O. Box 400, Midway City, CA, 92655, 714-894-1157. Includes a section on just about every shot you're ever going to see on the pool table. 442 pp., over 400 illustrations. General mail-order suppliers Mueller's Sporting Goods Lincoln, Nebraska 1-800-627-8888 1-402-423-8888 (Can't use the 800 number in Europe) 1-402-423-5964 FAX Web: http://www.mueller-sporting-goods.com/ The Billiard Library 1570 Seabright Ave. Long Beach, CA 90813 1-800-245-5542 or 310-437-5413 1-310-436-8817 FAX http://www.billiardlibrary.com Saunier-Wilhem Company http://www.swcbilliards.com/ 3216 5th Avenue 1605 Center Point Road 2707 S. Elm-Eugene Pittsburgh, PA 15213 Birmingham, AL 35215 Greensboro, NC (412) 621-4350 (919) 272-3412 (919) 272-3412 Billiard Fanatic, 1-800-910-4437, free catalog. Their web page is at http://www.billiardfanatic.com/ Prices generally quite low. Video tapes of matches in nine ball, straight pool, three cushion, "fluke" shots, some instructional tapes: accu-stats@worldnet.att.net Web: http://www.accu-stats.com PUBLICATIONS There is an extensive list of International, National and Regional publications on the BCA's Home Page (see below). A few recommended by the readers of rec.sport.billiard are: US Publications Billiards Digest Luby Publishing Suite 1430 200 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60604 Monthly as of Feb. 1998 US: $30/year, Foreign: $46/year phone: 312-341-1110 http://www.billiardsdigest.com Pool & Billiard Magazine 810 Travelers Blvd. D-1 Summerville, SC 29485 12 issues per year for $34.95 Tel: (843) 875-5115 Toll Free Subscribers: 1-888-POOLMAG FAX: (843) 875-5171 E-MAIL: poolmag@poolmag.com http://www.poolmag.com National Billiard News P.O. Box 807 Northville, MI 48167 12 issues per year phone: 313-348-0053 UK Publications Snooker Scene Cavalier House 202 Hagley Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B16 9PQ, U.K. Tel: +44 (0) 121 454 2931, Fax: +44 (0) 121 452 1822 They have a web page, but it's pitifully broken. The "Amateur Billiard Player" is a quarterly magazine which is devoted to coverage of English Billiards, including full details and results of all tournaments -- Amateur and professional and international events. It is the official publication of the English Amateur Billiards Association, and is only available through subscription at GBP12 per annum (for four issues). If a payment in Sterling is a problem, send a personal cheque for $20 US. Some sample articles are available from recent issues in pdf format, and can be supplied on request from <billiards@qai.co.uk> Subscription payments should be sent to : Paul Dunning Lamorna, Stannage Lane, Churton, Chester CH3 6LE United Kingdom WORLD WIDE WEB The BCA home page http://www.bca-pool.com the Snooker Home page http://www.laboremus.no/snooker/ An excellent site for coverage of tournaments and players as well as other billiard-related news is: http://azbilliards.com Tournament and room info at http://www.playpool.com/ 14. ** What is the record for X? Some of these are listed on the net. The BCA rule book has a large section on records. A few that come up often in r.s.b: Is the highest break at snooker 147? No. A 147 includes 15 reds, 15 blacks, and all the colors, so it would appear to be the maximum. If your opponent fouls with a snooker, you may get a color for a "free ball" for your first red, and thereby get a "16 red" clearance. About six such clearances have been recorded. The highest snooker break is not, as previously reported, Tony Drago's and Eddie Manning's 149s. It's Wally West's 151. He made the break in the final of a club handicap at Hounslow Lucania in 1976 against Butch Rogers. 155 is possible. See the snooker home page, listed above. What is the high run at straight pool? On March 19, 1954 at the East High Billiard Club in Springfield, Ohio, Willie Mosconi played an announced exhibition against Earl J. Bruney, a local Springfield player. Mosconi pocketed 526 consecutive balls and then missed. The table was a Brunswick 4x8. The highest run in world championship competition was 182 by Joe Procita against Mosconi in 1951. Irving Crane made 309 on a 5x10 in an exhibition in 1939. The most consecutive pocketed balls was on a snooker (billiard) table in England in 1890. William Peall made 721 consecutive red balls at English billiards. That particular strategy is now outlawed. 15. ** How does the APA handicapping system work? There is a little info at: http://www.poolplayers.com/equalizer.html Other leagues use different handicapping systems. Contact the BCA, VNEA, ... for details. A simple, fair, free system is available on-line at http://www.sfbilliards.com/misc.htm -- look for NPL. 16. ** Where's the TV schedule for cue sports? Pool and Billiards Magazine: http://www.poolmag.com/ "TV Listings" Current ESPN and ESPN2 TV schedules at Billiards Digest -- http://www.billiardsdigest.com/calendar/calendar_tv.php TV Guide http://www.tvguide.com/ allows you to search plot descriptions by keyword. http://www.azbilliards.com offers a subscription reminder service You can also watch streaming video of pool matches for free at the http://trickshooter.com site if you have RealPlayer software. [others?] 17. ** Where can I buy/sell a billiard thingy? Sticks, balls, books, cards, programs, tables -- they all may have collectible value. Specializing in old billiard/pool items for auction is Brad Morris at New Deco, in Boca Raton, FL, 1-800-543-3326. He offers a quarterly newsletter by subscription. An on-line auction that has some billiard items is http://www.ebay.com Go to the search area, and search for a pattern like: (billiard,billiards,snooker) or (pool*,snooker,billiard,cue) -(barbie,dress,refle*,Poole,swim*) For the value of old cues, try the Blue Book of Pool Cues at http://www.cuebook.com/. 18. ** What are the different hardnesses of cue tips? This scale for tip hardness can be found in Mueller's catalog. These tips are rated on a scale of 1 (softest) to 4 (hardest). Individual tips vary. Elk Master: 1 Blue Knight: 1 Royal Oak: 2 Triumph: 2.5 Chandivert Match: 2.5 Triangle: 3.5 Chandivert Crown: 3.5 Chandivert Champion: 3.5 Le Pro: 3 Chandivert Rocky: 4 19. ** Where can I play Virtual Pool on the Internet? For information on playing Virtual Pool on the Internet visit: http://www.vipladder.com/ The following is from the info page at Virtual Pool Ladder site. The Virtual International Pool (VIP) Ladder is a perpetual tournament for Virtual Pool players around the world. Players compete in matches to earn points from other VIP Ladder players. As players earn points, they move up the ladder. Matches are scheduled and played online using Kali. The VIP Ladder does not schedule the matches. To play a match, a VIP Ladder player merely "advertises" on Kali that they would like to play a VIP Ladder match. Once an opponent is selected, players negotiate connection (who will transmit, who will receive) and begin playing the match. The winner of the match earns points from the loser of the match. Match results are reported by the loser to the VIP Ladder using an online form at the VIP Ladder web site. See also http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/virtualpool2 http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/virtualpool3 http://www.vrsports.com/pool2.html http://www.vpool.com/enter.htm 20. ** Which rooms are in X City? Several sites offer lists of pool halls. These lists can be searched in various ways: http://www.playpool.com search by distance or other items, w/maps http://www.poolhall.com/ by phone area code, city, name http://www.poolrooms.com/ map-based A more general service is http://www.switchboard.com/ which allows you to search for any category of business by distance from a particular address, and will also give you a map to get to each listing. If you are looking for pool halls, enter "Billiard Parlor" as the business category. See also http://www.anywho.com/ which also offers a "reverse lookup" if you have a telephone number but no name or address. 21. ** What is a dominant eye? For most people, one eye is much more dominant in seeing alignments than the other. Typically, right-handers are right-eyed, and vice versa. About 5% are "cross-dominant" (e.g., right-handed and left-eyed) and some are "ambi-ocular" (no dominant eye). To aim and sight well, it helps to locate your dominant eye directly over your cue. For cross-dominants, this may call for some adjustments in stance or neck/head angles. For ambi's, the stick will be under some spot between the eyes. Here's how to test yourself: Hold your thumb up at arm's length, visually blocking some distant object (for example, a clock or a lamp). Don't focus on your thumb; focus on the distant object. You'll see a ghost of your thumb, since your dominant eye will be in line with both your thumb and the distant object, while your non-dominant eye will be seeing past your thumb, directly toward the distant object. With one eye seeing the thumb and the other not, you get a ghost. The ghost is centered on the distant object because your dominant eye is the one that tells you what's lined up with what. So, when you close your non-dominant eye, the thumb becomes solid instead of ghostly, since the dominant eye is looking directly at the thumb. When you close your dominant eye, the thumb appears to jump to the side because the dominant eye (that was making the thumb line up with the distant object) is not in use. Stroke into a mirror to see where your dominance spot is, relative to your shaft. It "should" be directly over the shaft. If it's not, but you're not having difficulty aiming or sinking balls, don't worry about it. 22. ** What are some common strategies in the various games? SNOOKER A common opening break in snooker is, to place the cue ball on either side of the brown ball, and aim to thin the second to last row of reds, with outside side spin, travel four cushions for a possible snooker behind either green or yellow. NINE BALL After the break, the nine ball is in front of a pocket and there is no way to hit the one ball. The shooter calls "push out," and pockets the nine directly while leaving a hard shot on the one ball. The nine spots, but is relatively safe. ONE POCKET Your opponent needs one ball to win, and it is sitting in the jaws of his pocket. You pocket that ball and either scratch in the same pocket or jump the cue ball off the table on the shot for a foul. That ball comes back up, preventing your opponent from winning immediately, and one of your balls spots as a penalty. Your opponent gets ball in hand behind the line, perhaps with nothing to shoot at but the two spotted balls. 23. ** Where can I find tournament brackets (flowcharts) Pre-made brackets in Excel 4.0 can be found at: http://www.sound.net/~jimbarr/pplofkc/brackets.html There is a small Windows program that will make single or double elimination tournament brackets up to 16 players at: http://www.sound.net/~jimbarr/pplofkc/sharware.html You can order charts from the Billiard Congress of America Website at: http://www.bca-pool.com/products/ Ed Mercier provides tournament charts (8 to 256 players, single and double elimination), scoresheets, and tournament planners at http://www.playpool.com as PDF files. Anyone know of any others? 24. ** How can I heat a billiard table? Some have suggested that a home solution like installing roof de-icing cable, may lead to concerns about fire. In addition, concerns have been raised that if the slate is not heated uniformly, then the heating element is really not doing the job properly, and then the table is probably going to have a different roll in different sections of the table. Commercial table heating systems have peak powers of over 500 watts, and well insulated and solidly constructed. Be careful. A typical commercial heating system has sections of plywood mounted a few inches under the slates forming closed chambers. Heating wire (special resistance wire) is mounted on insulators in these spaces. A thermostat controls the power to keep the slate only a few degrees above room temperature. 25. ** How well do I play? Am I an A or a D? The A-B-C-D ratings vary from room to room. In general, an A would give a B a substantial spot, like two games in a race to six, and so on. An A plays well enough that he wouldn't be embarassed to play in a state-level tournament. Various leagues have their own rating systems and evaluation methods. If you try Equal Offense, you can compare yourself to other players with the table at http://www.tourboard.com/ieo/rankings/ A skill test based on the game "Fargo" (which is used for on-line tournaments) is available at: http://www.playpool.com/rsbasp/fargo 26. ** What is good table maintenance? 1. Keep the table clean - cover it when not in use; don't let food or drink near it; keep junk off the rails. Let everyone know that the table is to be treated with respect and care, then be sure and follow your own advice. 2. Avoid using talc. Also, do not chalk your cue over the table, or place the chalk upside-down [open-side down?] on the rails. 3. Brush your table regularly (after each session is not too often), and clean the rails with a damp cloth. 4. Vacuum the table at least every few weeks with a dust buster type. Avoid using a vacuum cleaner with rotating brushes unless you have worsted wool cloth, like Simonis or Granito. Also, if you have a non-worsted or directional cloth, always brush or vacuum the cloth in the same direction, usually head to foot. Vacuum the table brush itself to remove the chalk dust. 5. At least once a month, use a damp lint free towel to wipe down the cloth. Some prefer instead to mist the cloth with a water and then brush it. 6. Wash the balls regularly, at least with water, or maybe mild soap and water. 7. If you want to practice jump or masse shots, get a little extra square of cloth to put under the cueball, or you may leave little white marks all over the table. 8. Don't let people sit on the rails - it will cause the cushions to come loose. 27. ** What are those funny numbers people post to the group? Those are input to a program which will draw a table with balls in the (cryptically) given positions, if you have a web browser. You can move the balls around and set up other shots and get the series of numbers and letters that specifies the shot and send it to others. For more info, see the description at: http://endeavor.med.nyu.edu/~wei/pool/pooltable2_help.html Unfortunately, unless you have Macromedia Shockwave/Flash, you cannot even display the positions with that page. 28. Do billiard balls wear down? Yes, and not slowly. Within a year of daily play, all the balls in a set will be smaller than the allowed minimum in the equipment specs. The cue ball wears fastest, as it is struck by the tip and skids on the cloth on every shot. It is sent off the table more often, as well. Object ball wear comes from friction on the cloth, and is worse if the cloth is allowed to become dirty. Since billiard chalk is made of ground up sand, dirty cloth works like fine sand paper. See item #26 for cloth cleaning suggestions. As the cue ball becomes smaller than the object balls, it will be much easier to draw, but harder to follow. Parts of the object ball design will likely wear faster, so on some balls you can tell the numbers by feel as the numbers wear faster or slower than the rest of the ball. Often the "eyes" of old balls will be found to bulge out. ************** Contributors to this FAQ list include: Maria Bualat, Tomohito Sumita, Stephen Tu, Dave Dunbrack, Graham Toal, Robert E. Landsparger, Bill Angell, Korey Kruse, Paul Moyland, Spencer Lee, Bob Jewett, Jari Kokko, Jim Buss, Ron Shepard, Ivan Lee, Robert B. Trimble, Jim Barr, Tom Simpson, Pat Greenwald, Gideon F., Dave Siltz And sorry if your name was left out!