The best introduction to an account of Billiards will be a brief
explanation of the implements of the game and the terms used in connection
with it.
The bed of a full-sized table (see Fig. 1) is 12 ft. long, and 6 ft. 1-1/2
inches wide. The pockets are 3-5/8 inches across. The billiard spot, S, is
12-3/4 inches from the centre of the top cushion, opposite to the baulk.
The pyramid spot, P, is placed at the intersection of two lines drawn from
the two middle pockets to the opposite top pockets. The centre spot, M, is
exactly between the middle pockets. The "baulk" is the space behind a line
drawn across the table, 29 inches from the face of the bottom cushion, and
parallel to it. The "half-circle," or "D," is 23 inches in diameter, its
centre, K, coinciding with the centre of the baulk-line.
The game is played with three balls of equal size and weight, one _red_,
one _white_, and one _spot-white_. The diameter of a ball must be not less
than 2-1/16 inches, nor more than 2-3/32 inches. The diameter of a match
ball, under National Rules, is 2-5/64 inches.
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[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
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The choice of balls and order of play is, unless mutually agreed upon,
determined by "stringing" (_i.e._, playing from baulk up the table, so as
to strike the top cushion). The striker whose ball stops nearest the lower
cushion may take which ball he likes, and play, or direct his opponent to
play, as he may deem expedient. In stringing, under National Rules, the
players must both play at the same time.
The red ball is, at the opening of every game, placed on the billiard spot,
and must be replaced after being pocketed or forced off the table. If the
billiard spot be occupied, the red ball must be placed on the pyramid spot,
or, if that also be occupied, on the centre spot.
When any player plays from baulk, he must place his ball within the
half-circle, or on the line that contains it.
Whoever breaks the balls (_i.e._, leads off) must play out of baulk, though
it is not necessary that he shall strike the red ball, and he may give a
miss in or out of baulk. But, if in baulk, he must first strike a cushion
out of baulk. No player who is in hand is allowed to strike any ball in
baulk, or on the baulk-line, unless his ball has first struck a cushion out
of baulk. Should, however, a ball be out of baulk, the player in hand may
strike any part of that ball without his own ball necessarily going out of
baulk.
The player continues to play until he ceases to score, when his opponent
follows on.
The various strokes are as under:
1.--A _winning hazard_ is made by the player causing his own ball to hit an
object ball and forcing the latter into a pocket.
2.--A _losing hazard_ is made by the player causing his own ball to hit an
object ball and forcing his own ball into a pocket. {290}
3.--A _cannon_ is made by causing the player's ball to strike the two
object balls. By Billiard Association rules, when two object balls are
struck simultaneously, the stroke shall be scored as if the white had been
struck first. Under National Rules, such a stroke counts as if the red were
struck first.
4.--A _coup_ is made by forcing the player's own ball into a pocket without
first striking another ball.
A _miss_ counts one, a _coup_ three, to the opposite player.