History of snooker

The history of snooker is a checkered one .the game itself originated from the pool game billiards. Billiards was the favorite indoor game of the British army as it did not require much space and hence could be played in the confines of the army mess or the club. The original game of billiards could be played only by two people .Therefore to accommodate more players many variations of the game was introduced. Like the life pool or the pyramid pool. Snooker is a hybrid of the traditional pool game of billiards and the multiple players’ version.

The Beginning

In the early 15th century when the game of billiards was first played it w as confined to the palaces and mansions of Aristocrats. The tables had only holes in which the balls were potted but the tables did not have cushions or side rails. This game gained popularity among the British forces stationed in India. Life in India for the British was monotonous and combined with the four months of incessant monsoon rains forced the British to stay indoors. The British played the traditional game of billiards and to accommodate more players introduced the life pool and pyramid pool type of the game. Life pool had colored balls which served as both cue and object balls. The pyramid pool variation of the game had 15 red balls and a cue ball. The pool table also evolved into the present day table. Cushions, pockets, and side rails were added to spare the players the misery of picking the balls.

The Black pool

It was the next variation of the game .A black ball was added which allowed the players to pot for more points. In 1875 A bored beurocrat, Sir Neville Francis, in Jabalpur, a lesser town in central India suggested the use of colored balls in the new version if the game. The name for the game Snooker also has an interesting story. During a game of Black pool Sir Neville called a player snooker for missing a shot and the name stuck. Snooker was a derogatory slang for the first year cadet. The game was seen by Mr John Roberts who introduced the game in England. Thus the game of snooker was born.

The Early Years

The first championship was held in 1916 and the first professional competition was held in 1927.The winner was Joe Davis who dominated the game till his retirement in 1946.In 1969 a new variation of the game The pot black was launched by the BBC.It was also a year when color television was launched and this led the game to become immensely popular. The game found new sponsors and money poured into the game.

Modern Times

Snooker continues to enjoy immense popularity in modern times. There were minor hiccups when one of the major sponsors of the game –tobacco companies were forbade from sponsoring the game after the introduction of anti tobacco laws in Britain. But the game continues to gain popularity especially in countries like China and Korea.

“Bottle pool” also recognized as the “bottle-billiards” as well as “bottle pocket billiards”. Bottle pool is an amalgam billiards game, mingling the aspects of both the “carom billiards” and the “pocket billiards” games. It is played on the regular pool table, with merely 2 object balls, a “cue ball”, along with a 6¾ inch long, taper-necked bottle given name as “shake bottle” or “tally bottle”. Usually, the shake bottles are made of leather, which is positioned at the table and employed as a objective for caroms. Sometimes, bottle pool is erroneously used as a synonym for “Kelly pool” game. Bottle pool is defined as merging the elements of billiards; chess and straight pool wrapped up in a set of rules that prolifically rewards deliberate shot playing and penalizes faults by Sisyphean point reversals.

                    Bottle pool is been played ever since late 1800s. It became more popular in the mid 20th century, it is also acknowledged that bottle pool was played by a few renowned players, like the world famous “quantum chemist” as well as “biochemist” Linus Pauling.

                   Above the time, bottle pool has built-up a discriminatory image, due to its dynamic play that was in turn, usually the region of the “gentlemen's clubs” and few selected groups than the clientele of billiard parlors. Regardless of being counted as a small group of “non-championship” games, nevertheless, detailed in the “Official Rules” as well as “Records Book of the Billiard Congress of America” from 2006, bottle pool was identified barely as the billiard sport of common choice at some “New York City Social Clubs”. An experienced person of the clubs said in 2006 that there existed less than 1,000 enthusiastic bottle pool players around the nation.

 Rules to Play

                        The primary requirement for playing the Bottle Pool is to set-up the bottle for the game. At the beginning of the game, the tally bottle is positioned upturned at the “center spot”, which is the middle of the pool table. The 2 object balls are used to play the game named as 1-ball and 2-ball. 1-ball is placed on the foot rail of the diamond right away flanking to the right-corner pocket, with the 2-ball kept adjacent to the left-corner pocket on the foot rail of the diamond. After placing, the shake bottle, the player breaks starting with “cue ball” in hand from back of the head string, as well as targets either of the 2 object balls to achieve a legal break. The aim of the Bottle pool game is to attain exactly at least 31 points prior to the other opponent players, with a “draconian penalty” for going beyond the benchmark.

 Scoring the Game

                        There are some pre-defined scores in the bottle pool game for every legal shot played, such as,

 • On pocketing 1-ball, a player scores one point;

• On pocketing 2-ball, player scores 2 points;

• When the cue ball is caromed off of both the object balls, solo point is scored by the player;

• If the cue ball is caromed off of  any of the object balls or else both object balls into the bottle and hitting it onto its area, scores 5 points;

• Caroming the cue ball off either or both, the object balls in the bottle, and then hitting on its base, consequences an automatic win.

           All the scoring potentials mentioned above can be united; importing the highest number of points obtainable on a solo stroke is “9”, proficient by caroming as well as pocketing both the object balls, together with hitting over the bottle, along with the cue ball. In case, a player passes the benchmark, named as a "burst", the score of 31 points overshot by the player becomes his new score. For instance, a player has scored 30 points, and then wins 5 points by caroming the “cue ball” off the object ball into the bottle, as well as hitting it in its area, the player scores are reset to 4 points.

                     After the player achieves precisely 31 points, he should announce his accomplishment to all the players, prior to the other player hits a shot and victors the game. If player does not feats, the player needs to wait for announcing his winning score, until his chance comes up once again in the rotation. However, if the other player in between successfully scores 31 points, and announces it, then that player victors the game.