Snooker Overview

Care for a game of snooker? In America, many people haven't even heard of this variation on billiards. Players in other parts of the world opt for snooker as their game of choice at pool halls and billiards rooms. Snooker is actually the most widely watched television sports program in England, but Americans are only beginning to recognize the game.

Snooker began as a simple variation of the game of pool. It was originally called "pyramid pool", and was merely a different version of "life" or "black" games already in use. In 1875, Sir Neville Chamberlain modified the game, and it took off in popularity. English soldiers loved to play the new game, and it enjoyed a steady increase in popularity up to the present day's peak in modern England.

Learning snooker can seem a bit intimidating to newcomers, but the basic rules are actually not that complex. The most difficult rule is perhaps the setup of the table:

* Snooker is played on 6 feet by 12 feet traditional billiards tables.

* Snooker balls come in standard sets of 22 balls. Each includes a white "cue" ball, and one each of green, black, blue, brown, yellow, and pink. Finally, there are 15 red balls in each set.

* The green, brown, yellow balls are placed at one end of the table, with a 6 inch gap between them. The blue ball goes in the dead center of the table. Pink splits the distance between the blue ball and the end of the table cushion on the far side. The black ball gets its own special spot, marked about 13 inches from the far cushion.

* A triangular rack or form is used to place the 15 red balls, which go directly behind the pink ball. Don't touch the pink ball with the point of the triangle, but come as close as possible.

Now let's play snooker! The "break" is a sharp strike by one player into the group of red balls. From then on, when a red ball is sunk into a pocket, the player is allowed to follow up with an attempt to sink any of the six colored balls. Each colored ball has an assigned number of points: yellow is two points, green next at three points, brown brings four, blue is good for five, pink is six, and finally black is worth seven points. When a colored ball is counted, retrieve the ball and carefully place it back on the table in its original spot for further play.

There are also varieties of snooker that you can try out after you have mastered the basic game. As you can see, snooker is not terribly complex, but it can still be a drag on the fun part of the game for newcomers trying too remember all the rules, so it is best to have an experienced player explain the snooker rules to you.

Snooker has been a popular sport in England and other parts of the world for more than a century, and with good reason. It's fun, skillful and relatively easy to play. If you have a regulation size table, consider investing in set of snooker balls, and add a whole new dimension to your game playing.

Article Source: http://www.articlemonk.com

Author Barbara Miller is a columnist for a variety of web magazines, on outdoor recreation and travel bargains topics.
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