Hoyle's Games Modernized

Part 20

Chapter 204,504 wordsPublic domain

We will suppose that the beginner has now fairly learned how to play losing hazards in the top pockets, and also how to spot his ball for the natural angle. In playing losing hazards into the middle pockets, it is quite as important that this angle, and this only, should be used. In Fig. 5 we give two illustrations of simple hazards into the middle pockets. The hazards themselves are, comparatively speaking, easy; but the chief point to be borne in mind is position--that is, having made the hazard, how can we leave the red ball so that there shall be another easy hazard next time? The endeavour should be to keep the red ball _in the centre of the table_ as much as possible. As a rule, the game is to play to bring down the red ball over the middle pocket again. Now, in Fig. 5, suppose the player at H tries to go into the right-hand middle pocket off a ball at D, the proper play would be to strike the red ball so that it goes up the table, and, following the dotted lines, returns to D_1. If the player hits the red a trifle too fine the red ball would travel to the left of this dotted line, and a losing hazard would be left off the red into one of the top pockets. If, however, in playing the stroke, the player hits his ball a trifle too full, the red ball would then probably travel along the dotted line terminating in D_2, and there would be no score left next time. {306}

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A similar stroke is shown in the left-hand middle pocket. The striker spots his ball at B, and goes into the middle pocket off a ball at A. The endeavour should be to send the red ball up the table in the direction shown by the dotted line A C.

If the red is sent up the table to the left of this line, unless very accurate strength is played, there will be probably no score left next time. If, however, the player is careful not to hit the ball at A too full, the ball will travel rather to the right of the line A C, and then, being in the middle of the table, if the strength is insufficient to bring the ball over the _middle_ pocket, there will still be a losing hazard left into one of the top pockets. This is the chief point to be considered in making losing hazards in the middle pockets, and naturally introduces that all-important subject for consideration in learning to play Billiards, viz.--

POSITION.

There are thousands of men who have played Billiards all their lives, but are still very poor players, because in learning to play they never studied position. They play simply for the stroke, and never give a thought to what will happen in the next stroke. If you watch a first-class player make a break, you will probably see him make a long series of very easy strokes, any one of which you yourself could have made with the greatest ease. The one difference, in fact, between your play and his would have been this--that you would make the easy stroke, and fail to leave another easy stroke next time, whereas he would _not_ fail; hence _his_ break--a series of easy strokes; hence _your_ break--one easy stroke, and a breakdown.

Space will not allow us to give a long series of {308} diagrams, explaining the various ways of playing for position, but we will indicate a few general principles. First--

LOSING HAZARDS.

In playing for any losing hazard, it should be remembered that the position of one ball after the stroke is fixed: the striker's own ball will be "in hand." Hence, he has only to consider the position of the object ball, which we will suppose to be the red. Now, the object of the player is to leave an easy stroke next time. As a rule, the red ball must be hit in a certain spot to ensure the hazard, the only exception being when the red ball is close to the pocket, and the player's ball close to the red. In this latter case it is often the best plan to just touch or graze the red ball so as hardly to move it, and--supposing, of course, it is not one of the bottom pockets--to leave the red ball over the pocket where it is. If, however, you are some way off the red ball, you will have to hit it in one place in order to make certain of the hazard. Consequently, position will simply depend upon _strength_. It is as well to remember that if a ball is left anywhere near the middle of the table, there is always an easy hazard left next time.

No player can leave a ball on a certain spot _exactly_. The greatest expert cannot do more than leave it "there or thereabouts." In fact, very often, in playing a losing hazard, all we have to do is not so much to play where to leave the red, but _where not_ to leave the red.

Sometimes it may be the best play to try and leave the red ball close to the white ball, so that the {309} next stroke will be an easy cannon. As a rule, however, the best play is to leave the red ball over a pocket, so that you can go in off it again next time. All the best "all-round" breaks are made by a series of losing hazards with occasional cannons. It is in playing cannons that the chief difficulty arises in getting position, but before we discuss cannons, a few words about--

WINNING HAZARDS.

It is evident that after playing a winning hazard the position of the object ball is known--viz., as a rule, on the spot. Should the player put in the white, his only excuse must be to make a baulk; otherwise it is bad play. His opponent, next time he plays, can spot his ball anywhere he likes in the semicircle, and if the other balls are out of baulk, he is almost certain to score. Consequently, the only winning hazards worth discussing are red winning hazards. In making a winning hazard, the player, as a rule, should try and get near the spot himself, so as to play for the spot, or else play to leave his own ball where there would be an easy losing hazard off the red on the spot next time. In Fig. 6 we give two illustrations. Suppose, first of all, the red ball is over the right-hand middle pocket at H. The proper professional play would be to put the ball in the pocket, and then run up the table towards L, and try and get into position for the spot, but the ordinary amateur, who, when he gets into position for the spot, can only make one hazard and then breaks down, had better not play for the spot at all. In the position given in the diagram, it would be better play to put the red ball in the pocket, and try and leave your own ball at H_1; then there is a certain losing hazard next time off the red into the left-hand top pocket. {310}

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Again, suppose the balls are left in the position W (the white ball), and X (the red ball), many beginners would play for the six stroke, but it would be very bad play, as the red ball would be on the spot, and the striker in hand. The proper play is to put the red ball in the pocket and leave your own ball in the jaws of the pocket, thus leaving a certain losing hazard--in off the red into the opposite top pocket--next time; a stroke, too, in which it is always easy to leave the red ball over the middle pocket in the stroke following.

However, as we have said, the chief difficulty in getting good position is when playing--

CANNONS.

Here the player has to consider the position of all three balls at the end of the stroke. There are two ways of getting position in playing a cannon. We can leave the red over a pocket, or play to bring the balls together. It is obvious that when all the balls are close together, it is almost a certainty that there is an easy score left.

Suppose, in Fig. 6, the red ball is on the spot S, the white ball at B, and the player in hand. There is, of course, an easy cannon left, but how ought he to play it so as to leave an easy score next time?

The game here is to leave the balls together at the end of the stroke. The striker spots his ball at A in baulk, so as to strike B the ordinary half-ball stroke. The stroke should be played slowly, so that the white ball rebounds off the left-hand upper side cushion at C, and travels towards D. The player's own ball hits the red gently, and all three balls are left close together, near the top of the table, one of the best positions possible.

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In playing to leave the red ball over a pocket, a good deal depends upon whether you play a cannon off the red on to the white, or off the white on to the red. For instance, in Fig. 7, suppose the striker in hand, and the two other balls stationed at A and R. If A is the red ball, the stroke is played one way, and if A is the white ball it is played another way. If A is the red you should play to make the cannon with just sufficient strength to double the red across the table, and leave it in position A_1, over the middle pocket. If R was the red ball, you ought to play with just sufficient strength, and also sufficiently accurately, to hit the red ball full and leave it in position R_1, over the left-hand top pocket.

Another important point in playing cannons is to play what is called "outside" the balls when they are close together. Suppose, in Fig. 7, the balls are in the position shown in C, D, and E. C is the player's ball. If he hits D and makes the cannon hitting E full, he separates the balls, but if he plays so as to just touch D and E, hitting them on the extreme edge, he keeps them together.

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We will, in conclusion, give a brief explanation of the spot stroke in the "all-in game." This is in fact, as we have already seen, a series of spot hazards.[70] We must, however, warn the beginner that though nothing looks more simple, nothing really is more difficult. The simplest position for the spot stroke is when the striker's ball is in a direct line with the red ball and the pocket (Fig. 8). Of course, the proper play is to screw back and bring your own ball into the same place. Were this a "certainty," the striker would go on scoring for ever. Sooner or later, however, he will find his ball will not come back quite straight. It will come back slightly nearer the top cushion, or rather more away from it. In the first of these cases (position 2, Fig. 9), the best plan is to follow through the red ball. This can be done simply by a following stroke. A is the striker's ball; B the position of the striker's ball after the stroke. When the balls are nearly, but not quite straight, this is done by means of a stab shot.

In position 3 (Fig. 10) the striker's ball is at A. The play now is to drop on to the red ball with sufficient strength to put it in, and get position at B off the top cushion. Sometimes a little side is necessary.

In position 4 (Fig. 11) the striker's ball A is nearly, but not quite, in a line with the red ball and the opposite pocket. When this is the case, the only way to get position is to run through the red and get position off the two cushions. You must play to hit your ball very high and with a great deal of freedom of cue. It is a stroke in which a beginner would probably fail.

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It is as well to know within what limits the spot stroke can be played. Suppose we draw a line, X Y (Fig. 12), through the spot S, parallel with the top cushion. If the striker's ball is within this line or nearer to the top cushion, it is no use putting in the red gently, as position would be lost. The only plan to recover position is to play all round the table. Suppose the striker's ball is within the line at A, he now plays to put the red ball in the right-hand top pocket and recover position by going right round the table till his ball stops at B. This is a very difficult stroke, but is often played for and obtained by a first-class player.

THE BILLIARDS CONTROL CLUB RULES.

These Rules (issued in February, 1909) are specially applicable to professional matches, and,--like the Rimington-Wilson Code, on which they are based,--have particularly in view the reduction of safety misses to a minimum and the imposition of one definite penalty for each and every kind of foul stroke or illegitimate miss. In issuing the Code, the Secretary lays stress on the following provisions:--

A player may not make two misses in successive innings, unless he or the opponent scores after the first miss, or a double baulk intervenes. (_Rule 9._)

When striker's ball remains touching another ball, red ball shall be spotted, and non-striker's ball, if on the table, shall be placed on the centre spot; striker shall play from the D; if non-striker's ball is in hand, red shall be spotted, and striker shall break the balls. (_Rule 10._)

Consecutive ball-to-ball cannons are limited to 25; on the completion of this number the break shall only be continued by the intervention of a hazard or indirect cannon. (_Rule 13._)

PENALTIES.

If, after contact with another ball, striker's or any other ball is forced off the table, the non-striker shall add two points to his score. (_Rule 18._) {321}

For a foul stroke the striker cannot score, and his opponent plays from hand. His ball shall be placed on the centre spot, the red ball shall be spotted, and his opponent shall play from the D.

For refusing to continue the game when called upon by the referee or marker to do so, or for conduct which, in the opinion of the referee or marker, is wilfully or persistently unfair, a player shall lose the game. (_Rule 18._)

PYRAMIDS.

This game is played by two persons with sixteen balls,--one white, and fifteen red. The latter are arranged in the form of a solid triangle, with its apex on the Pyramid spot (P in Fig. 1), and its base towards the top cushion and lying parallel thereto.

At the commencement of the game, one player leads off from the half-circle, and plays at any one of the red balls. Should he pocket one or more balls, he scores one for each red ball pocketed. He continues playing till he fails to score.

If a player gives a miss, or pockets the white ball, a point is taken off his score and he must replace one of the red balls he has previously pocketed; on the Pyramid spot, if unoccupied, or, if that be occupied, as near to it as possible in a line directly behind it. If he has not previously pocketed a ball, he _owes_ one, and must pay it by replacing the first ball that he pockets later on.

After a miss, the opponent follows on from where the white ball stopped; but after a pocketing of the white ball, the opponent follows on from the {322} half-circle. In playing at a red ball, baulk is no obstacle.

If a striker pockets the white ball, and at the same time pockets one or more of the red balls, he gains nothing by the stroke, but one is deducted from his score; the red balls pocketed must be spotted on the table, as well as one of the striker's red balls previously pocketed. The opponent follows on from the half-circle.

When the red balls have all been pocketed but one, the player making the last score continues playing with the white ball, and his opponent uses the other. If a striker now make a miss, or pocket the ball he is playing with, the opponent adds one to his score, and the game is over.

SHELL OUT.

This is a name given to Pyramids when played by more than two persons.

When a striker pockets a red ball he receives from each of the other players a stake previously agreed on. No ball is ever replaced on the table after a miss, or after pocketing the white. Should any player miss or pocket the white, he pays for each of the other players as well as for himself whenever the next red ball is pocketed. When only one red ball is left in play, each player continues playing with the white. Pocketing the red is now paid double all round; and if a striker miss, or pocket the white, he pays double all round.

The order of play is drawn for at the beginning of each game. {323}

WORKS OF REFERENCE.

BILLIARDS EXPOUNDED. By J. P. Mannock, assisted by S. A. Mussabini. Grant Richards, 2 vols., 15s.

PRACTICAL BILLIARDS. By C. Dawson. To be had from the author, "Thorns," Hook Road, Surbiton, Surrey. 12s. 6d.

HINTS ON BILLIARDS. By J. Buchanan. Geo. Bell and Sons.

MODERN BILLIARDS. By J. Roberts. C. Arthur Pearson, Limited.

BILLIARDS FOR EVERYBODY (Oval Series). By Charles Roberts. Routledge. 1s.

BILLIARDS. By Joseph Bennett. Edited by Cavendish. De la Rue and Co. 10s. 6d.

BILLIARDS (Badminton Library). By Major W. Broadfoot, R.E., and others. Longmans. 10s. 6d.

PYRAMIDS AND POOL (Oval Series). By J. Buchanan. Routledge. 1s.

* * * * *

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POOL.

The game of Pool is the most sociable form of Billiards, as any number of persons can take part in it. There are several varieties of the game. The rules which we append (by kind permission of Messrs. Burroughes & Watts) are those of ordinary Pool. These rules sufficiently describe the game, but a few words of warning may be necessary to beginners. It is obvious that, as only the two players left in at the finish win the pool, it is of far greater consequence to save your own life than take another's. Consequently, the chief point for consideration is how to play for safety--that is, how to play to leave your own ball so that the player who follows on cannot put you in.

At starting, for instance, the white ball is placed on the spot. The red plays from baulk. Now red has no chance of putting white in, consequently he plays gently to drop on to the white ball, and leave his own ball, the red, under the top cushion.

If, however, white were close over the pocket, then the proper play, supposing the winning hazard was a _certainty_, would be to put white in and play for a position, so that you could take another life. In other words, you play to put white in, and get into some position where there is another easy {325} hazard on another ball. After putting that in, another, and so on. A good pool-player, if he has a certain hazard, will sometimes what is called "clear the table;" that is, put in every ball.

The most common stroke in Pool is a _chance_ of taking a life--_i.e._, where there is a difficult winning hazard left off the ball you play on. In this case never hesitate. Play, if you can, for the chance of the hazard and to _get safe_. If you cannot do both, simply play for safety, and for nothing else.

THE NATIONAL RULES OF POOL.

1. This game is played with coloured balls, which (or small duplicate ones) are dealt out from a pool basket or bag indiscriminately to the players at the beginning of each game. Cues and rests of any description may be used.

2. The players must play progressively, as the colours are placed on the pool marking-board, and the first stroke of each player--excepting White--is made from the half-circle, as also the succeeding strokes of every player when in hand.

3. Each player has three lives at starting, the object being throughout the game to pocket the ball played on. White places his ball on the upper spot; Red plays at White, Yellow at Red, and so on, each player playing at the last ball, unless it be in hand; in that case the player plays at the nearest ball.

4. Each player pays into the pool the amount decided on and starts with three lives (excepting a less number is agreed on for any particular player). Each pays forfeit for each life lost. {326}

5. When the striker takes a life, he must continue to play on the nearest ball as long as he can take a life, till all the other balls are off the table; his own must then be placed on the spot, as at the commencement.

6. The first player who loses his three lives is entitled to purchase a star by paying into the pool the same sum as at the commencement, for which he receives lives equal in number to the lowest number on the board. The player, however, must decide whether he will star or not before the next stroke is played.

7. If the first player out refuse to star, the second may do so; if the second refuse, the third may do so; and so on, until only two are left in the pool, in which case the privilege ceases.

8. If before a star two or more balls be pocketed by the same stroke, including the ball played at, each having one life, the owner of the ball first struck has the option of starring; but if he refuse, and more than one remain, the persons to whom they belong must draw lots for the star. If the balls pocketed do not include the ball played at, their owners must draw lots for the star.

9. Only one star is allowed in a pool up to six.

9a. Only two stars are allowed in a pool up to seven or more.

10. The two last players cannot star.

11. If a life is lost, the next player plays at the nearest ball to his own; but if the next player's ball be in hand, he plays at the nearest ball to the centre spot of the half-circle.

12. If a doubt arise respecting the distance of balls, the distance must, if the player's ball be in {327} hand, be measured from the centre spot on the half-circle; but if the player's ball be not in hand, the measurement must be made from his ball to the other; and in both cases the doubt must be decided by the majority of the players; but if the distance be equal, then the owners of the balls at equal distances must draw lots.

13. The baulk is no protection.

14. A life is lost by a ball being pocketed by the player in its proper turn.

15. The player loses a life by any one of the following means.--By pocketing his own ball; by running a _coup_; by missing a ball; by forcing his own ball off the table; by playing with a wrong ball; by playing out of his turn; by stopping or touching his own ball before it has done rolling; or by his ball striking another ball before hitting the one he ought to have played at.

16. If the striker pocket a ball, and by the same stroke lose a life in any way, the player whose ball is pocketed does not lose a life.

17. A player losing a life in any way pays forfeit to the player whose ball he plays upon or should have played upon. If a player plays out of turn or with the wrong ball, he loses a life to the player who precedes him.

18. If the striker miss the ball he ought to play at and strike another ball and pocket it, he loses a life, and his ball must be taken off the table, and both balls must remain in hand until it be their turn to play.

19. Fouls are also made thus: striking a ball twice with the cue, lifting both feet from the floor when striking; touching another ball, either in the {328} act of striking or before the balls have become stationary, the penalty being that the player cannot take a life.

20. If the player, either in taking aim or in any manner whatever, except when in hand, touch his own ball, it is a foul. If the striker pocket a ball by a foul stroke, the owner of that ball does not lose a life, but the ball remains in hand until it is his turn to play.

21. If the striker's ball touch the one he has to play at, he is at liberty either to play at it or at any other ball on the table; and he may take a life by pocketing any balls so played on.

22. If a ball or balls touch the striker's ball, or be in line between it and the ball he has to play at, so as to prevent him hitting _any part of the object ball he wishes_, it or they, whether nearer to the striker's ball than the object ball or not, may be taken up until the stroke has been played; and after the balls have ceased running those taken up must be replaced, but a ball cannot be taken up in order to strike a ball from off a cushion, except in the case of Rule 24.

23. If the ball or balls be in the way of a striker, or the striker's cue, so that he cannot play at his ball without a reasonable chance of making a foul, he can have them taken up.

24. If the corner of the cushion prevent the striker from playing in a direct line, he can have any ball removed for the purpose of playing at a cushion first, or he may have the ball moved out a few inches, but cannot then take a life. If, however, only two players be left in, as in Rule 32, the ball cannot be moved out. {329}