Billiards Crib Sheet

[dantuck_7]

Hello,

I've started playing a bit of billiards and am wondering whether anyone has a condensed set of rules. All we're using so far is...

..................POT...CANNON...IN-OFF
RED............3.......2 ............3
OPP. BALL....2.......2 ............2

Have also worked out the fouls of -1 and -3. Can anyone provided any more info on how the red switches between blue and black spot.

Also, how many pots, in-offs are you allowed in a row before you have to play something else. What about getting your opponent to play again if there has been a foul?

It's a very technical game to play and makes a decent change from snooker as there are some shots where the pressure is reduced on the pot (for example you might have a natural cannon and a pot on a red - so you don't worry to much about just the red!) Are there any standard safety shots avaialble? Try and leave max. distance between all 3 balls?

[The Statman]

Here is the basic set of Rules:

Pot or in-off red, 3 points; pot or in-off object cue-ball 2 points
(If the cue-ball hits both balls before going in-off, it is the one struck FIRST which counts)
Cannon, 2 points

All fouls are 2 points to the other side.

The red is potted twice off the (black) spot, then once off the centre (blue) spot, then repeat. BUT that is only if it is a pure pot. If another score takes place in the same shot, then red returns to black spot and count is re-set.
(for example, you pot red twice off black spot, once off blue spot, once more off black spot; on your next shot you pot the red but also make a cannon – this resets the count and the red goes back to black spot; you can pot it another twice from there till it moves to blue)

Limit of shots is 75 for cannons, 15 for hazards (which means pot and/or in-off). Again, this assumes no other scoring aspect of the shot.
(for example, you pot a red four times, go in-off once, pot red another twice, then pot and in-off red, each time without encompassing a cannon. This is 8 hazards in a row; the one where you potted and in-offed counts as one shot. Next shot you pot red but also make a cannon – this resets the count of pots and you are now allowed a further 15 pots. The shot with pot/cannon combined does not count towards consecutive pots or cannons.)

When playing from hand, you must play OUT OF BAULK. This means the cue-ball must contact a ball or cushion out of baulk before hitting one that is in baulk. You ARE actually allowed to play into baulk as long as the above conditions are met.

After ANY foul the oncoming player can have the balls reset – red on its spot, object cue-ball on centre spot, you play from hand.

If the striker's ball lands TOUCHING either of the other balls, the table is reset – no options available.

The terms MISS and FOUL are virtually the opposite as for snooker, in that after a FOUL the balls may be reset (but not replaced) (see above) whereas after a MISS they cannot.
A MISS occurs when you are playing from the D and you have no balls out of baulk to play for. In this scenario it is basically the same as a FOUL, i.e. 2 points away, but the term MISS denotes that the table cannot be reset. This is, apparently, almost always a deliberatte shot.

There are other weird technicalities such as spotting when spot is covered, etc., of course.

[dantuck_7]

Thanks for the quick reply.

For some reason I read somewhere that a foul where you missed everything is minus 1 and if you went in-off without contacting an object ball it was minus 3?

The friend I play with is going to like the rule of 15 pots / in-offs in a row. We were playing 4 last night! The rule about only playing out of baulk is going to stop some of the continual in-offs I was up to. Can I just confirm then that you would be allowed to play 15 pots on the red (flicking between balck and blue spot). I have a feeling I'm going to get slaughtered with this one.

We also had the situation where the white landed on the blue spot- so red couldn't be spotted is it just down onto the black? What if black and blue are covered?

[The Statman]

Yes the 15 count is SHOTS that do not contain a CANNON, basically, so it can come in any combination. The 75 cannon count is basically shots that contain ONLY a cannon.

If you pot your opponent's cue-ball, then when your 15 count is up, you have only a safety shot left to play, since a cannon is no longer available and a sixteenth pot/in-off would be foul.

If the blue spot is covered I think it goes to black (but counts as if it was blue if potted again), black I think goes to blue (but counted as if it was black if potted again) and if both are covered it goes to pink (counts as if it's whatever it should have been).

[Redphex]

I'd recommend reading through the rules here:
http://www.globalcuesportscentre.com...esBillsEng.htm

about spotting:

(a) If the red is pocketed or forced off the table, it is placed on the Spot, or

(i) if the Spot is occupied, it shall be placed on the Pyramid Spot
(ii) if both the Spot and the Pyramid Spot are occupied, it shall be placed on the Centre Spot.


(b) If the red is potted twice in succession in one break from the Spot or from the Pyramid Spot, not in conjunction with another score, it shall be placed on the Centre Spot, or

(i) if the Centre Spot is occupied, it shall be placed on the Pyramid Spot.
(ii) if both the Centre Spot and the Pyramid Spot are occupied, it shall be placed on the Spot.


(c) For continued pots of the red, not in conjunction with another score, it shall be placed on the Spot twice, then the Centre Spot once, in sequence while those spots are not occupied.


(d) The referee shall inform the striker upon request how many consecutive pots have been made off the same spot.


(e) A ball is not considered to be on any spot unless it was placed there by hand.


(f) If another ball should touch any ball that has been placed by hand on a spot, that ball is no longer considered to be on that spot, even though it may not have moved.


(g) A player shall not be held responsible for any mistake by the referee in failing to spot correctly any object ball.

[The Statman]

Redphex

Cheers, I got that bit a little bit wrong!

I can;t remember exactly what the rule is once the red has been placed on the 'wrong' spot because the right one is covered. I think you carry on counting between black and blue as if it had been on the one it was supposed to be on.

I wrote that above with a good degree of certainty but the more I think about it the less certain I am.

[ryanah147]

Statman,
Are there any instances in the game of English Billiards that the Green and Brown spots are used ? A friend of mine states that 2 of the baulk line spots can be used in Billiards, It is either green and brown, or yellow and brown. Id like to know, only if it is to prove him wrong.

[bongo]

I think if the object white (opponent's ball) is off the table as a result of his last stroke, after 15 hazards (pots and in-offs) it is replaced on the table on the yellow spot.

[100-uper]

Nearly ... the white is place in the centre of the baulk line in such a case, but if this position is occupied it would be placed on the right hand corner of the "D" (yellow spot)

[dantuck_7]

Looks like you've lost your bet ryanah147.

[The Statman]

Statman,
Are there any instances in the game of English Billiards that the Green and Brown spots are used ? A friend of mine states that 2 of the baulk line spots can be used in Billiards, It is either green and brown, or yellow and brown. Id like to know, only if it is to prove him wrong.

As 100-uper replied in a post above, it is the yellow and brown, in the very rare instance mentioned by him. (Note that on no occasion would both spots be used; it could only be one or the other.)

[ryanah147]

I knew that one of the baulk spots were used, but was surprised to hear about the two... Ah well, it was only a pint