View source for Pool (cue sports)

[[File:Pool table gaming.jpg|thumb|A man playing pool in [[Kenya]]. He is aiming at the red ball to try and "sink" it into a pocket.]]
[[File:Shooting Pools 6.jpg|thumb|A man playing billiards in [[Nigeria]].]]
'''Pool''', also known as '''pocket billiards''', is the general term for a family of [[cue sports]]. These games are played on a [[Billiard table|pool table]] with six holes cut into them called pockets. One of the main goals of the game is to "sink" all the balls into the pockets. ("Sinking" the ball means that the ball rolls into a pocket.) There are many different types of pool, including [[eight-ball]], [[nine-ball]], and [[straight pool]].

==History==
[[Image:Michael Phelan's Billiard Saloon.jpg|thumb|280px|Historic print depicting [[Michael Phelan (billiards)|Michael Phelan]]'s [[Pool hall|Billiard Saloon]] in New York City, January 1, 1859.]]
Outside the billiards industry, the various games played on these tables are very often called  "pool". This is due to an association with the "poolrooms" where [[Gambling|gamblers]] "pooled" together their money to bet on [[horse-racing|horse races]]. Because these places often provided billiard tables, the term "pool" became linked to billiards. Though the original "pool" games were played on pocketless [[carom billiards]] tables, the name stuck to pocket billiards as it gained in popularity. The traditional view of billiards as a [[Upper-class|refined]] and [[nobility|noble]] pastime did not blend well with the [[low-class]] connotations of gambling. Because of this, the billiards industry's attempts to distance itself from the term "pool" beginning in the late 19th century. They were largely unsuccessful.

There are hundreds of pool games. Some of the more well known include [[eight-ball]], [[nine-ball]], [[straight pool]], and [[one-pocket]]. The game of [[snooker]] is played on a table with pockets but is considered separate from pool. It is governed internationally by the [[World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association]] (professional) and the [[International Billiards and Snooker Federation]] (amateur). There are also [[hybrid]] games combining traits of both pool and carom billiards, such as [[English billiards]], American four-ball billiards, [[cowboy pool]] and [[bottle pool]].

As a competitive sport, pool is governed internationally by the [[World Pool-Billiard Association]] (WPA), which has national affiliates such as the [[United States|US]] [[Billiard Congress of America]] (BCA), and which represents pool in the [[World Confederation of Billiard Sports]], which in turn represents all forms of cue sports in the [[International Olympic Committee]].

Two rivals in pool playing were:
*Willie Mosconi                      [1913-1993] who in 1933 joined by  World Champion Ralph Greenleaf, who was at the top of his game.
*Rudolf Wanderone aka Minnesota Fats [1913-1996] who in 1923 received training from German balkline billiards champion Erich Hagenlocher.

==Equipment==
[[Image:Billiards balls.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Standard pool balls.]]
Pool uses different equipment from carom billiards. In addition pool tables having pockets, the balls for pool are generally smaller and range from {{convert|2.25|in|mm|2}} in diameter to {{convert|2.375|in|mm|2}} in diameter. By comparison, carom billiard balls are generally {{convert|2.375|in|mm|2}}, or {{convert|61.5|mm|in|2}}.<ref name="UMB-II-12-2">[http://www.umb.org/Rules/Carom_Rules.pdf ''World Rules of Carom Billiard''] (English language version), Chapter II ("Equipment"), Article 12 ("Balls, Chalk"), Section 2; Union Mondiale de Billard, Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium, 1 January 1989 (official online PDF scan, accessed 5 March 2007).</ref> While UMB, the [[International Olympic Committee]]-recognized world carom billiards authority, permits balls as small as {{convert|61.0|mm|in|2}}, no major manufacturer produces such balls any longer. For that reason the normal standard is {{convert|61.5|mm|in|2}}. Modern pool tables range in size from {{convert|3.5|ft|m|2}} by {{convert|7|ft|m|2}}, to {{convert|4.5|ft|m|2}} by {{convert|9|ft|m|2}}.  Modern [[cue stick]]s are generally {{convert|58.5|in|cm|1}} long for pool while cues prior to 1980 were designed for ''straight pool'' and had an average length of {{convert|57.5|in|cm|1}}, while carom billiards cues are generally {{convert|56|in|cm|1}} long.

==References==
{{More footnotes|date=February 2008}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Refbegin}}
*Shamos, Michael Ian. 1993-1999.  The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards.  {{ISBN|1-58574-685-1}}.
*{{Citation
  | last = Byrne
  | first = Robert
  | author-link = 
  | title = Byrne's Standard Book of Pool and Billiards
  | place = New York and London
  | publisher = Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
  | year = 1978
  | volume = 
  | edition = 
  | url = 
  | doi = 
  | id = 
  | isbn = 0-15-115223-3}}
{{Refend}}

[[Category:Cue sports]]