50 Types of Billiards?

LET THE MOVIES TEACH YOU HOW TO PLAY

Billiards can largely be divided into three categories of cue sports: pool, snooker, and carom billiards. Readers will be familiar with the most common variations, such as eight-ball, nine-ball, straight pool, and standard snooker.

But, within those subdivisions exists a world of lesser-known regional and artistic adaptations. Who has played kaisa (from Finland) or keglebilliard (from Denmark) or sinuca (from Brazil)? According to Wikipedia, there are more than 50 types of billiard games across those three categories. How does one start to become familiar with them?

By Jason Moss

Movies and television episodes which prominently feature billiards can play a key role in that education, as a number of these offshoots have made it to the big screen. Below is a primer on where to start that knowledge journey.

Goriziana (or 9-pins) is a form of carom billiards especially popular in Italy. Nine pins sit in the center of a pocketless table. Two cue balls and a red ball are used. Each player attempts to hit the opponent’s ball and, from there, scores points by striking the red ball, or by making the opponent’s balls or the red ball knock over the pins. Play continues until someone reaches or surpasses a pre-set number of points.

To visualize goriziana, watch the romantic comedy The Pool Hustlers (1983, Italy), also known as Io, Chiara e lo scuro. Francesco, a skilled goriziana player, never plays for money. He challenges Scuro, the reigning goriziana champion. When Francesco wins, his newfound confidence leads him to break his own no-betting rule, and he quickly falls into significant debt, losing his rematches to Scuro. This debt leads him to steal money, and ultimately, to compete in the International Single Set

Goriziana Championship as a way to turn around his life.

Destíkový Carambol (or tenfold carom) is a Czech variation of the carom billiards game four-ball, in which players earn one or two points based on caroming their white ball into the other balls. In the Czech version, greater points can be earned by the shot complexity, such as hitting all the balls or using the cushions before hitting any balls.

In 1994, the popular Czech stop-motion animated television series, Pat & Mat included a memorable and award-winning episode “Billiard” (or “Kulečník”). Pat and Mat, two eternally optimistic handymen known for their self-made problems and Rube Goldbergian solutions, attempt to play destíkový carambola, but the effort is continually compromised as minor table mishaps lead to rampant home destruction.

Of the many varieties of snooker is 3-Reds, essentially a faster version, with only three red balls instead of 15, and every time a ball is potted, another red is added randomly to the table, so there are only ever three reds on the table. Sure, if you live in Salisbury, the local league has been playing this game for 30 years. But, if not, check out the 1975 Israeli film Hagiga B’Snuker (also known as Snooker or Festival at the Poolroom). After the pool hustler Gavriel fleeces Mushon of his money for a tooth replacement, Mushon returns the favor by convincing Gavriel to play his father, who seems to be an unsuspecting mark, in a game of 3-Reds. $10,000 later, it’s the hustler who has now been hustled.

Now, of course, if you’re new to the sport and not familiar with even the more common derivations, don’t despair. Billiards movies and television tackle everything from straight pool (Twilight Zone – “Game of Pool”) to nine-ball (The Color of Money) to three-cushion billiards (Carambola) to one-pocket (Turn the River). And while there are no films yet that incorporate balkline or Russian Pyramid, I’m confident they’ll be showing up in a series streaming on Netflix one day soon, too.

Jason Moss is author of “8 Ball on the Silver Screen” (www.billiardsmovies.com), a blog dedicated to the portrayal of billiards in film and television.

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