Lifestyle

6 Facts About Pool You Probably Didn’t Know Except That It’s a Cool Game

2019-06-17 , 2:00 am

Last Updated on 2022-05-22 , 7:02 pm

Pool or billiards as most of you call it, is a sport that is commonly played by many of us here in Singapore. I’m sure you recall memories of playing it with your friends at various places such as pool halls and or bowling alleys.

For most of us, the most common form of a pool game that we play is 8 ball pool and there are apps available nowadays that allow you to play it on your smartphones.

Did you know that there is more than just 8 ball pool that you can play the next time you find yourself at a pool hall?

Here are some facts that you may not know about pool and it may just make you love playing pool even more

Versions

You may be familiar with 8 ball pool, the game in which the objective is to clear a set of either seven striped or solid coloured balls together with the 8 ball (black) at the end of your game.

Did you know there are other versions of pool that can be played such as 9-ball or 10-ball?

The difference between 9 and 10 ball pool is that it is played with pool balls numbering from 1 to 9 or 10, depending on the version you are playing. The rules for both 9 ball and 10 ball are different in that instead of clearing a set of striped or solid coloured balls, you have to clear the numbered balls in sequence. Yeah, not easy.

It requires more than just luck

For those of you unfamiliar with pool, you might think that pool is a game of luck rather than skill. Of course that’s untrue.

The reason why you may think so is because most of you play a casual form of 8 ball pool in which you do not have to specify which pocket your object ball has to enter.

In competitive play, there are rules in place in order to prevent instances of scoring the balls by luck or fluke as it is known professionally.

Pool is similar to chess

As mentioned above, in order to excel at pool, you need more than just pure luck to play well. Pool requires you to invest time in understanding its gameplay and how the balls will react to being hit, and not just anyhowly hit the balls and hope that they’ll fall into the holes.

Pool cues

You may think that a pool cue is just a simple piece of wood that you use to play pool with. After all, as a casual player, the only cues you’ve used are the house cues that are found in pool halls.

Pool cues are actually designed for the sole purpose of playing pool and to maximise your performance when playing and trees are specially grown for this purpose. Pool cues are the labours of love from its makers who spend hours to ensure that they are of top quality for those who use it.

There are three types of pool cues that you will typically find in a professional players arsenal. They are the playing cue, which is used during normal gameplay, the break cue, used to spread the balls at the start of a game and the jump cue, which is used to make a jump shot.

Homegrown talent

You may think that the top pool players are usually from countries such as the US or the UK, but did you know here in Singapore we have our very own top player and his name is Aloysius Yapp?

Aloysius is currently ranked 25th globally and despite his tender age, he has already won competitions for junior categories and one feat that he has achieved was entering the quarterfinals of the 2015 edition of the 9 Ball World Championships! Mai siao siao.

Cost

For many pool players, they invest a lot of time and practice in order to excel at this sport. Another fact you may not know is that pool cues can cost from a range of below $100 for generic produced cues and up to thousands of dollars for top of the line custom made cues. Bet you didn’t know that pool cues are more than just a piece of wood!