32 | OHCC LIVING | SEPTEMBER 2022 |
Our Snooker Table
When you walk by the Clubhouse Billiards Room you may notice
six 9-foot pool tables surrounding a larger 10-foot table. The larger
table has had several roles. It started as a snooker table but was later
reconfigured for carom billiards. A carom billiards table has no
pockets. The game uses three balls, a red object pool and a cue ball for
each player. The essence of the game is to make a "carom" by hitting
both the opponents cue ball and the object ball with your cue ball.
After a few years, interest in billiards died and the table was
changed back to snooker as it is now. Once reconfigured with six
pockets the table can be used for snooker and for English billiards.
English billiards also uses three balls, but points are obtained not
only through caroms, but also by sinking a ball or by scratching! As
the name suggests English billiards is popular in England, though in
recent years it has been superseded by snooker.
Our snooker table is noticeably larger than our pool tables. The
playing surface for our 10-foot snooker table is 56 x 112 inches versus
45 x 90 inches for our 9-foot pool tables. The snooker balls are smaller
than pool balls (52.5 mm versus 57 mm).
A larger table with smaller balls makes snooker especially
challenging. That challenge is enhanced by the shape of the pockets.
Unlike the linear angles on pool tables the snooker pocket entry is
curved. This curvature reduces the likelihood of making a shot,
especially from along the cushion into a corner pocket.
Snooker is a fascinating game. We have an excellent table and set of
balls just waiting to be used. We usually follow the international rules
of Snooker, a summary of which can be obtained from the Billiards
Club website. Drop by our Billiard Room and give the game a try.
Billiards
