The first champion was Jonathan Kentfield, who held the title from 1820 to 1849, losing it to John Roberts Sr. after Kentfield refused his challenge. It also became favored in British colonies; the game's longest-running champion was an Australian, Walter Lindrum, who held the World Professional Billiards Championship from 1933 until his retirement in 1950. The game remains popular in the UK, although it has been eclipsed by snooker. The player who gets their ball closer to the baulk cushion can now choose which cue ball they want to use during the game and to break or let the opponent break. In order for a break shot to be legal, one object ball must be contacted and a ball pocketed, or four object balls must be driven to a rail. When a player has the cue ball in hand behind the string (in the kitchen), he must drive the cue ball to a point outside the kitchen before it contacts either a cushion or an object ball. 4. Point Scoring: In Snooker, points are awarded in two different ways. A player missing the opponent's ball, considered a foul, added one point to the opponent's total; the shooter conceded two points if their own ball went into a pocket after striking the opponent's ball; and the player conceded three points if the cue ball was pocketed without even hitting the opponent's ball.
When in-hand, not hitting an object ball or cushion out of baulk before hitting a ball in baulk. By contrast, in the losing game a player could only score two points by pocketing the cue ball through a carom off the opponent's ball. If a foul occurs, two points are awarded to the opposing player who has the choice of playing from where the balls lie or they can be respotted. With standard American-style pool tables rare, Chinese players made do with playing eight-ball on small snooker tables. Meanwhile, many amateur leagues - such as the American Poolplayers Association (APA) and its affiliate the Canadian Poolplayers Association (CPA), the Valley National Eight-ball Association (VNEA) and the BCA Pool League (BCAPL) - use their own rulesets which have slight differences from WPA rules and from each other. American-style eight-ball is played around the world by professionals and in many amateur leagues.
Some leagues and tournaments using the World Standardized Rules may allow smaller sizes, down to 7 by 3.5 ft (2.1 by 1.1 m). The regulation size of the table's playing surface is 9 by 4.5 ft (2.7 by 1.4 m), with the between-cushion area being 100 by 50 in (250 by 130 cm), though exact dimensions may vary slightly by manufacturer. The skill required in playing these games helped retire the billiard mace in favour of the cue stick. The playing area of a standard tournament table measures 11 feet 8 inches by 5 ft 10 in (3.569 m by 1.778 m) with a tolerance of 1⁄2 inch (1.26 cm) in both directions, though smaller ones, down to half size, are often found in snooker halls, 10 ball billiards rules pubs and home billiard rooms. The game arose from two changes made, namely that the 8 ball must be pocketed last to win, and that each player may pocket only half of the other object balls. Instead of pockets, holes are sunk into the table; 5 in a row across the far end of the table and four set in a diamond pattern in the rear half of the table.
The winner is determined by a player reaching a fixed number of points set at the start of the game, or by which player is leading at the end of a timed game. It is a foul if the player does otherwise. 39. CUE BALL IN HAND FOUL. The incoming player may place the cue ball anywhere behind the head string. Combinations of the above may all be scored on the same shot. Cannon - striking the cue ball so that it hits, in any order, the other cue ball and the red ball on the same shot: 2 points. At the end of a players turn, any balls on the table surface remain where they are and the next player begins his turn by retrieving a ball from the trough, placing it in the D and striking it up the table. If an opponent's cue ball is potted, it remains off the table until it is that opponent's turn to play, when it is returned to that player, who may play it in-hand from the "D". A "Women's Billiard Association" was formed in Britain in 1931. One of the founders was Teresa Billington-Greig who had been a leading suffragette and was then married to a billiard ball manufacturer.
