Pool – A Fun Game
The other day, I asked my teenaged son where he was off to and he promptly replied that he was off to play a game of pool with his buddies. It reminded me of my younger days when I was an avid pool enthusiast. In fact, I distinctly remember that it is over one of these games of pool, that I met my wife, Margaret.
Playing Online
Pool can be an exciting game and it is great because it helps you build your strategy and helps you a lot, later in life. Nowadays of course, since I am pressed for time, I do not have the leisure to pursue this old hobby of mine. So, more often than not, I find myself drawn to online pool! It’s fast, it’s convenient and I can always play a quick game online when I’m on my lunch break in office!
What is even better is that, this actually helps you to get your practice rail shots and angles right. Moreover, you meet an interesting array of opponents. You can choose from a variety of one-player, two-player or three-player games. Though, in real life, pool is a two-player game, the internet has interesting variations of it. If you’re not so great with your pool, you can also learn from a “virtual tutor”, yep, that’s right, it’s that easy to learn pool nowadays.
Most of these websites offer you the opportunity to play pool, all for free and sometimes, many of the software programs which you find online, have helpful tips to offer, which you can use to better your game.
Types Of Pool
The most common variety of pool is the Eight-Ball game. Most often, people are referring to this variety of the game when they ask you if you’re up for a game of pool. Other lesser known varieties are the Nine-Ball game and the Cut Throat versions.
In the Nine-Ball game, all balls numbered 1 through 9 are used and arranged in the form of a diamond, according to their number, with the ball numbered 9, right at the centre. The main objective of the game is to sink the balls, in order of their numbers from the lowest one, to the highest one. If the lowest numbered ball on the table is hit first, any ball which goes into the hole counts. Quite obviously, you can use the lowest numbered ball on the table to use other balls.
If, of course, you fail to hit the lowest numbered ball on the table first, you will be committing a foul, which you definitely do not want to be doing because your opponent will then have a cue in hand to start their turn. If you hit ball number 9 on a legal shot, you win!
The Cut Throat variety is more of a social game and is played by three players at a time, where each player has 5 balls (1-5, 6-10 and 11-15) and the aim is to sink all your opponents’ balls. It’s a fun game, much lighter than the conventional varieties of pool, so do try it out when you can.
Learn how to play pool and learn about its different variations and rules.
