Gambling and the game called Pool

Ralph Kramden

Ralph Kramden

BOOM!.. ZOOM!.. MOON!
Silver Member
Pocket billiard games are generally better known as pool games. The term pool came into usage a long time
ago and has persisted in spite of a recent trend back to the original "billiards." It used to be the practice for
each player to put a stake into a common "pool," the pool to be taken by the winner of the game; hence "pool."

The above paragraph is from the book SCIENTIFIC BILLIARDS... by Welker Cochran;... Copyright, 1942

For those who think gambling shouldn't be a part of the game.. You wouldn't be playing a game called "pool".


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Good post.

Ralph Kramden said:
Pocket billiard games are generally better known as pool games. The term pool came into usage a long time
ago and has persisted in spite of a recent trend back to the original "billiards." It used to be the practice for
each player to put a stake into a common "pool," the pool to be taken by the winner of the game; hence "pool."


For those who think gambling shouldn't be a part of the game.. You wouldn't be playing a game called "pool".


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For those that don't like gambling. oh well, its per of the game and it always will be. Its a part of every culture just go to Vegas and look at the crowds.
 
I don't like broccoli, but that doesn't mean I care if you eat it. Just don't try to shove it down my throat and we'll be cool.
 
krupa said:
I don't like broccoli, but that doesn't mean I care if you eat it. Just don't try to shove it down my throat and we'll be cool.
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I'm not trying to shove anything. I said the game is called pool because of it's link to gambling.
Welker Cochran wrote pool has persisted in spite of the fact of the trend to change the name.
He wrote that in 1942.. He won titles in 1927 and in 1934. It was known as "pool" before then.

What would you have called the game?... Certainly nothing that sounded like gambling... or POOL.
Next time I'm at the pool room I'll ask if anyone wants to play some 14.1 continous pocket billiards.
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The name "Pool" came from a specific group game that involved a "pool" of money.
The name "pool room" ie pool hall came from gambling houses where betting took place on more than just billiard or pool games.

books


some of the basic rules... (there are more)

books


excerpts from: The Book of Table Games
Professor Hoffman 1894
 
Welker (in 1942) was referring to the fact that Brunswick (in the 1910s) declared the word "pool" to be obsolete, and of course it also implied undesirable gambling, so they decided that the term "pocket billiards" should be used instead.
 
The term 'pool' was born in Britain...been around for a long time.
...and it always has been associated with gambling...
...pool hall were looked down upon by society..
...so was opera, the peoples' music.

But, to me, it was these gamblers that elevated the game...if it had been
a 'respectable' pastime, pool would've remained at the level of croquet 'n
such.
The gambling made people want to get better than their opponents and
many secrets were discovered.
 
From: A Brief History of the Game of Billiards as entertainingly outlined by the cue sports’ foremost present-day historian, Michael Shamos. He’s the curator of the Billiards Archive, the world-famous storehouse of information about billiards (located in Pittsburgh, PA.). He’s the world’s leading authority on the lore and history of billiards
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"The word “pool” means a collective bet, or ante. Many non-billiard games, such as poker, involve a pool but it was to pocket billiards that the name became attached. The term “poolroom” now means a place where pool is played, but in the 19th century a poolroom was a betting parlor for horse racing. Pool tables were installed so patrons could pass the time between races. The two became connected in the public mind, but the unsavory connotation of “poolroom” came from the betting that took place there, not from billiards."
--------------------------------------------------------------

Arnaldo
 
pt109 said:
The term 'pool' was born in Britain...been around for a long time.
...and it always has been associated with gambling...
...pool hall were looked down upon by society..
...so was opera, the peoples music
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Yeah professor Hoffman was out of London so I'm pretty sure he knew the deal.

Funny thing about opera...it was the first music ever broadcast on the radio. * shudder*
 
arnaldo said:
From: A Brief History of the Game of Billiards as entertainingly outlined by the cue sports’ foremost present-day historian, Michael Shamos. He’s the curator of the Billiards Archive, the world-famous storehouse of information about billiards (located in Pittsburgh, PA.). He’s the world’s leading authority on the lore and history of billiards
-----------------------------------------------------------
"The word “pool” means a collective bet, or ante. Many non-billiard games, such as poker, involve a pool but it was to pocket billiards that the name became attached. The term “poolroom” now means a place where pool is played, but in the 19th century a poolroom was a betting parlor for horse racing. Pool tables were installed so patrons could pass the time between races. The two became connected in the public mind, but the unsavory connotation of “poolroom” came from the betting that took place there, not from billiards."
--------------------------------------------------------------

Arnaldo
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Shamos is good people, and he's a very intelligent man, probably the least of which is related to the realm of billiards. The archive ( at his home) is amazing .
 
Interesting - I had never heard that before. I always thought billiards was originally a game played in the water.
 
BRussell said:
Interesting - I had never heard that before. I always thought billiards was originally a game played in the water.
Click to expand...

My heavens, B, I've dropped some stinkers on here...
...but never THAT bad...:eek:



:lol:


Do you have an alligator on your shirt?
 
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