Instead of containing whiskey or beer, this particular bottle is six-and-three-quarter-inches tall and made of leather, and it serves as the centerpiece of an arcane but surprisingly accessible game called bottle pool.
Although bottle pool's origins remain obscure, records of various tournaments indicate the game dates at least to the 19th century. It once had an avid following among University of Michigan faculty members. Now its most active venues are private enclaves in New York City like the Racquet Club and the Union Club. A longtime member of both clubs estimates there are fewer than 1,000 bottle pool players nationwide.
Before starting a match, players flip coins to determine their shooting order. The table is set up with the red and yellow object balls resting against the rails at the foot end, and the bottle resting on its mouth in the dead center. The winner of the coin flips places the cue ball behind an imaginary line near the head end of the table, and then shoots at one of the object balls.
In the first leg, you can score three ways: by sinking object balls pool-style, earning 1 point for yellow and 2 points for red; by caroming the cue ball off both object balls billiards-style for 1 point; or by caroming the cue ball off an object ball and knocking over the bottle for 5 points. The trick is to score 25 points and only 25 points. If you "go over" (say, by knocking over the bottle after already amassing 21 points), you have to restart the first leg and work your way back up to 25.
The goal in the second leg is to score two billiards points. But if you unintentionally sink an object ball without making a billiard on the shot, you lose your turn. In the final leg, you have to make an intentional "scratch" in which the cue ball caroms off the yellow object ball and disappears into a called pocket...
...The Judge leaned over the table with a Marlboro Light dangling from his lip. By now, he had already completed the second leg, and he was telling a story about a hunting trip in Alaska at the end of World War II that proved to be lesson No. 2, a true-life parable of culture clash. Along with a guide and an Army buddy, he'd trekked deep into the wilderness to find a herd of moose gathered beside a watering hole.
"I didn't want to shoot because the moose were just standing still, and there wasn't any sport in it," he recalled. "The guide said, 'We've come all this way. Shoot one.' So my Army buddy shot one. A few minutes later, a band of Indians came out 0f the woods and butchered it. Then they started waving their arms at us and pointing at another moose. The guide said, 'They want you to shoot that one now.'"
The Judge paused, took aim on the cue ball, and scratched it off to win the match. I asked him what happened to the second moose. "I shot it," he replied with a triumphant grin, "and we watched the Indians butcher it, too."
Lesson No. 3 was the payoff. In keeping with bottle pool custom, the Boss and I paid the Judge $1 each for his victory. Then the three of us set up the table for another match.
Here's a cute article from The New York Times about a young man playing some old school campaigners, a 90-year-old municipal court judge who still claims to have 20/15 vision, drives his own car, and smokes Marlboro Light cigarettes, and another oldster, a 75-year-old banker who calls himself "a banana" when he misses a shot: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/26/b...00&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all
In recent times, I have been trying to gather info on how many games there are in this wonderful world of billiards and came across this article. I know a bottle with pills came with my pool table when I bought it, but according to this article, there's fewer than 1,000 bottle pool players nationwide.
A leather bottle for bottle pool can cost as much as $50. Knocking one over earns 5 points, one goal of the complex game is to score exactly 25 points., as depicted in the picture below.
I am amazed at the variety of billiards games exist, but that's a topic for another thread. Who's played bottle pool before?
JAM
Although bottle pool's origins remain obscure, records of various tournaments indicate the game dates at least to the 19th century. It once had an avid following among University of Michigan faculty members. Now its most active venues are private enclaves in New York City like the Racquet Club and the Union Club. A longtime member of both clubs estimates there are fewer than 1,000 bottle pool players nationwide.
Before starting a match, players flip coins to determine their shooting order. The table is set up with the red and yellow object balls resting against the rails at the foot end, and the bottle resting on its mouth in the dead center. The winner of the coin flips places the cue ball behind an imaginary line near the head end of the table, and then shoots at one of the object balls.
In the first leg, you can score three ways: by sinking object balls pool-style, earning 1 point for yellow and 2 points for red; by caroming the cue ball off both object balls billiards-style for 1 point; or by caroming the cue ball off an object ball and knocking over the bottle for 5 points. The trick is to score 25 points and only 25 points. If you "go over" (say, by knocking over the bottle after already amassing 21 points), you have to restart the first leg and work your way back up to 25.
The goal in the second leg is to score two billiards points. But if you unintentionally sink an object ball without making a billiard on the shot, you lose your turn. In the final leg, you have to make an intentional "scratch" in which the cue ball caroms off the yellow object ball and disappears into a called pocket...
...The Judge leaned over the table with a Marlboro Light dangling from his lip. By now, he had already completed the second leg, and he was telling a story about a hunting trip in Alaska at the end of World War II that proved to be lesson No. 2, a true-life parable of culture clash. Along with a guide and an Army buddy, he'd trekked deep into the wilderness to find a herd of moose gathered beside a watering hole.
"I didn't want to shoot because the moose were just standing still, and there wasn't any sport in it," he recalled. "The guide said, 'We've come all this way. Shoot one.' So my Army buddy shot one. A few minutes later, a band of Indians came out 0f the woods and butchered it. Then they started waving their arms at us and pointing at another moose. The guide said, 'They want you to shoot that one now.'"
The Judge paused, took aim on the cue ball, and scratched it off to win the match. I asked him what happened to the second moose. "I shot it," he replied with a triumphant grin, "and we watched the Indians butcher it, too."
Lesson No. 3 was the payoff. In keeping with bottle pool custom, the Boss and I paid the Judge $1 each for his victory. Then the three of us set up the table for another match.
Here's a cute article from The New York Times about a young man playing some old school campaigners, a 90-year-old municipal court judge who still claims to have 20/15 vision, drives his own car, and smokes Marlboro Light cigarettes, and another oldster, a 75-year-old banker who calls himself "a banana" when he misses a shot: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/26/b...00&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all
In recent times, I have been trying to gather info on how many games there are in this wonderful world of billiards and came across this article. I know a bottle with pills came with my pool table when I bought it, but according to this article, there's fewer than 1,000 bottle pool players nationwide.
A leather bottle for bottle pool can cost as much as $50. Knocking one over earns 5 points, one goal of the complex game is to score exactly 25 points., as depicted in the picture below.
I am amazed at the variety of billiards games exist, but that's a topic for another thread. Who's played bottle pool before?
JAM
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