English billiards live stream
- Thread starter Texas Carom Club
- Start date
So what is this game? It looks to me like a mix of Russian pyramids and one cushion carom on what seems to be a lowered snooker table.
Really appreciate you posting up this stream on the English Billiards match, _sur.
I’ve been playing English Billiards on my pool table as well as a few friends’ tables this past few months since being introduced to the game (as well as playing 3C again) and it’s proven to be a great game and enjoyed by those that have played.
To keep things as close to the originally intended rule set and game itself, I play with a fabulous set of Super Aramith Tournament carom balls as well as a full custom carom cue I had McDermott make for me to match my other Zebrawood cues - which makes the transition over to the Verhoeven 3C tables and game that much easier
Appreciate it, sir!
I mean .... _sur
~ K
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I’ve been playing English Billiards on my pool table as well as a few friends’ tables this past few months since being introduced to the game (as well as playing 3C again) and it’s proven to be a great game and enjoyed by those that have played.
To keep things as close to the originally intended rule set and game itself, I play with a fabulous set of Super Aramith Tournament carom balls as well as a full custom carom cue I had McDermott make for me to match my other Zebrawood cues - which makes the transition over to the Verhoeven 3C tables and game that much easier
Appreciate it, sir!
I mean .... _sur
~ K
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Last edited:
Here is the rule sheet compilation I put together along with my own FAQ’s to help my pals when I’m introducing the game - as well as a brief overview before I play.
And yes, it’s a combination pocketing and carom game - unique in that it combines the element of pocketing balls and then bridging that gap to carom games - like 3C.
~ K
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
And yes, it’s a combination pocketing and carom game - unique in that it combines the element of pocketing balls and then bridging that gap to carom games - like 3C.
~ K
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It introduces you more with straight rail than 3c I'd say
As in you can make straight Carom shots, no rails needed to score
Great game
As in you can make straight Carom shots, no rails needed to score
Great game
I just got back from playing 1 cushion and straight rail on the first 9ft table I've ever played on
Gotta say I had a blast
This is what I believe is the key to further getting Americans back into Carom
The 9ft Carom tabels do not cost 10k to have installed new like the big European tables everyone believes you need when starting Carom, big mistake
Big mistake in taking on 3c on a big table without trying a smaller table first
They make scoring much more possible, you just have to try it and I garuntee, no matter which game you play on a 9ft Carom table, your having alot of fun
Gotta say I had a blast
This is what I believe is the key to further getting Americans back into Carom
The 9ft Carom tabels do not cost 10k to have installed new like the big European tables everyone believes you need when starting Carom, big mistake
Big mistake in taking on 3c on a big table without trying a smaller table first
They make scoring much more possible, you just have to try it and I garuntee, no matter which game you play on a 9ft Carom table, your having alot of fun
English billiards is the game that pretty much everyone played in 1800, so far as I can figure. In England it was replaced by snooker roughly at the time of WWII. In the US things started to change to carom and pool around 1860. Most of Europe changed to pocketless tables somewhere in the 1800s -- 1850 according to Shamos's "Pool".
English billiards is the game that Joe Davis started with and the game that Walter Lindrum kind of ended by being too good. Steve Davis was also a billiards player along with occasional forays into snooker.
Old timers will call a 12-foot table with rounded pockets a "billiards" table and not a snooker table. Maybe they feel that snooker is still just a visitor on the table.
There are videos on YouTube of Walter Lindrum demonstrating different aspects of the game. They are worth searching out. Many feel he was the most accomplished cueman who ever lived. Most, unfortunately, don't know the difference between Walter Lindrum and Walter Winchell.
I've had the pleasure of watching the best in the world play in person and last November in the World Final I watched one of the players make a 495 break. That's class to see its just a shame its not got the public interest of snooker but the skill level is so high.
It's an acquired taste. The game is memorizing when a top player is on a big break. I remember Pankaj Advani playing in the IBSF final against Peter Glichrist a number of years ago and I thought he might have played as well as the old masters from the early 20th century, keeping new conditions and scoring limitations in consideration.
The problem with the game, and I think 3 cushion suffers from this as well, is that if players are struggling, it can be brutal to watch.
It's hard to find an appropriate format too. On the one hand a 1250up game can be brutally slow if players are struggling to put breaks of 50 together. On the other hand the timed format often results in one player amassing such a lead that the result is a foregone conclusion with an hour or more left to play.
That said, I wish more of the big English Billiard events were streamed. It's been nice to see the world final the last couple of years, but it would be nice to see them expand beyond that.
In all honesty though, any billiard game is brutal to watch when players are struggling
It can be, but my thinking was that at least in snooker or pool the length of the match isn't increased as much, with the exception of course of certain players who just start bogging the match down in safety play by playing negatively.
I think it was the Rob Hall/Dave Causier match last year where towards the end it just dragged on. Hall was demoralized and wasn't taking his chances and Causier seemed to have lost focused and was just inching towards the finish line. That was where I really missed the timed format because the match would have ended long before it did.
Many of the top snooker pros used to double up with English billiards. That changed when the money started to flow into snooker and the game required a greater level of dedication. A bit like in Tennis where back in the day all the top players doubled up in singles and doubles in the Grand Slams.
Here at 1205 he pockets both cue balls,
Then the ref only places his back and he just banks his ball
Can someone explain that part to me? Why wouldn't he place the yellow back, and why did he just bank his cueball into the rail not hitting the red
https://youtu.be/5zBq5WAps5Y
Then the ref only places his back and he just banks his ball
Can someone explain that part to me? Why wouldn't he place the yellow back, and why did he just bank his cueball into the rail not hitting the red
https://youtu.be/5zBq5WAps5Y
Only the red is replaced when potted. If the opponents cueball is potted it stays down until the end of the turn. That's why you never see players deliberately pot the opponents cue ball.
Generally when left with only the white and red on the table players will try to double baulk their opponent. That is, leave both balls behind the baulk line. When you have ball in hand in the D, you can only shoot up table so the incoming player is forced to play a safety.
Players generally go for the double baulk in that situation since, you can only play a maximum of 15 consecutive shots off the red, and it is also very challenging to carry on and score in that manner. So instead, they go for a double baulk which often results in a scoring chance in their next inning.
Thanks for the explanation
Although there is the story of Walter Lindrum in a match against Joe Davis. IIRC....
Walter was peeved about something, proceeded to pot Joe's cue ball and score 2000 points with just the red. Under modern rules this is not possible.
Here is a 300-some break with just the red: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fXkoFKIoxg
Pretty impressive. I've always struggled with English Billiards, I usually get frustrated and start trying to pot the red lol.
Lindrum was unreal,
Interviewer "How do you make a 1000 break"
Lindrum "make 9 more hundreds"