Filippino billiard table...
- Thread starter nineballman
- Start date
pinoy pool secret
i think we all stumbled at the starting and principal reason why many pinoy pool players are so good at the fundamentals of pocket billiards...specially safety- which to these days we call safety=placing...
this is where it all started...the safety aspect of this game is so enormous that is more complicated and requires more patience than pool(balls)..
you can play safe all day without any of the mother/cue puck or the object pucks touching the rails....imagine that...
that is really why pinoys are ..i think.. the best when it comes to safety...specially if you will look at the younger players or even beginners...
in the u.s. unless you are pass intermediate- safety is not really a part of your game while pinoys,,this is the first thing they learned...
i think we all stumbled at the starting and principal reason why many pinoy pool players are so good at the fundamentals of pocket billiards...specially safety- which to these days we call safety=placing...
this is where it all started...the safety aspect of this game is so enormous that is more complicated and requires more patience than pool(balls)..
you can play safe all day without any of the mother/cue puck or the object pucks touching the rails....imagine that...
that is really why pinoys are ..i think.. the best when it comes to safety...specially if you will look at the younger players or even beginners...
in the u.s. unless you are pass intermediate- safety is not really a part of your game while pinoys,,this is the first thing they learned...
Johnnyt said:
They do apply english in this game!
Though the mother puck/CB doesn't react as good as a round ivory ball, it
still goes to where you applied your english.
Just like what Arian said, safety play is always in play in this game. You always
have to play a two-way shot each and every time as your opponent can
run out from anywhere because they always have multiple options to get
out. The degree of difficulty of the two-way shot is a lot higher bacause
you're ducking 5 instead of the usual one ball in the game of 9-ball or Rotation.
The mother puck/CB's movement is limited as it only goes forward, so you
have to be creative on your positional/safety play. I also forgot to mention
that aside form the 3 spots that I've mention earlier in this thread, the
top notch players could make the game a little bit inticing for you by giving
you the no bridge/behind the back as an added come on!
Gosh, I almost forgot all about those tables!nineballman said:
My first ever experiences with pool were on those "pool" tables. My uncle built one up when I was about 6 or 7 (we were living in the burbs of Chicago, not the Philippines). My older brother and I spent many hours with my cousin playing on that table. After every couple shots, you'd have to dust the playing surface with some baby powder to keep the table from playing too slow.
Totally brings back the memories. Thanks for the nostalgia trip.
Back here in the south (Visayas and Mindanao) we have this kind of play also. But this is not the most popular one. We played the one that has cloth (very thin) on it and is usually colored green. It has also six holes but each holes is pre-numbered and has therefore six different numberings namely, 2,4,6,8,10,20 the 10 and 20 is both on the center pockets. There is a drawn rectangle that would fit the 15 very small marbles. Yes we're using marbles instead of discs. The CB is of different color
compared to the other marbles which has of course one color.
And like what Blowfish has mention each side has an equal 1" (one inch)
parrallel on all sides. Because it would be very difficult to shoot
when the ball kisses the rail. So you could move the CB right at the
one inch line.
For one on one game we usually played by racing to the first 32 points.
Whoever first got the 32 points win. Let's say you shot one marble in
hole 20 and one on hole 8 and one in hole 4 then you're done.
For multiple players there are many variations. But to mention one
we play what we call "bulletin" (as mention by Edwin) we put 15 small
circle out of slippers (or tsinelas in Filipino) and it is also pre-numbered
from 2 to 30 all even numbers (2,4,6,8...30). And those 15 rubber circles
are put inside a bottle usually made of plastic and usually a bottle
from ketchups. Then we get the small rubber circles in turn by drawing from it; usually shaken vigorously. And hide it for yourself to play and nobody should know it except you. The first player breaks the triangled marbles usually slowly so as not to end the game right away. Let's say if you get number 30 you need only the hole with number 2 on it. Otherwise if you make a ball (or a marble ) bigger than 2 you are "paso" you go beyond the 32 points and you will be officially out until the next game. If you get 20 for example then you need 12 in which you need at least 2 holes, for example holes 10 and 2.
This where i and many other pool players from the south learned first
the game of pool and/or money games before moving to what we call "billiard" or "bilyard" in Cebuano or "bilyar" in tagalog and which is "pool" in reality. You could ask Warren Kiamco or Gaga Gabica for that.
Anyone has played this one before?
compared to the other marbles which has of course one color.
And like what Blowfish has mention each side has an equal 1" (one inch)
parrallel on all sides. Because it would be very difficult to shoot
when the ball kisses the rail. So you could move the CB right at the
one inch line.
For one on one game we usually played by racing to the first 32 points.
Whoever first got the 32 points win. Let's say you shot one marble in
hole 20 and one on hole 8 and one in hole 4 then you're done.
For multiple players there are many variations. But to mention one
we play what we call "bulletin" (as mention by Edwin) we put 15 small
circle out of slippers (or tsinelas in Filipino) and it is also pre-numbered
from 2 to 30 all even numbers (2,4,6,8...30). And those 15 rubber circles
are put inside a bottle usually made of plastic and usually a bottle
from ketchups. Then we get the small rubber circles in turn by drawing from it; usually shaken vigorously. And hide it for yourself to play and nobody should know it except you. The first player breaks the triangled marbles usually slowly so as not to end the game right away. Let's say if you get number 30 you need only the hole with number 2 on it. Otherwise if you make a ball (or a marble
) bigger than 2 you are "paso" you go beyond the 32 points and you will be officially out until the next game. If you get 20 for example then you need 12 in which you need at least 2 holes, for example holes 10 and 2.This where i and many other pool players from the south learned first
the game of pool and/or money games before moving to what we call "billiard" or "bilyard" in Cebuano or "bilyar" in tagalog and which is "pool" in reality. You could ask Warren Kiamco or Gaga Gabica for that.
Anyone has played this one before?
When I was around ten years old I use to help my Dad deliver ice to bars, homes, and firehouses on Long Island in NY. I became intrigued by the big nine and ten foot pool tables I would see in them.
One day a few friends and I were playing in some new houses being built a few blocks from my house. With the help of my friends I borrowed a piece of 4x8 plywood and some other assorted lumber. After cutting the six pockets out and stretching some green cloth (I think it was Velour) I bought or stole from a fabric shop, I cut wood to fit as rails. Then went to the hardware store and bought some weather striping to glue on the rails. I used sixteen large marbles…one white and fifteen painted different colors and numbered with model paint. The cues I used were two three-foot toy ones I had found in some ones garbage.
I played by myself on that thing for weeks until I knew every roll on it. Then I’d bring a bunch of kids over after school and beat them out of their lunch money (that I told them to save to gamble with) and their allowance (rich snobs-I didn’t get any allowance).
This went on for weeks until my Mom started getting calls from the kids mothers that I was hustling their kids out of their lunch money and my dad would get stopped along his ice-route by their fathers complaining that I was stealing their son’s money. Some mothers even called my school because of the lunch money being involved.
After dozens of angry parents called my parents, my dad finally went out in the garage and broke up my homemade pool table to appease my mother. Two weeks later he and a friend brought home a nice used bar-table for our basement and the gambling started all over again. Johnnyt
One day a few friends and I were playing in some new houses being built a few blocks from my house. With the help of my friends I borrowed a piece of 4x8 plywood and some other assorted lumber. After cutting the six pockets out and stretching some green cloth (I think it was Velour) I bought or stole from a fabric shop, I cut wood to fit as rails. Then went to the hardware store and bought some weather striping to glue on the rails. I used sixteen large marbles…one white and fifteen painted different colors and numbered with model paint. The cues I used were two three-foot toy ones I had found in some ones garbage.
I played by myself on that thing for weeks until I knew every roll on it. Then I’d bring a bunch of kids over after school and beat them out of their lunch money (that I told them to save to gamble with) and their allowance (rich snobs-I didn’t get any allowance).
This went on for weeks until my Mom started getting calls from the kids mothers that I was hustling their kids out of their lunch money and my dad would get stopped along his ice-route by their fathers complaining that I was stealing their son’s money. Some mothers even called my school because of the lunch money being involved.
After dozens of angry parents called my parents, my dad finally went out in the garage and broke up my homemade pool table to appease my mother. Two weeks later he and a friend brought home a nice used bar-table for our basement and the gambling started all over again. Johnnyt
Last edited:
the good thing being in the P.I. is you can get a top of the line pool table for only 250 USD. not to mention the great craftsmanship and the woodwork (ebony) used to build it. it costs a lot more in the U.S. and Europe in comparison. a standard table would already cost at around a 1000 dollars, what more if it's a high-end table. I'm so jealous ! 
JohnnyT did you ever....
build one of these tables? Send over some pictures if you did.
build one of these tables? Send over some pictures if you did.
Johnnyt said:
No measurement, it's really how big you want the "pucks" are that determines the size of the table. Most are squares.
pucks: fiber-glass, or hardwood, double the height(so u can hit it when it's close to another puck) of the mother "puck" and about 1 1/2 diameter compare to the regular pucks.
rails: hardwood (red wood, "narra") seems to work fine. You can stick a hard rubber to the rail if you can't find a good hardwood.
playing surface: plywood, with a smooth surface (it's called "lawanit" locally), vinyl surface should be fine too. and off course "baby powder".
Last edited:
Johnnyt said:
I remember my mom turned my "pool" table to a coffee table.
S
Snoogi
Guest
After looking at the first picture, I now fully understand what is meant by stick games..
JohnnyT, how's the table going? I really wanna see a picture.
arian dacongan said:
Could also be the reason why "Pinoys can't jump." LOL
S
Snoogi
Guest
Actually it reminds me of the carom I used to play during my teenage years. Looking at the first picture, I suppose we can don't use sticks but just snap our fingers and shoot the target-seeds. Easier to runout.