How did straight pool get it's name?
- Thread starter md5key
- Start date
I always thought it was called straight pool because you play "straight through" to the next rack. Other games (9-ball, 8-ball, one pocket..etc) are played and won all in one rack, but straight pool is played straight through until the end. I'm probably wrong about that being the origin but that's how I've always thought of it.
The first pool game to recieve a national championship was a game called 61 pool. It was effectively the same as Rotation except that the balls could be played in any order.
I think it was around 1888 (perhaps earlier, I can't remember the exact dates), it was decided that it would be fairer game if every ball was worth one point, and they accumulated points over the course of a number of racks, rather than winning individual games. This was called continuous pool, or Straight Pool, presumably because of the scoring system. 14.1 was devised by Jerome Keogh in 1910 (I posted an article from the New York times where he makes the suggested in the summer).
That's it to the best of my memory, although as mentioned Mike Shamos may be able to provide better detail.
Sounds like bobby had it closest then? I guess I get it... 'straight' means you can shoot in any order, as opposed to "rotation" where you rotate the order of your shots. If rotation is shooting in a kind of roundabout way, straight is firing directly at whatever ball you want. If you just shot the 5 you can go straight to the 8 ball or backwards to the 3 ball if you feel like it.
Soort of. Allow me to preface by saying I have never encountered an article or news story that exactly explained the origin of the name.
If anything the name straight pool is to mean no gimmicks, whether it be in shotmaking or scoring. One ball, one point get them however you can. It would be similar to Straight Rail Billiards, no lines or cushion requirements, just three balls no pockets score as many as you can.
I can not find any mention of the term "Straight Pool" before 1906.