Kaisa (or karoliina) combines the big pockets of a Russian Pyramid table, the simple rules of Cowboy, and same easy runouts as Snooker. Any one of these games would be too easy for a Finn, so why not combine all three games into one billiards slugfest?
Do you have to endure eleven-month winters to create a brutal game like this? Are pockets more than a few millimeters larger than the balls considered buckets?
Here's a video of a game of kaisa. The title of the video is "Antti Saari turnaus 2009 Hyvinkää," which I assume translates to something like "Anti-Sanity Tournament 2009 with Railbirds."
http://kaisa.blip.tv/file/3032473/
The video is linked from the short entry for kaisa at Wikipedia. By my count, there are 25 different scoring possibilities, including a 12-point cross-side shot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaisa_(billiards)
Here's a video in which a Finnish player describes the game and the 500-player league:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOuSditdom4
User "J.S." mentions kaisa in Scaramouche's thread about English billiards:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=198391&highlight=kaisa
Can any Finns out there provide a bit more detail about kaisa or make any corrections? Was this game invented to test one's stamina and/or sanity and/or Finnishness?
Do you have to endure eleven-month winters to create a brutal game like this? Are pockets more than a few millimeters larger than the balls considered buckets?
Here's a video of a game of kaisa. The title of the video is "Antti Saari turnaus 2009 Hyvinkää," which I assume translates to something like "Anti-Sanity Tournament 2009 with Railbirds."
http://kaisa.blip.tv/file/3032473/
The video is linked from the short entry for kaisa at Wikipedia. By my count, there are 25 different scoring possibilities, including a 12-point cross-side shot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaisa_(billiards)
Here's a video in which a Finnish player describes the game and the 500-player league:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOuSditdom4
User "J.S." mentions kaisa in Scaramouche's thread about English billiards:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=198391&highlight=kaisa
Can any Finns out there provide a bit more detail about kaisa or make any corrections? Was this game invented to test one's stamina and/or sanity and/or Finnishness?