Simple billiards

Bob Jewett

Bob Jewett

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This is the game that was dominant in the US about 1900. The top players had moved on to harder versions that didn't allow lots of simple shots in a small area., but the average billiard player would be playing this. This is a very good demonstration -- quick and excellent camera work.

The game:
The player has to make his cue ball hit both the other balls to get one point -- no rail is required.
It is not allowed to trap the balls in the corner. Only two points are allowed with the balls in the marked triangular area.
The game is to 400 -- which is scored in 35 minutes -- and the player who didn't break is allowed to try to tie.
In the US this is called "straight rail". In Europe it is called the free game (few restrictions) or partie libre (in French).

Some things to note:
On a few occasions the player loses a little control of the balls. A main part of the skill is getting the balls back together.
Once the balls are together, the skill is in keeping total control of all three balls.
Turning the corner -- avoiding the forbidden triangle -- is fraught with peril and the player stumbles a little a couple of times.
The double kisses are all intentional.
Note how the referee marks the ball when cleaning it.
Note what the player's chalk looks like. Your chalk should look like that. Maybe you should chalk more often, though.

 
I also want to point out that before you say to yourself, “this is so boring compared to playing with more balls, why choose only three??”, keep in mind that at the time balls were manufactured from ivory by hand and were extremely hard to make well, and were expensive. 10 or 15 balls would have supported revenue for 5 tables instead of one.
 
I seem to recall watching a player doing this and walking the object balls down the rail and around the corner.....and down the next rail and..around the corner and...down the next rail.
 
alphadog said:
I seem to recall watching a player doing this and walking the object balls down the rail and around the corner.....and down the next rail and..around the corner and...down the next rail.
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It is waaaay harder then it appears.
 
To play those shots, a delicate touch is required.

If no one considered inventing new shots on that equipment it could be interesting.

Venom is the best at innovating the entertainment and promotion aspect of the billiard skills.

Competitions are great displays of traditional billiard skills.
 
nataddrho said:
I also want to point out that before you say to yourself, “this is so boring compared to playing with more balls, why choose only three??”, keep in mind that at the time balls were manufactured from ivory by hand and were extremely hard to make well, and were expensive. 10 or 15 balls would have supported revenue for 5 tables instead of one.
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The game of billiards was one of the few recreational activities available at gentleman's clubs during that era.

This is the same era when engineering was done at the Federal level by the Army Corps. Its worth noting because President Grant who was educated at West Point. West Point is where the first engineering program in America existed.

President Grant would go on to personally purchase a billiard table for the white house. It was enjoyed by several presidents.

Access to white house records surrounding those events requires additional clearance,

Despite billiard being expensive, it was designed for the upper class. It was celebrated in newspapers, the main medium of the time.

Who played billiards back then has enough mysteries for a good edu-tainment video?

Back then they are trying to coordinate world events, before phones. I could imagine, they planned for the future in terms of one generation of family at a time. Its unlikely billiards was used to be a profit endeavor, its more likely it was used to organize people.
 
I spent some time south of the Rio Grande as an exchange student in a previous life. We'd often skip class and hit the billiard hall instead. This was the game of choice, but it did get boring after a while, so most of us played "rosary" instead: ten (sometimes five) simple caroms before having to go at least 3 cushions.
 
Rocket354 said:
Watching the lag...that is the most ridiculously fast cloth I've ever seen.
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And the player still controls the balls within a quarter inch on most shots. But that cloth is pretty standard for carom and the tables are heated.
 
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I've heard of "nursing the rail" and runs of crazy high points - is that what this is?
 
I would go to a Korean owned room near my house in Edgewater, NJ, 21 Billiards. I would play the owner 9 ball once in a while. One time I asked him to show me the 4 ball Korean billiard game. He had a more than 50 point rail nurse run, occasionally hitting a gathering shot if they separated too much. To this day, it is the most masterful shooting I have ever seen. His name was Sang Lee, but not THAT Sang Lee. I tried to contact him in another pool room I saw him in after he sold 21. I asked the House Man to give him a note. The House Man said "Which Sang Lee? We have 3 who come here." Turns out "Sang Lee" is the Korean equivalent of Tom Smith.
 
the 4 ball game is pretty sweet because theres the danger of a foul always there since you cannot hit the other guys cue ball
 
alphadog said:
It's waaaay harder on a barbox!😁😆
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The rail nurse is harder on the bar box because you have to get past the side pockets. Turning the corner can be done without sending a ball right into the corner.

The rail nurse was also used in English Billiards (on a 12-foot snooker table) but they put in a rule that you can only score 15-25(?) without doing something else, like pocketing the red ball. Before that restriction, I think Walter Lindrum did long runs that went past the sides.

Even before Lindrum, the English Billiards rulers had to put in a restriction against trapping the two object balls in corner. The longest run (break) ever recorded at any cue sport was by Tom Reece who made nearly 250,000 consecutive shots with the balls in the corner, one on each corner pocket jaw. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Reece
 
justnum said:
To play those shots, a delicate touch is required.

If no one considered inventing new shots on that equipment it could be interesting.

Venom is the best at innovating the entertainment and promotion aspect of the billiard skills.

Competitions are great displays of traditional billiard skills.
Click to expand...
You literally say the most inane things.
 
Black-Balled said:
Everybody knows that run is not to be confused with his cannon score, 499,135.
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Here is a more interesting 1680 canon score:

1698249662680.png
 
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