English billiards

It is played on a billiards table with the same dimensions as one used for snooker and points are scored for cannons and pocketing the balls.

These rules continued to exist in English billiards until 1983, when a standard of two points for all fouls was introduced.

[5] The three ancestral games had their British heyday in the 1770s, but had combined into English billiards, with a 16-point score total, by approximately 1800.

[2] The skill required in playing these games helped retire the billiard mace in favour of the cue stick.

[6][7] English Billiards was virtually unknown in the United States until 1913, when Melbourn Inman visited the US and played the game against Willie Hoppe.

By 1915 the game had become rather popular, prompting American billiard hall proprietors of the period to increase the number of English-style tables in their establishments.

[8] It also became favored in British colonies; the game's longest-running champion was an Australian, Walter Lindrum, who held the World Professional Billiards Championship from 1933 until his retirement in 1950.

A challenge was issued to a championship title holder accompanied by stake money held by a third party.

[2] From 1870 to 1983 the champions were: William Cook, (1870, 1871–74); John Roberts Jr., (1870, 1871, 1875–77, 1885); Joseph Bennett, (1870, 1880–81); Charles Dawson, (1899–1900, 1901, 1903); H. W. Stevenson, (1901, 1909–11); Melbourne Inman, (1908–09, 1912–19); Willie Smith, (1920, 1923); Tom Newman, (1921–22, 1924–27); Joe Davis, (1928–32); Walter Lindrum, (1933–50); Clark McConachy, (1951–68); Rex Williams, (1968–76, 1982–83); and Fred Davis, (1980).

[11] Over the course of the 20th century, English billiards was largely superseded as the favoured cue sport in the United Kingdom by snooker and the rise of English-style eight-ball pool.

[13] The balls are designated as: The billiard table used has the same dimensions as in snooker,[13] and in many venues, both games are played on the same equipment.

The playing area of a standard tournament table measures 11 feet 8 inches by 5 ft 10 in (3.569 m by 1.778 m) with a tolerance of 1⁄2 inch (1.26 cm) in both directions, though smaller ones, down to half size, are often found in snooker halls, pubs and home billiard rooms.

If a foul occurs, two points are awarded to the opposing player who has the choice of playing from where the balls lie or they can be respotted.