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Do you wish to become a professional billiards player and join the ranks of all time greats or at least be in the same league as champions.  There are many who have made it to the top by virtue of their talent and sheer hard work.

Apart from playing the game earnestly, you also need to take care of certain finer points. For example, joining a club of professional billiards players or interacting with state level players would give you an insight on how the game is played on professional level. Participating in tournaments that attract maximum viewer attention and are extensively covered by international channels like World 8-Ball Championship, 9-Ball Challenge and U.S Open One Pocket Championship and is the perfect way to enter the realm of professional billiards.

Professional billiards players look up to a win in any of these tournaments. You also tend to earn respect amongst the followers of the game. Following the career of these players would give you an idea about how to chalk out your career plan and go about it. Finally but most importantly there is no other alternative to continuous practice and it is the key to becoming a professional billiards player.

Photo © Ljupco Smokovski - Fotolia.com

Wish you could try your hand at another interesting indoor sport? Why not try out for Russian Pyramid billiards if you are in the mood for experimentation? Russian Pyramid is an variation of billiards and has rules and regulations quite different from the regular games of pool and snooker you are accustomed to playing.

Russian Pyramid billiards is played with 16 balls, of them 15 ivory-white in color and 1 red that serves as the cue ball with which the game starts. The balls are of 68 mm or 71 mm diameter. The standard size of the table used for this game is 12 ft, however, you can also play it on 7 ft, 8 ft or 9 ft table.

You need to choose an opponent if you are interested in trying out Russian Pyramid, or if you have a group of friends, divide them into two teams and start playing. The pockets on the table are only 2-4 mm larger than the balls. So be careful when hitting a ball, a foul could cost you a loss of a hard-earned win.

You can win a game of Russian Pyramid billiards after you have pocketed 8 balls.

Photo © Roman Lukmanov - Fotolia.com

Cue sport involves balls of different sizes, colors, coatings and patterns etc that determine friction coefficient, resilience and hardness. Earliest pool balls were made of clay, wood and later ivory but contemporary balls are manufactured by plastic materials that are not prone to chipping or cracking.

In carom billiards, balls are not numbered and 61.5 mm in diameter. Here four/three balls are played with two red object balls and one white/yellow cue ball for each player. American style pool balls are larger than British pool balls and are widely used worldwide. These are 2.25cm in diameter with 0.005cm tolerance, colored and numbered. Typically there are nine-ball or eight-ball games played by fifteen balls in pocket billiards. In a British style blackball game 5.08 cm object balls and 4.76 cm cue balls are used but without any numbering. Twenty two colored balls of same weight and of 52.5 mm diameter (tolerance 0.05mm) are played in snooker.

In Russian Pyramid and Finnish Kaisa games, all-white numbered object balls are played by yellow/red cue balls. These balls are 68 mm or 72 mm in diameter. Bumper pool requires eight object balls and two special balls of approximately 52.5mm diameter. Also there are some special training balls for beginners and novelty balls like Blacklight, Boble ball, Tag ball etc.

Photo © TheThirdMan - Fotolia.com

Becoming a professional billiard player is not only a matter of talent, practice and expertise. This requires promoting a talent. If you want to promote yourself, if you want to be professional, you need to know few strategies of the game beforehand.

Following are the essential tips for becoming a professional billiards player –

Tip # 1 Practice. The first tip definitely is your dedication, sincerity and hard work. World champions like Francisco Bustamante and Efren Reyes are known to practice for long hours, sometimes stretching even 10 to 12 hours.

Tip # 2 Not only practicing, you need to study the other professionals as well. Make yourself acquainted with the world champions, with their playing style, their special talent, their game plan, their career plan and their lifestyle. Make yourself one such a holistic plan.

Tip # 3 Now you are enough prepared to make your appearance. Join pool league. Develop a network. Test yourself at regional and local levels.

Tip # 4 At the next level, take part in high profile matches. Contests like World 8 Ball Championship or ESPN’s Ultimate 9 Ball Challenge will definitely build your image as a professional. If you win, then you definitely are.

Tip # 5 Last but not the least, be an opinion leader. Master your game and reflect your wisdom in your lifestyle and living.

Using the correct speed

How hard do you hit the object balls into the pockets?

Sure, it looks good to hammer them home into the pocket but what if you miss?
the balls have the tendency to go everywhere, making it a real possibility for the opponent to take control.

There are 3 main reason to use just the right amount of speed on a cueball:

1) To stay in control of the game.  Scattering every ball just aint being in control
2) Should you miss, you park the balls over a pocket and then you will also block that pocket for your opponent
3) These ‘locked pocket’ balls offer a ‘get out of jail’ shot should you run out of position.

Make them play the game your way

Photo © iofoto - Fotolia.com

Russian pyramid is popularly known as pyramid or Russian billiards or Russian Pool. Though name is quite same but the rules of the game differ from the conventional western game of billiards.

There are different variations of Russian pyramid played. However, the most common of them are Free Pyramid or American Pyramid, Combined Pyramid or Moscow Pyramid and Dynamic or Petersburg Pyramid. All three games are played with white balls which are racked on the table in the shape of pyramid. The opening player hits this pyramid with the cue ball.

Thumb rule for all three games is that all eight balls must be pocketed in order to win the game. But in case of American pyramid, the players can use any ball as the cue one. However, in Moscow and Petersburg pyramid only one ball can be used as cue. After scoring when the player pockets the ball, he or she must remove one white ball from the table. In Moscow Pyramid, the cue ball is placed in baulk and player needs to pocket the balls only in far corner and side. And in Petersburg pyramid, the cue ball can be placed at any part of pool table by the player, but cue ball may not be pocketed.

Photo © Anatoly Vartanov - Fotolia.com

Billiards lighting can be regarded as one of the vital parts of this stylish game. The table lights are not only used for providing sufficient luminosity on the table but it also helps to create a warm ambiance for the players. The lighting can be used both for mood and function.

Billiards lighting is available in a vast array of designs, materials and styles.  Billiards light shades are available in chrome, brass, glass, fiberglass and different other materials.  You also will have the choice of different shapes and sizes available.

There are quite a few companies out there which provide their customers with the option of having customized billiard lights. The lights are available in both traditional and contemporary styles to suit every ones requirement. Some of the well-known and popular types of billiard lightings include classic Tiffany style, Stained glass fixtures, Hand crafted designs, hand painted designs, single light pendants, hood type lights, bar type lights, hanging lights and many more.

Billiards lighting can be artistically used to create a dramatic effect on the billiard game room. Whether you want a traditional or a contemporary look, billiard lights can be used experimentally and creatively to make the perfect ambiance.

© Andrey Rakhmatullin - Fotolia.com

Welcome to the billiards world of the unseen.
This is part 1 of our new microscopic billiards series.

Cue Tips
When you’re busy playing a game there’s no more that a little thought that goes towards the humble pool cue tip.  The poor tip is relegated to the back of your mind as you waltz around the table, yet remain so reliant on its performance.

Take a look at the image.  This is an image looking down onto a tip from above, scanned at x32 on an electron microscope.  Its amazing to see such detail.  Notice all the tiny cracks on the fibrous surface.  This is the bare surface of which the chalk will adhere to.  The chalk acts to keep these fibers from being impacted, thus keeping friction between cuetip and ball.  If you’re a greatly visual person like me then this post will help you to think why chalking needs to take place.  Next time spare a thought for the humble tip.

Image courtesy of www.8ballsecrets.com

Practice Games
Ask around and see where more serious players go to play pool.  You will probably find that these are places with the best tables.  To begin with it may be an idea to go at a time that is quiet so you can get plenty of practice in.  Take a friend with you and build up your confidence to play others.  When you feel ready try to visit at a busier time.  Try to play others,  watch and learn from how they play.

Joining a Pool Team
A brilliant way of improving your skills is to join a team.  When doing this consider what stage you are at and what you wish to gain.  In the beginning it may be an idea to find a team that likes to win but does not take it too seriously.  You can have a lot of fun while improving your game.  If you want something more competitive in the future you can alway look around for another team to join and with your new skills they will all be queing up to take you on!

Have fun!

photo © Vitaly Maksimchuk - Fotolia.com