Paul Travis asked:


Billiards, what a wonderful game it is. But billiards is also a very skillful game. It takes practice, the ability to laugh at oneself, and did I say practice? When you decide that you want to learn to play billiards it helps if you know what type of game you want to play. There is 8-ball, 9-ball, Snooker and several more. Several publications can be bought from your favorite store. “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Pool and Billiards”, 2nd Edition by Ewa Mataya Laurance and Thomas C. Shaw, is one such book. Another might be “Byrne’s Complete Book of Pool Shots: 350 Moves Every Player Should Know” by Robert Byrne. There are many available and should be the first place you turn when you have a desire to play billiards well.

The next thing that you will need is a “pool cue” or “billiard stick”. You will want one that is straight, balanced well and is the weight that feels the best for you. Pool Cues come in weights from 14oz – 22oz. You can order pool cues from dealers at the weight you want. Expect to pay any where from $10.00 at your local Wal-Mart to $1,000.00 plus at a reputable dealer who will give you almost any thing you can think of. Color, wrap, farrel and pool cue tips can be custom ordered for a price. Having a decent pool cue can make all the difference in how well you play.

You will also need good pool cue chalk. “Masters” or “Silver Cup” are the only two of the brands of chalk available. These chalks come in boxes of twelve and any hue of color you might like. Chalk is used to put on the tip of your pool cue so when the ball and cue come in contact they don’t slip. While we are talking about chalk you can also get chalk holders that are useful in making your chalk distinguishable from others. These also come in all sorts of fun assortments.

Some players use baby powder on their cue. There is debate about whether your cue likes that powder or not. Many choose to loose the powder and use a glove. The glove helps your hand to slide easily on the cue stick. And since you are not using powder for this, they keep your cue free from sticky build up. Gloves can be worn on the right hand or left and come in many colors. Specialized pool training tools are available such as laser cues, training balls and other electronic training devices. All of these items can be purchase at a billiard store or some of the better sports shops. They come in different varieties and at a cost to fit almost every need.

If you decide to make billiards your game, try out a few of these items. Having these items can help understand the fundamentals to pool a little better. And of course besides owning these helpful billiard supplies, always practice, practice, and did I forget to mention practice?



Darlene

Stuart F asked:


I have been watching repeats of the world pool masters 9 ball from earlier in the year and noticed that the soft cut break (which I don’t like) wasn’t being used as much, and players seemed to be breaking more towards the centre of the table than the edge.

I think it may have been down to the rack being a little higher up the table.
Was this the case and is this the way to go for the game of 9 ball rather than using the break box.

also wanted to note that the suggested category for this and a previous question was sports>billiards, could Y!A be trying this out to see if we get rid of the stupid swimming questions.

Ruth

ashley b asked:


I had a work function that I had to go to after work on Monday that began at 6pm. I came home after work, change out of my uniform, and told my husband I was going. I had told him about it earlier in the day, when I found out about it, and asked him if he wanted to come and bring our son. He said no. So I went, and it was a billiards tournament but the place only had 3 tables and there were about 25 ppl that had to play. At about 8:30 I was starting my first game and my phone went off. It was my husband asking why it was taking 2 1/2 hours to play a game of pool. I didn’t have very long b/c I was in the middle of playing so I just texted back “I just started my first game”. Various txts ensued, mostly accusing me of being out partying, and telling me not to bother coming home, just enjoy myself. I tried to call 4 or 5 times to explain to him, but he didn’t pick up. He SAYS I should have called him to tell him things were going slowly, but I don’t feel like I need to check in every two hours. Am I crazy? Or is he?

Amanda

Jonathon Hardcastle asked:


Billiards, or commonly referred to as pool, is an indoor sport that has gained fanatics all over the world. As the trend of more and more home owners deciding to purchase a pool table and add it to their own home’s entertainment corner or room shows, pool fans are drunk, extremely aggressive-looking fellows that are always ready to fight and have no sense of manners, or in any case, odor, is an image one can mainly attribute to movie scenes and real decadence-looking bars. But, as pool table fans are indeed increasing in numbers, the idea that these people probably have not been portrayed accurately generates a new interest in pool games and generates a chain reaction.

However, pool fans are not a recent phenomenon. Since this game’s conception, thousands of individuals have experienced its thrills and were able to compete against each other during friendly or professional games. Some of the most famous pool fans are people known from history, politics, arts and science. Individuals like Mark Twain, George Washington, Napoleon Bonaparte, Marie Antoinette, Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Fred Astaire, Humphrey Bogart, and Paul Newman, have embraced the game of pool and have contributed to its fame traveling around the globe over the centuries.

Abraham Lincoln, one of the first real American celebrities and an immensely important person in American history, owned a pool table and was admittedly a great pool gamer and fan. If one might think that critical issues of the American national interest, like slavery, the Civil War, and international relations, were probably discussed over a billiard game, perhaps is not far from the truth. As a billiard table has been brought in the White House and existed there for several administrations, many of the recent US Presidents have had the opportunity to play a couple of games with prestigious opponents, like Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, King Hussein, or Margaret Thatcher. Isn’t it chilling for one to imagine that the world’s fate might have been “played” over a billiards game?

In recent times, pool tables are produced in different sizes and for vastly different budgets. Much more affordable than their predecessors, pool tables now attract the attention of “simple” folks who wish to spend some quality time playing a great game. Thus, even if you are not yet an owner but would like to become one, there is no better time to attain your goal than today. Visit your local games department store, research over the Internet, participate at an auction or get to your neighbor’s house sale. Perhaps a new talent is hidden under your sleve. Isn’t time for you to discover it?



Mitchell

KB4Prez asked:


I am taking a date to a billiard pub for a first date. Does anyone know what I can expect to pay approximately to play pool? It is a small place in CT. I know some places charge per game, some per hour, a ball-park estimate of what I can expect to pay either by the game or by the hour will be really appreciated.

Arthur

Muna wa Wanjiru asked:


Billiard Gloves make fun *** gifts. These days gloves are used for all sorts of purposes from gardening, dishwashing, factories, hospitals, by health professional, car rally drivers, bike riders, baseball players, cricket players, in football by the goal keepers, in boxing and even while doing exercises during weight training.

A glove is a garment which helps to cover the hand against heat or cold. It has openings in it through which the fingers can be inserted. There are fingerless gloves and also mittens in the market.

Mittens help to keep the hands much warmer as they tend to help insulate the air which is trapped inside and moreover when bare fingers are in direct contact with one another they tend to generate more warmth.

Gloves are made from a variety of materials like cloth, wool, metal, and Kevlar, neoprene, latex, rubber, and leather, etcetera. There are a number of manufacturers of gloves all over the world today.

Like all other sports and games, billiards too has a number of accessories for the players and the Billiards Gloves which is also known as Pool gloves or Cue Gloves is a very important accessory which a billiards player needs and must have.



During play there will be friction I the hands which are holding the cue shaft and this will cause inconsistent strokes. To avoid this and to give a better grip of the cue shaft a billiards player wears a glove. This helps the cue shaft glide smoothly on the bridge hands which will in turn make for better and more accurate shots.

This glove is a three fingered glove. These billiard gloves can be tailor-made to personalize each player’s taste and their individual preference. There are left handed and right handed gloves and personalized gloves are made from different materials which offer smoother action of the cue shaft and better control too.

Pool gloves come at a variety of prices starting as low as five dollars a pair but a really good pair of gloves will cost around ten to fifteen dollars a pair. It is easy to recognize pool gloves as they look exactly like ordinary gloves but they cove only three fingers that is the thumb, index, and middle fingers.

The fabric used to make the gloves should be frictionless and they should have a small leather patch at the palm section to help give the player a better grip of the cue shaft. These gloves are elastic so they are made to fit all hand sizes.

Lycra and Spandex are the most preferred materials used to make these gloves as they help giver a better grip of the cue shaft which will help make more accurate and consistent movements.

For those who are new to the game and would like to do a thorough research on the best gloves to buy then they would be advised to make a search in the web for details about the manufacturers and prices.



Michelle

Daniel Millions asked:


We live in a fast paced world in which things change rapidly. In today’s life, no one has sufficient time at their hands as everyone seems to be too busy. People live a hectic life in which there is no space for entertainment. It might appear that there is no solution to this problem but actually there is a solution to this problem.

Internet games are a possible solution to this problem as they use Internet technology in order to allow people to play games. Internet has become a part of everyone’s life as it has something to offer to everyone. Since Internet is used by a number of people across the world, Internet games are great for entertainment purpose.

Internet games are great for anyone who has Internet access and who wants to have some sort of entertainment or who’s looking for something to kill his time. There are a number of websites that offer free Internet games and there are some paid sites as well. Also, you’ll find a number of people on these sites and so, you can easily kill your time. That being said, Internet games can also be used to relieve someone from stress. Once you get involved in an interesting game, you are bound to forget about all the tensions and this relieves an individual from the stress. This is the reason why some developers have created a number of different kinds of games.

As the technology is improving rapidly, more and more enhanced games are being launched at regular intervals. However, the Internet games can be grouped in four categories.

1. Games that are played directly within the browser simply by visiting the web page that has the game embedded into it.

2. Text-based games that can be played by using some web based forum, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), Telnet.

3. Games that can be played by using an email.

4. Graphical games that require a stand-alone software package installed on the end-user’s machine. Authentication is also required to play such games.

Basically, how an Internet game is played depends on the type of the game that you want to play as some games can be played easily within the browser whereas some games require certain software packages in order to allow people from different locations to play together. Now, if you are wondering what do you need in order to play these games then you need an Internet connection in the first place.

It is advisable to have a moderate-speed Internet connection for browser based games and a high-speed Internet connection is required for graphical games so as to avoid the lagging while enjoying the game. Most of the games are available for free and you don’t need any money to play games unless you want to play paid games. Also, most of the sites that offer Internet games require you to create an account with them which is also free on most of the sites.

The credit for developing Internet games goes to rapid development in technology and to the developers who have created almost every type of game. Card games, shooting games, chess, billiard, arcade games and gambling games are some of the games that are very popular among game lovers and developers have created a number of Internet games based on these games. Half-Life, Lineage, World of Warcraft, Counter-Strike are some of the popular paid games which required high-speed internet connection and software packages to be installed on the machine.



Rose

Joe Schmieder asked:


Buying a game table for your family game room can be a daunting task. But after reading this article you’ll be up to that task!

Let’s talk about the tables and features and which table or combination of tables would be perfect for some good old fashioned, family fun!

Air Hockey Game

An Air Hockey Game gives you what every sports fan wants, high-speed and intense competition. It’s arguably the fastest table game played even more so than table tennis. But is it the right choice for your family?

There was a “basic” air hockey tabletop game in my home growing up. It did get some use and it was fun for short periods of time. Needless to say during get-togethers the table was put away to play pool and not seen again for weeks at a time. Though if we had a standalone air hockey table then I’m sure it would have been used more often.

Each manufacturer offers something a little different in their tables. One example would be the width, is it 2-player or 4-player. Also the tabletop colors and designs vary. Usually they’re blue or white and the table may or may not be painted to look like a real ice rink. Another fun feature is electronic scoring. Some cheer and boo while others only tell the score and have overtime play features.

In my opinion air hockey game tables are a plus to any game room. But they are not good enough to be the “only” game if you’ll be having a lot of large get-togethers.

Billiard Table

Billiard Tables in recent years have improved. The designs and colors can be custom made to suit your desires and to match your home game room.

I grew up having a pool table in our home game room. It was a basic 7-foot bar room sized green felt table. Nothing too fancy but it didn’t matter because it was used often especially on the weekends.

Some billiard features are really neat. For example some manufactures will let you decide the color felt you’d like. If that’s not enough you can also get a table that has a University Logo, MLB Team Logo or NFL Team Logo in the middle and you can get matching billiard balls.

When it comes to designs you can find solid wood tables, laminate tables and other contemporary table designs. There are indoor and outdoor styles available also. If you want something really different you can buy a black light pool table, a Harley Davidson themed table or even a NASCAR themed table among others.

But they’re not just about looks they’re also about family fun. With a pool table you can play a wide variety of games. Also children learn how to make cuts and bank shots. And there’s a thought process involved with every shot that only Shuffleboard comes close too. It’s a strategy game that’s fun for the whole family.

In my opinion pool tables are a game for the whole family. They can also be the only game in your game room. Because of the skills involved and the variety of games that can be played, a pool table is a great choice for good old family fun get-togethers.

Foosball Game Table

Foosball Game Tables are great for kids of all ages. Not quite as fast as air hockey or as strategic as billiards, foosball is still a great game. It does however have a speed value that billiards doesn’t have. It basically has a bit of everything in it.

I never had a foosball table but a friend of mine did. We’d play for hours and the good part was that it was big enough for 4 players at a time. You can be the goalie/defense or the front scoring line or both if playing by yourself. You really need quick reflexes to be tops in this game.

What does a foosball table offer you? The quality of the wood or player colors can be changed but you basically just have your four legs and the table. Some tables are oval instead of rectangular and this makes it safer for young children. Also look for tables that have raised corners on the playing surface so the ball won’t get stuck like in the older versions.

Are they great family fun? In my opinion it depends on the age of the players. For older kids and adults they can be a lot of fun but definitely not for younger children. It’s too hard to switch handles and younger children need something to stand on to play. It’s easier to swing at a puck or hit pool balls. If you’re children are older then a game room sized foosball table would be a great addition. If you have a pool table already then foosball would be a great second game.

Shuffleboard Game Table

Now here’s a game table that has been overlooked for years. So let me be one to say that shuffleboard is a game for everyone.

When it comes to the designs and colors of shuffleboard games there are only a few differences. One difference is table length ranging from 9 to 22 feet. There are also features like bumper rails, which make the game easier to play for children. Plus depending on the table you may have a triangle scoring zone or a basic 3 or 4 line, scoring zone. This game does have some nice family friendly features.

The playing of the game offers up strategy. You can use your pucks to block shots, score points or to knock opponents pucks off the table. Also you can play one on one or with teams.

In my opinion this is the only other stand alone game for a home game room besides a billiard table. It’s similar to pool in that strategy is used to win. Also it’s easy to play for all ages, although adults seem to enjoy this game more than kids. Kids tend to get bored from the slow action. Definitely find a place to try this game out with your family before purchasing.

Table Tennis / Ping Pong Tables

A Ping Pong Tables is great fun. Adults love to play, kids love to hit the balls around and everyone has a laugh. But is it the best table game for your family? No.

I don’t **** the game of ping-pong. We had a tabletop version in our home growing up. We played it more in our teenage years but as children we’d just end up chasing the ping-pong balls. If you’re a professional player then you’ll disagree with me but for the average family player it’s a game for older children and adults.

The features are all pretty much the same including the size of each game. You do however have a choice of tabletop colors, (green, black or tournament blue). And you can buy fold up tables to give your room more space when not using the table. Also paddles can be different colors and balls come in many colors and fun designs but that’s about it.

In my opinion ping-pong is a challenging and fun game. It can be a very fast game for more advanced players and it definitely takes a lot of good hand-eye coordination. Is it a good stand alone game for your game room? Obviously I think not but it is a great third game. Wait until the children are older before adding one of these unless it’s your game of choice.

In closing a combination of a billiard table or shuffleboard table, air hockey or foosball and ping-pong would work well. You’d have a nice selection of games to please everyone. Also the skills needed to play each game are different, from making bank shots and using strategy to using quick thinking and reflexes you’ll get a bit of each with a combination of games.

If you’re still undecided have a look at “combination game tables”. Just remember that no matter which you choose you’ll have hours of fun and game tables only add and never take away from your home game room!

Visit http://www.game-room-decorating-ideas.com/game-tables.html to find more useful information on selecting a family fun game table.

Or visit the http://www.game-room-decorating-ideas.com home page to get started on creating the ultimate home game room.



Neil

®°»¶GODxxOFxxWARxx¶«°® asked:


I honestly think that gta iv ****** from the first minute i played it. The day that i got the game which was 29th april. I hontesly played it for only 1 hour and stopped cause it doesnt feel like those classic gta games especially gta san andreas. Rockstar concentrated so so much on the realism and the graphics that GTA IV should have. They concentrated on the graphics and the realism because they thought…
“well now that we got the xbox360 and the ps3, we got an opportunity to make a game that would look so real and brilliant, especially with the ps3 because it uses a blu-ray disc 25gb Single layer & 50gb dual layer” They didnt concentrate at all on how fun the game was going to be. They took out almost everything that should have been in gta iv like the tattoo parlor, barber, gyms, able to customize character’s clothes, shoes, watches, glasses, hats, airplanes, really fun cheats, cool car racing, driving schools, bike schools, airplane school, boat school, all the crazy things you can do while using the cheats, the weapons, the city, environment, casinos, gangs, able to take over gang territories or being taken, cool cars, ability to customize cars, fun stripe clubs, offline multiplayer, gangster game, amazing story, cool characters and i could mention a whole lotta stuff but im not going to. All those stuff that i’ve just mentioned were in Gta San Andreas, some of you might agree, some might not. Almost every single thing i’ve just mentioned was taken out of GTA IV which shoud’ve been there had been replaced by realism, graphics and online multiplayer. I honestly did not see one thing fun about gta iv. When you fight the cops that’s boring, the storyline ****** so bad. You are just simply a hitman, and you meet some lowlifes who hire you to be their hitman. But the most thing that was a complete letdown was that they didnt add cheats. Didnt Rockstar even have a look at how gta san andreas was and how much people actually loved it. Didnt they see it over the internet or something and said to themselves. “whoa!! people really love this type of game, all the feautures, the cheats, weapons, cars etc. Why dont we make gta iv a bit similar to what this game is?” didnt they ever say that!! I honestly will never buy a GTA mafia game ever again. No offense, but i think that mafia games are stupid and pointless, i’d rather prefer a gangster game much much much more.
When people make a gangster game, you have the ability to add all the feautures like customization, crazy stuff, gangs etc etc. But with mafia games, you cant do anything that will match with a mafia typa game, but all those customization and all those stuff i mentioned about gta san andreas match a gangster type of game, and that’s why gta iv ****** and gta san andreas was much better. Some people now say that gta san andreas is worse than gta iv even if they dont like gta iv. The only reason they say that is because they played a much better graphic game, much better game in terms of realism, movement etc. If you look back and try to feel how gta san andreas felt when it came out you would feel alot better and say to yourself that i was wrong gta san andreas is much better. I would faint if Rockstar makes another game that is mafia and similar game to gta iv, lol i would email em and say you guys are stupid. Gta iv mini-games were boring too, i didnt like the darts at all, the bowling was kinda okay but its very boring and pointless, the billiard felt like you playing a 1990 game, the controls are so crap and its just really boring, the heli tour was pointless too, cause you can just steal the helicopter and doing it on your own lol. The comedy club was kinda ok…but it was boring for me. Hanging out with your friends was annoying and boring. I felt so good that b4 they said that the gameplay would be so much different, you have to hotwire a car, break the window to get into the car. But when i played the game, for the ps3 all you have to do is tap X & 0 together for like 1 sec and the car starts, *** lol!! I thought that a mini-screen or something would pop-up and you have to do a quiz or something to try to hot wire the car lol. But its so simple, its pointless adding that feauture in the game. And nowadays people are arguing weather saints row 2 is going to be better than gta iv. Now i havent played saints row 1 but i reckon that saints row 2 will be better than gta iv no matter how bad its graphics are or the storyline cause people say that the story & the graphics ******. And i’ve seen trailers and it looks really fun and enjoyable. people nowadays are getting fooled by the 98% rating that gta iv got, how in the hell did gta iv receive 98%. Did those raters just rate on the graphics and realism lol, cause that’’s the only say it would have recieved a 98%. That’s 1 in a billion chances that gta iv got a rating of 98%. If people knew how boring gta iv is. Rockstar would not even make a $1. people are just getting ripped off. I hope to see a gt
Oops…didnt have enough space at the end but what i mean to say was. I hope to see a gta san andreas 2. But i’ve typed too much, and cant be bothered typing anymore, if this is too long, im sorry. But i just wanted to make a point. Those people who like gta iv, dont take this too offensive but i really think that this game was very, very bad. For those people who have played gta san andreas and say that gta iv was much more fun. Wow!! its like a sin saying that!! you can say that gta iv had better graphics and gameplay, but not fun. once again, 1 in a billion chances that gta iv is more fun than gta san andreas. Well…tell me wat you think now. Type all you want!

Sara

Goldblum asked:


1 Day left.
—

Games:
Super Smash Bros Brawl (wii)
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (wii)
Resident Evil 4 (wii)
Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles (wii)
ManHunt 2 (wii)
Need for Speed Carbon (wii)
Marvel Ultimate Alliance (wii)
Wii Sports (wii)
-Tennis
-Boxing
-Golf
-Baseball
-Bowling
Wii Play (wii)
-Tanks
-Billiards
-Shooting Range
-Find Mii
-Pose Mii
-Table Tennis
-Laser Hockey
-Charge!
-Fishing

ADDITIONAL:
Virtual Console Games:

1. Sonic The Hedgehog
2. Super Mario Bros
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Accessories:

* 2 Wii Remotes
* 2 Wii Nunchuks
* 2 Wii Gloves (Nintendo Sent)
* 2 Wii Straps (Nintendo Sent)
* Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector (Retail 40$)
* WiFi USB Extender

Extra:

* AV Video Outlet
* Sensor Bar
* Console Stand
* Sensor Bar Stand
* Game Boxes/Manuals
* Wii Box
* WIFI Adapter Box
* Power Brick (power outlet)
—
350$ = Buy Now

I seriously don’t want to relist, ugh.

eBay# 280229414401

WIIIIIII

Tara