Sold between December 2018 and October 2020

by Mal Atwell Billiards and Bingo (WA), Consolidated Leisure and Sport Pty Ltd (Vic) and manufacturers and sellers of pool tables

Pool

Pool, or eight-ball, is one of the most popular games that is played around the world. In eight-ball you start with a cue ball, seven striped coloured balls, seven solid coloured balls and one black ball (16 balls in total). The players are assigned one of the two groups of coloured balls after they have been scattered with a break shot, and someone sinks one of the two variations of balls. The end objective to legally sink the eight ball (Black ball), this can only be done after the player has sunk all the coloured balls from his group.

Snooker

Snooker is another popular type of cue sport. Snooker is played using a cue and 22 balls that are all worth different amounts of points, these balls are as follows:

• 1 white (cue Ball)
• 15 red (1 point each
• 1 Yellow (2 points)
• 1 Green (3 points)
• 1 Brown (4 points)
• 1 Blue (5 Points)
• 1 Black (7 points)

When starting, the red balls are placed in a triangle, with the other coloured balls being put on marked position that are called ‘spots’. Players are awarded points by sinking red and coloured balls in the correct sequence. They can also gain points if the opposition player makes a foul.

A player wins a frame by scoring more points than the other player, and wins the match when a predetermined number of frames have been won.

Carom Billiards

Carom billiards, also referred to as French billiards, is a game played on a 1.5m by 3m pocketless table. It is typically played with 3 balls; each player has their own cue ball and an object ball. The object of the game is to score points by caroming (rebounding) ones cue ball off both the opponent’s cue ball and object ball in one shot.

The invention of this game and date is seen as unclear, but has been thought to be traced back to 18^th century France.

1. What's the difference in dart materials?
All metals are different; they vary in weight and density, so some metals are more appropriate for darts than other. Brass and copper are common metals found in lower priced darts. Because these metals are not very dense, the heavier the metal, the thicker the dart becomes. Serious darts are made out of tungsten, which is a stronger, denser metal which allows for a slimmer design

2. How do I know which type of dart tip I need?
Steel tip darts are mostly used with bristle dartboards. Steel tip darts have a very sharp point to stick in the bristles of a board. They can be complex with as many as five completely separate removable parts, and can be tuned for performance. Many models are available in different weights. Steel tip darts can be made of brass, nickel - silver, tungsten, and copper.
Soft tip darts are used with electronic dart boards. Soft tip darts have a plastic tip, which is quite flexible and easily lodges into the holes that are found on electronic dartboards.

3. Should dart weight matter to me?
Weight probably won’t make that much of a difference for an occasional player, but many serious dart players prefer specific dart weights that feel comfortable to them when they throw. There are some products out there that allow people to add a gram or two to their darts for precise weights. Darts usually weigh from 18-26 grams.

4. What dart flight do I need, are they all the same?
The main purpose for a dart flight is to provide drag, as its designed to keep the tail on track during the flight while the dart is having a battle with gravity along the way. Smooth or dimpled, all flights do the same thing and serve the same purpose with slight variations.
Heavier darts will require a larger surface area for the flights to be effective, but lighter darts can have ‘speed-flights’ that have a smaller surface area and allow for a tighter grouping.
If your still not sure what flights do, take them off your darts and try and throw them at the board.

5. What is a barrel knurl?
The Knurl is the patter/grip that can be found on the dart. It’s a pretty important feature, as it is a determinant of quality and worth. The better the grip, the more control, consistency and accuracy you will experience.

6. What is a retractable point on a dart?
Some steel tip darts offer retractable points. When a dart strikes the wire (also called the "spider") on a bristle board, the point of the dart retracts into the dart body. This allows the point to slip off the wire while the forward motion of the dart body hammers the point into the target, virtually eliminating bounce outs.

Firstly, as it is one of the most famous and recognisable sports over the world, its very easy to access a table to play on all over the world. With this ease of access, you will find a large number of opponents at different playing levels all over the world.

Further still research depicts that players who play cue sports like snooker, pool, carom, and others are unknowingly honed with a high degree of concentration since the game requires extreme concentration and hand-eye coordination.

Cue Sports allow you to engage in physical movement and activity, with no sweat. Think about your body when you play pool, with the constant bends, stretches, squats, one leg on the ground shots, mental gyrations, some leaping and cheering, all with minimal to no sweat. Where else can you expect to find all that?

They create a competitive spirit in any one who plays and competitiveness is something we all need in our day to day wellbeing.

It May be played by everyone regardless of age, sex even those with a few disabilities.
Through experience I can’t for get to mention the fact that knowing how to play billiards can help boost self-esteem more especially if you win.

When playing cue sports, there is so much to do with motions, friction, vectors, ball collisions, angles when escaping from snookers, so much estimate and calculation and in life there is no way one can excel without a sharp mind, and cue sports can equip you with one.