Ever wondered why some pool tables are green while others are red or green? Besides a game of chess or a card game like poker, the game of pool has to be the most popular type of indoor game for many households. But they come in various colours and we will be discussing the significance of these below.
Let’s begin with the green tables.
Green Pool Tables
We will take a few steps back to first help you to understand the history of this game. Ever noticed that a sports field and a pool table surface look alike? Some people call it snooker, while other countries call it pool, but they are both very similar cue games.
A deputy by the name of Neville Francis Fitzgerald Chamberlain is said to be the creator of the game of snooker back in 1875, as part of an experiment. The original version comprised 15 red balls and one black one was thrown onto a piece of lawn, almost like the game of ‘bowls’ or ‘croquet’ widely played in England. Over time additional colours were introduced to the game which is what we find on tables today.
The game was then introduced in the United Kingdom but was not played for a few years after. The first superstar at the game, which was won by a gentleman named Joe Davis was the first time the game was entered into a championship and then came other champions such as Steve Davis, Dennis Taylor and others.
Sponsors of many other professional games joined the events and started to roll it out into many arenas and the rest was history: https://www.history.co.uk/history-of-sports/history-of-snooker-and-pool
At some point during the 15th century, the game was moved indoors and onto a table, and because the game was a first of its kind and played on a lawn, the colour green that was associated with a lawn, stuck with it. The surface of the tables was made in green tint to resemble turf or grass. This is the traditional colour.
Blue Pool Tables
Now that we know the original idea of the game, we will look at the blue cover that is just as popular. Historically speaking, the first-ever blue coloured table was introduced in the US Open Pocket Billiard Championships in the 70s.
One of the main reasons for changing the colour green to blue was that it was difficult for viewers to place where the balls were on a television screen. The blue makes the balls more obvious and pronounced, and easy to follow during a game.
Viewers could follow the game with ease without having any difficulty seeing the ball. Even when players play the game live and in person, they find it easier to follow the balls on a blue background. Modern television screens are now able to enhance the image for any colour to be seen clearly, but the shade stuck. Now they are associated with national championships and tournaments, while the green ones are seldom used in tournaments, but are used in many households and clubs or friendly sporting venues.
Needless to say, whichever colour you do have, one does bring out the seriousness of the game more than the other. When you see blue pool tables you automatically gain a sense of competition with your opponents and tend to make the game more seriously. This is not to say that you can’t have a friendly game on a blue one.
If you are not sure about the difference between snooker and pool, to put it simply, the pool is the universal umbrella term for billiards or snooker. And if you are keen on learning the game, and have never done so, the below basic guide will teach you how.
Playing a Game of Pool
The rules are fairly simple to a game. The first thing you should be doing once you get your very own table is to familiarize yourself with the equipment. These include the cue stick, the pool balls and the table.
Cue sticks come in various sizes, so choose the one that best fits your hands and length. They range from 7 to 9 feet in length. The balls come in solid and striped variants and have both even and odd numbers printed on top of them.
- The ball you hit with i.e. the cue ball is always white. The standard 8-ball game rules are as follows:
- First, you rack up the ball using the triangle. The black 8-ball must always be in the centre.
- One player breaks the set up and if a ball goes into a pocket, you can claim it i.e. a solid or a stripe.
- The other player will then play the other variation. If both variations go in, the player gets to choose.
- The aim is to sink all balls until the last 8-ball is left and the first player to sink, wins the game.
- If one player sinks a ball off his opponent you can decide to give the other 2 hits.
- If you sink the 8-ball before sinking all your other balls you lose, and you mustn’t also touch the black ball if it’s not your turn.