Bar Billiards pictures

Photos of a miraculous situation in bar billiards, which was shot by Anna Nascimento on June 24, 2003.

two balls over one hole Anna N


I bought a bar billiards table in December 2001. The following pictures were sent to me by the firm in England that refurbishes tables built in the 1930s and 40s when the game was popular in British pubs. It is very rare now - "American" pool tables have taken over.

These are not pictures of my table, but of others the firm has done. I am hoping mine is the same colour as these, it might be a bit darker. Also I will have hexagonal legs not the round ones shown here.


first picture first picture first picture

Views from above the table (left) and from the front (centre) - I got the version that does not include a dog.
The table is 3x6 feet, one piece of slate.
You always shoot from the front end of the table, there is no walking around. As you can see there are lots of white balls and one red ball. As in normal billiards, you get points for sinking either colour of ball and for sinking your cue ball "in off" another ball. The red and black mushrooms (skittles in my case) stand near the high-scoring holes to make it harder to score in those holes (knocking down a skittle is *very* bad news). ( click here to see all the rules)

When you sink a ball it is returned to you at the front of the table. The ball return slots are shown in the picture on the right.
After a certain amount of time (15 minutes for my table) the balls no longer return and the game finishes when there are no more balls available
(actually I have found the official "last ball" rules unsatisfactory so my house rule is that a game ends when there are fewer than 2 balls on the table).


The picture below shows what is under the "hood" - the ball return mechanism and the coin & timer mechanism (the coin part will be disabled on my table). This picture is before refurbishing - mine will have all new felt, even inside, and new metal works.

first picture