Billiards VS Pool

What is billiards?

The word billiard comes from the combination of two French words, billart and bille. Billart translates to “wooden stick,” while bille translates to “ball.” The term billiards can refer to different things.

First, it can refer to any type of game that involves striking billiard balls with a cue on a table. The table is covered with a cloth, usually colored green, with rubber cushions framing the edges of the table.

Billiards can also refer to the specific game carom billiards or carambola billiards. This is a type of billiards game where players have developed different variations with different rules. However, the general objective in the game is to hit the billiard balls with a cue or stick to score points.

For clarity, this article is referring to carambola billiards when mentioning billiards. The comparison here focuses specifically on the similarities and differences of carambola billiards vs pool.

What is pool?

Pool has a lot of definitions. To many, it could mean a man-made structure that could be filled with water so people could go swimming. People also used refer to pool as a form of betting. Gambling in poker and horse racing used to count as pool. For instance, people would “pool” money from different gamblers, making bets on who would win a horse race.

Nowadays, when people say pool, they usually mean pocket billiards. Pocket billiards, or simply pool, is a type of billiards game.

At first glance, a game of pool and a game of billiards will look the same. However, these two types of cue sports differ greatly from each other.

From their history, equipment, and to their rules, these two games are very different. To learn how to differentiate billiards vs pool, keep on reading!