KZBlog

I finally got coerced into playing billiards the other day. I’ve tried to avoid it after hearing how hard it is and because the whole thing is too confusing. I had always thought billiards was the game with only two or three balls. But it turns out that’s British billiards; Russian billiards is a whole other thing. As an American I am of course mainly familiar with pool, where all the balls are different colors, making the whole thing much easier to figure out.

But the other day at a restaurant I got cajoled and harassed and dared and eventually almost pushed to the billiards table. The table is bigger, meaning you often have to hit the balls harder but accurately. And the pockets are basically the same size as the balls, making sinking the balls harder.

But billiard supplies an interesting challenge because basically you can sink any ball using any other ball as a cue ball. So you have thousands of possible shots laid out on the table before you (15! I believe). That makes it easier to sink a ball, but it also makes finding the best shot and the best strategy for the next shot a serious challenge. It seems to me that anyone can be decent at Russian billiards but few can be great.