USA Pool Halls
Online Billiards Games and Gambling Guide
Pool games and billiards games are sometimes also referred to as cue sports. These games have a common element of a felt covered table with balls and cue sticks which are used to strike these balls. Billiards is a game of skill, and it comes in a wide variety of games. And these games can be played in a lot of different places. In the USA, they're mostly referred to as pool halls, although some people still refer to them as billiards parlours. (In the UK, "billiards" refers to a specific game, but this site has a USA focus and uses "billiards" to refer to any of these kinds of games.) But any place you can fit a pool table becomes a place to play pool. Home pool tables are common in America; the table doesn’t take up too much space, and the tables themselves are often beautifully designed to add to a home’s atmosphere.
Pool has become a major part of American culture. Mark Twain, WC Fields, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Jackie Gleason were all pool enthusiasts. The game of pool has also been featured in a wide variety of movies, including The Hustler, The Color of Money, and The Player, which featured Minnesota Fats. Few bars in the USA don't offer pool tables, and many bars feature pool tables as their main attraction.
Like any other vocation or avocation, the game of pool becomes more enjoyable the better you
understand. The goal of this website is to provide information and resources that will enrich
your pool playing experience.
Billiards and pool are games of skill, requiring a player to strike balls at precisely the right angle with the right amount of force to manipulate the balls into the table’s pockets. Because pool comes in such a wide variety of rules, the way you hit balls into the pockets depends on the variant of pool.
Pool is also a professional sport in America, as in around the world, and it is not uncommon to see pool tournaments televised on major sports networks.
Pool in the USA
Pool, as it’s played in the United States, is mostly of the straight pool variety. Also known as 8-ball pool or 14.1, straight pool is the most common pool game found in America. Bars that provide pool tables to their customers are usually lined with people playing straight pool, though occasionally you’ll see a game of 9-ball or another billiards variant. Straight pool is the game most people think of in America when they think of the game of pool.
Because many Americans play most of their pool in bars in the USA, the game has a strange reputation. America’s conservative nature tends to cast a long shadow over activities associated with bars and drinking, and since pool tables are as common in American bars as dishes of peanuts and cocktail napkins, many Americans think of pool as a vice, a game played by drunks, or a hustler’s game.
Naturally, not everyone in America is of this opinion, and as times have changed so has the opinion of pool. These days, you’re as likely to find a pool table or some cue sport in a church recreation hall as in a bar. Pool is a commonly played game all over the USA, in many different forms, and played both for money and for recreation.
Pool in America may not have the huge audience of professional sports like football and basketball, but it is still a popular pastime, and you’ll still find pool tables in lots of private homes as well as in pool halls and bars. A big change to the American pool scene happened with the advent of online pool games.
Online Pool & Billiards Games
The Internet has changed the face of pool in America. Online pool and billiards games are available to players from all over the world, including Americans. Some of these games are free-to-play, more like video games good for entertainment, while others let you play for real money. Since online pool is a skill game, Americans can play for money at almost every online pool game.
Americans are restricted from playing at many online casinos and poker sites because of the murky legal definition of “gambling” and a lack of laws on the books related to online wagering. Online pool and billiards games don’t generally fall under the scope of American gambling law, so US players can safely play at many different online pool halls, both for money and just for fun.
Here is information on the two different types of online pool and billiards games: games that allow you to play for money, and sites that gather different free pool games online for your enjoyment.
Free Online Pool Games
If you’re interested in online pool as a game, without risking or trying to win any real money, you’re in luck. There are tons of free online pool games you can play, offering realistic pool play, in lots of different variations, without risking any real cash. Sites like FreeOnlinePoolGames.org gather the most popular online pool games you play for free and maintain scoreboards to give players bragging rights.
Free online pool games look and act like real pool; the big difference is you aren’t using a real cue and you aren’t always playing against another live person. Some online pool games offer head-to-head competition with another real player; others offer single player games or games against a computer controlled opponent.
The variety of free online pool games is identical to the variety of online pool games you play for money. If you can think of a pool variant, from Carom to Prison Pockets, it’s available online in a free-play version. This wide variety of pool game types and the different animations and characters available in online pool games is the big draw at free online pool game sites.
Online Billiards Games for Money
If you want to raise the stakes on your online pool play, there are plenty of sites offering real-money pool and billiards games to choose from. Online pool sites operate a lot like online casinos, offering tournaments, bonuses, free-play offers, and head-to-head competition against real human players.
The best way to understand online pool played for real money is to take a look at a real play-for-money pool site. Play89 is one of the newest online pool and billiards sites where you can play real money pool games and tournaments. You sign up for an account, totally free of charge, and add money to your player account using a credit card or eWallet, if you want. You can also play free versions of games at Play89 and other online pool play sites, to test out the games and your online poker skill before you stuff cold hard cash into your online pool player account.
Play89 is a good stand-in for all real-money pool sites; these sites are all similar in their offers. Online pool sites offer bonuses to players for signing up or making a new deposit to their player account, so shopping around for the best bonus offer is a good idea when selecting an online pool site.
The game variant lineup at Play89 is not as good as at other online pool sites; they only offer 8-ball, 9-ball, and the site announced recently that snooker games will soon be available. Human players can choose to play pool for real money or just for fun, though you’ll need to download the pool site’s software even to play the free pool games. As of this writing, instant play pool is only available at free play pool websites.
The way finances work at online pool and billiards sites is a little different from traditional online gambling. When you choose to play pool for real cash at a site like Play89, the site will take a commission from the total wager that you and your opponent have decided on ahead of time. This is similar to the raking of hands at casino or online poker sites. The commission paid depends on the wager total plus the number of points wagered. Commissions shrink as the wager between two pool players goes up; at Play89, for example, wagers of $100 or more on pool games offers a commission between 3.9% and 7.9%, depending on the number of points.
Betting on Pool & Billiards Games
Since pool is a head-to-head game of skill, it’s no surprise that lots of bets are placed on pool and billiards games all over the world. Betting on snooker, a cue sport popular in the UK, is a major industry in that gambling-friendly culture. Bets on professional snooker matches are available at all the major online sportsbooks and kiosks worldwide.
Betting on pool and billiards games ranges from a friendly bet between friends to high-stakes sportsbook betting on major snooker and pool tournaments. Here’s a look at popular ways to bet on cue sports.
Friendly Bets on Pool
The simplest form of pool betting is a wager agreed upon by two pool opponents before a game starts. Pool halls see tons of bets every night, from just a few bucks between friends to several hundred dollars for games between high-caliber pool players. These bets may not technically be legal, especially in states in the USA where pool gambling is specifically outlawed.
Sportsbook Pool & Billiards Betting
In the UK, where snooker and other cue sports are still a big part of the gambling culture, sportsbooks offer odds on major snooker tournaments. Major online sportsbooks, many of which are based in the UK, offer snooker odds for their customers to place online pool bets without leaving their home. Betting shops and bookies all over the world take wagers on the outcome of cue sports.
There are two main forms of sportsbook pool betting: match bets and outright bets. Match bets are the most popular types of bets on cue sports. These are wagers on the outcome of a single match. The bettor chooses an outright winner of a snooker or cue sport match based on odds pre-determined by a sportsbook.
The other popular pool betting option is called outright betting. Outright betting is like proposition betting, except that it takes place weeks or months before an actual pool or billiards tournament. Bettors that place outright bets on pool choose overall winners of a snooker tournament. The benefit of placing an outright bet well before an event is that you can get in on the best odds, allowing for big profits. Picking the outright winner of an entire snooker tournament is much more difficult than picking a match winner, so the payout has to match the level of difficulty.
Pool in the USA is still a major form of recreation for people from all walks of life. The ability to play online pool games has spread pool to an entirely new audience, and having the freedom to play online pool for money has raised the stakes for this simple group of games we call cue sports. For all the information you need to know about online pool, USA pool games, and anything else related to pool and billiards games, you can trust the resources found at USAPoolHalls.com..