The new game has the odd title of “Snooker’s pool”

Bingley Chronicle, Friday 06 December 1889

NEW GAME OF BILLIARDS

A new game to be played on a billiard table is a rarity, and we have not until now, says the London correspondent of the Scotsman, had any decided novelty since “skittle pool,” a rather feeble and uninteresting game. The new game has the odd title of “Snooker’s pool,” and variations of it have been played before, but regular rules for it have not been issued until now. It is a kind of “shell out,” which, as moat billiard players know, is pyramids with any number of players, and not confined to two, as in the ordinary game. Moreover, a certain number of coloured balls are on the table as well as the red ones, each having a different value indicated by a number on it. The players go in rotation, and no one can play at a numbered ball until he has holed a red one, the latter counting one, and the former being counted according to the number upon it. After having holed a numbered ball, another red hazard must be made before a numbered ball can be played upon again. That is the gist of the game, which will be readily understood by billiard players. The rules of “Snooker’s pool” as issued require a thorough overhauling before they can be considered satisfactory, though they have received the imprimatur of a famous player.