A new game to be played on a billiard table

The Scotsman, Wednesday 27 November 1889

A new game to be played on a billiard table is a rarity, and we have not until now had any decided novelty since “skittle pool,” a rather feeble and uninteresting game founded apparently upon the German “kugel-partie,” which is also played with pins or skittles, only differently arranged. “Skittle pool” soon died a natural death, and such an eccentricity as “cork pool” is very seldom played. The now 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 most 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 I believe they have received the imprimatur of Mr William Cook, the famous player. The game is certainly an amusing one, and it is eminently adapted for the amusement of a circle of both sexes gathered in a country house.