Top 5 Pool-Billiard Blogs

There's more than one thing a pool enthusiast can do with the internet; on top of playing online pool 24/7 one can also read (as well as manage) blogs about pool and billiards!

From in-depth reviews on the history of billiards to blogs written by pro players through silly little pool blogs, the blogosphere is loaded with pool and billiards fans who enjoy sharing their insights, experiences and impressions on the game.

In this post I want to recommend on my favorite pool/billiards/snooker blogs. These recommendations are entirely based on my personal liking, so all you unmentioned pool bloggers out there, despair not! You still have the chance to be included in my next review of pool and billiard blogs.

Best Pool-Billiards Blogs (in my opinion and in random order)

Ace's Pool Blog

Is Ace my lost soul mate? Could be! The guy who describes himself as "an incredibly lousy pool player" and later confesses on spending too much time in front and too little around the pool table, is a sharp writer and, at least according to his blog posts, a knowledgeable pool player.

Diary of a Pool Shooter

First thing you notice when you enter Fast Mikie blog is its beautiful design. This is exactly how my dream pool room looks like! Additionally, the blogger knows how to rhyme! And most importantly, he shows to support to his fellow bloggers! In one liner: informative pool blog written in verses with pool videos, info on pool tournaments in California (not to mention Fast Mikie's pics as a toddler …)

Kendrick’s Billiards Blog

The greatness of Kendrick’s Billiards Blog (which has recently celebrated its 3 years anniversary) is known and acknowledged. Written by the owner of a billiards hall in Bellingham, Washington, Kendrick's blog is filled with smart, funny and fascinating stories from his workplace. Moreover, he is not skimping in providing tips and advice for pool hall owners and wannabes.

Guardian's Games Blog

Not exactly a pool-billiards blog, still if you are interested in online pool games, there is more than the slightest chance that you'd appreciate the Guardian's blog dedicated to online games, mobile games, game consoles, game culture and so on. Updated on a daily basis, the blog is one of the best places on the internet to keep track on the ever changing gaming market.

Snooker Billiards Pool

A relatively new blog ran by a guy who lives world of pool (and snooker and billiards) equipment. But technical specifications of all sorts of billiards accessories is not all you can find here; Snooker Billiards Pool blog is seasons with snooker-billiards-pool news from both sides of the Atlantic. Its main hitch is that it updates rarely. Anyway, if you are a sucker for new, shining cue sticks, Snooker…blog is worth following.

Chalk Chalk

One of the things I like about playing online pool is not having to get my hands all filthy with chalk (which by the way, contains nothing but actual chalk). Anyway, not everyone is like me and I know that many of my readers do tend to mess up their hands once in a while.

In a "survey" I bumped into not long ago I learned an interesting fact: while the newbie pool player chalks the cue tip very often, the intermediate player remembers to use that white substance only once in 3-4 shots. And if you thought that the average of chalking decreases with level, think again: apparently, the pros chalk after each and every shot.

I believe the lesson here is pretty obvious - if you want to play like the pros, chalk constantly. However, if you want to maintain you stick properly, do not forget to clean it from the remains of the chalk when you're done shooting them balls.

Wii's New Pool Game

New pool platform was recently released by the Wii. Pool Party offers about a dozen pool games including the popular 8-ball and 9-ball as well as straight pool, snooker and some single player pool games in which the player's goal is to clear the billiards balls off the table in less time as possible.

I haven't tried it, but the online edition of the Village Voice slaughtered it...
I'd be more than happy to hear more opinions and experiences. Please, do comment for a change.

New World Record Billiards Break!

The world's record billiards break was broken! It happened two days ago, on the first day of the New Zealand Open Billiards Championships by Peter Gilchrist, a 39 years old English billiards pro and the Singapore Snooker & Billiards Association Coach.

The new world record billiard break is 1346; 100 points more than the former world record, which was set by the Indian billiards master Geet Sethi about 15 years ago.

The new world record is also a new record for Gilchrist, whose former highest break was 917.

Creative uses of Billiards Equipment - Don't try at home!

Recently I wrote a post on billiards balls following a news story on an ex-cup who smashed an office window using a billiard ball. Now I read about a gang who attacked another gang using pool cues and socks stuffed with billiards balls. What's wrong with you people!

Not that I support and/or encourage violence of any kind, however, this story inspired me again to write a post on the history of the cue stick.

Billiards games used to be played with a wooden mace, instead of the contemporary cue stick, until the beginning of the 17th century. First, the handle of the mace was used to remove the balls from the edges of the table. Later on, only the handle (queue in French) was used in billiards games.

Only two hundreds years later the leather cue tip was invented. The invention is credited to the French man Captain Mingaud. Thanks to Mingaud's invention, the cue ball control improved significantly.

Did you know?

• Women were not allowed to use cue sticks on the 17th century. They weren't to be trusted near the billiards table felt...
• Captain Mingaud had a billiard table in his prison cell.