Bar Billiards
Please Respect Our Bar Billiards Table
The table antique and a valued part of our pub.
Children under 16 must be supervised by an adult.
Please use the equipment responsibly so everyone can enjoy it.
Bar Billiards, also known as Russian Billiards is widely played across the South of England and in the Channel Islands. Being a traditional pub game without any national governing body, variations of equipment and rules abound. Where there is doubt, locally played rules should always apply.
A Bar Billiards table is similar to a small Billiards table and comes with seven white balls and one red ball. Instead of pockets, holes are sunk into the table; 5 in a row across the far end of the table and four set in a diamond pattern in the rear half of the table. The nearest hole to the front, worth 200 points, has a black skittle in front of it which must not be toppled. Next up are two holes near the sides of the table that are each worth 50 points. Then there is a hole worth 100 points in the middle of the table. Red skittles sit in front of these pockets. The holes across the end of the table score 30, 20, 10, 20 and 30 respectively. Finally, there is a spot in front of the 200 hole for the red ball and a baulk line across the width of the table near the front with a small D extending forwards from it.
The Start
A flip of a coin decides who starts. The game starts with the red ball on it's spot. The player to start takes a white ball from the trough at the front of the table and places it in the D for the first strike. The game is normally played by 2 people but can also be played by 3 or 4 players.
Basic Play
Each turn consists of a number of strikes and comes to an end when a player makes a non-scoring strike or a foul stroke.
A strike is taken by the player taking a white or red ball from a trough at the front of the table, putting it within the D at the front of the table and then hitting it with the cue. Normally, players will pick the red ball if it's available because this gives double points. The aim is to strike another ball on the table in such a way that at least one ball ends up rolling into a hole. If this is achieved, the player continues his break with the next ball.
Any white ball that falls into a hole scores the number of points indicated by that hole. If the red ball falls into a hole, it scores double the points indicated by that hole.
A foul is committed by:
• knocking over a skittle
• causing a ball to return back behind the baulk line
• failing to hit any other ball with the cue ball
• causing a ball to leave the table.
In all of these cases, the player's turn finishes and any points scored in that turn are lost. Additionally, if the black skittle has been knocked over, the player's entire score for the game is reset to zero.
• If there are no balls available from the trough with which to take a strike, the ball nearest to the baulk line is retrieved instead.
• If a skittle is moved but not knocked over, the skittle should be returned to its spot before the next strike.
• If a skittle is knocked over and a ball prevents it being replaced, the ball should be returned to baulk.
At the end of a players turn, any balls on the table surface remain where they are and the next player begins his turn by retrieving a ball from the trough, placing it in the D and striking it up the table.
Finishing
Normally, the games are coin-operated and each coin gives a game of a certain length of time between 15.5 and 19 minutes. After that time, the baffle-bar drops inside the table which prevents potted balls from returning to the trough at the front of the table. Once that happens, play continues as described above but the number of balls in play gradually decreases. Sometimes, the last 2 or 3 balls are all potted in one strike in which case the game ends at that point but, more usually, the time comes when there is only one ball left. Our table is on free play so play until your hearts content, set a points or time limit on your game to find a winner.