Was pool/billiards originally invented for gambling?
Oh! How anal am I! Following centuries of Billiards dominated by England and France, during the 19th century a third country became obsessed with the sport of cues and balls. Billiard tables had been appearing in all the colonies from the 1600s but Americans were particularly keen. As with other aspects of American life, Billiards culture became a mish-mash of the cultures of the immigrant populations. Americans played early Port and King Billiards, held English Billiards competitions, indulged in Pin Billiards from Italy and, in contrast to Britain and its empire, imported Carambole tables without pockets from France. American Fifteen-Ball Pool or “Sixty-one Pool” is the predecessor of all modern ‘Pocket Billiards’ games. It was played with 15 object balls as in the English game Pyramid, but crucially, the balls are numbered 1 through 15. For sinking a ball, the player received a number of points equal to the value of the ball. The sum of the ball values in a rack is 120, so the first
