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Pool, also known as pocket billiards, is the general term for a family of cue sports played on a...

Pool, also known as pocket billiards, is the general term for a family of cue sports played on a pool table with six receptacles called pockets along the rails, into which balls are deposited as the main goal of play. Outside the cue sports industry, the sport is almost exclusively referred to as "pool", due to a perhaps unfortunate association with the "poolrooms" where gamblers "pooled" their money to bet remotely ("off-track") on horse races. Because these venues often provided billiard tables, the term "pool" became synonymous with billiards. Though the original "pool" game was played on a pocketless carom billiards table, the name stuck to pocket billiards as it gained in popularity. Though the traditional view of billiards as a refined and noble pastime did not blend well with the low-class connotations of gambling, the billiards industry's attempts to distance itself from the term "pool" beginning in the late 19th century were largely unsuccessful. There are hundreds of pool games. Some of the more well known include eight-ball, nine-ball, straight pool, and one-pocket. The game of snooker is played on a table with pockets but is considered to be its own cue sport and is