Stamps with the theme Billiards

Billiards and its variant games are very popular worldwide. There are two main varieties of billiard games - carom and pocket. The main carom billiards games are known as ‘straight rail’, ‘balkline’ and ‘three cushion’ billiards. All are played on a pocketless table with three balls - two cue balls and one object ball. Players use a stick known as a cue. A cue is usually either a one piece tapered stick or a two piece stick divided in the middle by a joint of metal or phenolic resin. High quality cues are generally two pieces and are made of a hardwood, usually maple for billiards and ash for snooker. To score points in a game players strike with the cue the cue ball, aiming to make contact with the opponent's cue ball as well as the object ball.