Uses for Pool Table Balls

Pool balls, also known as billiards balls, are smooth, uniform in size and quite heavy for their size. There are many different forms of billiards games that can be played using either a red-and-white billiards set or a numbered set of billiards balls. However, playing with these balls on your pool table is not the full extent of what can be done with them.

Billiards

The most obvious use for pool balls is in billiards. While most billiards games are played on standard pool tables, some specialty tables, such as an octagonal bumper pool table, can be used for playing specific types of billiards.

Magic Tricks

Pool balls are a staple of many magicians' acts because many magic tricks originated as parlor tricks--thus the prevalence of card tricks and ball disappearing tricks, as cards and pool balls were likely to be around at a bar. Pool balls are popular for disappearance or relocation tricks, with magicians using slight of hand tricks like palming to complete the illusion.

Juggling

Pool balls make for great juggling balls, as they are consistent in weight from ball-to-ball, making it easier to keep control of the balls. Juggling with pool balls can lead to nicks and scuffs on the balls, and as such it is best performed with an old set of balls that no longer is being used for billiards. The balls are also quite heavy and best left for jugglers who have mastered the basics of the craft.

Trophies

Including an actual pool ball in a trophy is a great way to reward the winner of a billiards tournament or league. Pool ball trophies can range from a simple design, with a single ball resting inside a cupped mount, to a complex design with multiple balls arranged--such as in the shape of a racked set of balls. Other billiards equipment can also be combined with the balls, such as the ends of a pool cue, or a wooden ball rack, allowing for a great deal of creativity in the design process.

Carpet Bowling

Carpet bowling is a variation on lawn bowling, or bocce, which should only be played in carpeted rooms that have a lot of open space to prevent the balls from accidentally striking and damaging any furniture or walls. Pool balls are great for this game as they closely replicate the weight of bocce balls but are much easier to find. Two players (or two teams) face off, with one playing four solid balls and the other playing four striped balls. One player rolls the cue ball, then each player alternates rolling one ball toward the cue. After all balls are played, the player closest to the cue ball scores a point for each ball closer to the cue than their opponent's nearest ball. Players should only roll balls, never throw them, to avoid damage to the floor.