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Bottle pool (also known as bottle billiards) is a cue sports game. It combines aspects of both carom billiards and cue sports. Played on a standard pool table, the game utilizes three billiard ball and a narrow-necked bottle called a . The bottle is traditionally made from leather, and is placed on the table and used as a target for . Those unfamiliar with the game sometimes mistakenly use its name as a synonym for the very different game of kelly pool.New York Times Company (January 11, 1894). Bottle-Billiards Tournament. Retrieved March 1, 2007.Ozone Billiards, Inc. (2001-2006). Advertisement for "tally bottles", confusing bottle pool with kelly pool. Retrieved March 1, 2007.The Michigan Daily (2007). Pool hall gives students a chance to play with history by Cortney Dueweke. Retrieved March 1, 2007.
Although bottle pool's origins remain obscure, tournament records and newspaper articles confirm that the game has been played since at least the late 19th century. A mention appears in an 1894 article in The New York Times announcing a 64-player tournament to be played at a certain Hanover Clubhouse in Brooklyn, New York. The game was more well known in the early-to-mid-20th century, during which references to it appear in numerous books and publications including Sinclair Lewis's Main Street. It is also known to have been played by some notable individuals, such as quantum chemist and biochemist Linus Pauling.Google (2007). Google book search for "Bottle pool.". Shows numerous mentions of bottle pool during the early to mid-1900s, but few mentions later in the century. Retrieved March 1, 2007.Oregon State University (2007). Special Collections: Linus Pauling The Nature of the Chemical Bond, A documentary History. Retrieved March 1, 2007.
Over time bottle pool developed an elitist image, its active play more commonly the province of gentlemen's clubs and select groups than patrons of billiard parlors. For instance, bottle pool is known to have had a dedicated following with faculty at the University of Michigan from 1911 until approximately 1999, and is the billiard game of choice at exclusive New York City enclaves such as the Racquet and Tennis Club and the Union Club.New York Times Company (February 11, 2007). Inside the Union Club, Jaws Drop by Christopher Gray. Retrieved March 1, 2007.The Regents of the University of Michigan (February 22, 1999). Article in The University Record: Calling all bottle pool players by Joanne Nesbit. Retrieved March 1, 2007.Billiards Room (2006). Michigan Union Billiards & Game Room: Fun Facts. Retrieved March 1, 2007.
Despite being one of a short group of non-championship games still detailed in the Official Rules and Records Book of the Billiard Congress of America, as of 2006, bottle pool was known only to be the billiard sport of general choice at a few New York City social clubs such as the two mentioned previously. A veteran member of both those clubs opined in 2006 that there were then fewer than 1,000 dedicated bottle pool players nationwide.
Bottle pool has been described as combining "elements of billiards, straight pool and chess under a set of rules that lavishly rewards strategic shot making and punishes mistakes with Sisyphean point reversals."New York Times Company (August 21, 2006). Billiards With a Bottle. And This Game Is Dying? by Harry Hurt III. Retrieved March 1, 2007.
The player breaking starts with from the (behind the ) and must contact either of the two object balls in order to complete a legal break. The object of the game is to score exactly 31 points before any opponents, with a draconian penalty for overshooting that benchmark.
All of the above scoring possibilities can be combined, meaning the maximum number of points available on a single stroke is nine, accomplished by caroming into and pocketing both object balls combined with knocking over the bottle with the cue ball.
The winning shot in the game (other than one which rights the shake bottle) must bring a player's score to exactly 31. If a player overshoots that benchmark, known as a "burst" in the game's terminology, the number of points 31 is overshot by becomes the player's new score. This means, for example, that if a player has 30 points and then scores 5 points (instead of the requisite 1 point) by caroming the cue ball off an object ball and into the bottle knocking it on its side, the player's score resets to 4 points.
When a player reaches exactly 31 points, he must announce this feat to all participants before the next player shoots a shot in order to be victorious. If this is not done, the player may not again invoke his winning score until his turn comes up again in rotation. If another player in the interim successfully scores exactly 31, and properly announces it, that player wins the game.
In addition to standard fouls defined in the General Rules for Pocket Billiards, such as scratches, , and others, the following are specifically defined fouls peculiar to bottle pool:
As in the games of snooker, English billiards, cowboy pool and others, pocketed balls are immediately respotted to their starting position. Where the second object ball, the cue ball or the bottle makes the ball there impossible, it is spotted to the center spot. If the center spot is occupied, the ball is spotted to the head spot. Where both object balls have been on a shot, they are spotted with the same dictates for just one ball, first spotting the 1 ball, followed by the 2 ball. Thus, if the starting positions for the two object balls are each occupied, respectively by the cue ball and shake bottle, the 1 ball would be placed on the center spot and the 2 ball on the head spot.
The rules promulgated by the Manhattan Athletic Club in the 1890s diverge in a number of ways from the modern rules published by the BCA (though they do use the numbered 1 and 2 balls, rather than carom billiards balls). Those provide that when a player bursts, his score is set to zero rather than to the number of points 31 is overshot; pocketed object balls are replaced on the "red-ball spot" (the foot spot), or if occupied, frozen to the foot rail in the original position of the 1 ball and if occupied, of the 2 ball; and no foul rules whatever are preferred.
One further variation places a 6-sided die (although other sided die could also be used) on top of the bottle. If the bottle is knocked over and the die knocked onto the table, the player is awarded points equal to whatever side of the die lies facing upward when the die comes to a stop. This adds a random effect to hitting the bottle and in practice often results in players only striking the bottle in combination with other point-scoring shots.
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