Although much of the material is equally applicable to other cue sports, this website primarily focuses on what might be described as the smaller table version of the game, often referred to as English pool.

The game most commonly played on English pool tables is eight ball pool, which involves the use of two sets of seven different coloured balls (usually reds and yellows) and a black ball. The aim of the game is to be the first player to pot all of your set of balls followed by the black before your opponent does the same with their set of balls.

Snooker is played using a set of fifteen red balls each worth one point and yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black coloured balls worth between two and seven points each. The winner is the player with the most points at the end of the game, with breaks accumulated by potting alternate reds and colours and points conceded when certain fouls are committed.

American pool is played on a larger table than the English and Australasian version of the game, using slightly larger balls. Eight ball and nine ball are the most commonly played game with the aim of the former to be the first player to pot all of your set of balls followed by the black, whilst in the latter the balls are potted in order with the winner potting the nine ball first.

Bar billiards is a traditional English game played on a unique style of table with pockets in the middle of the table rather than around the edges. Balls are played just from one end of the table with the aim of scoring points by playing one ball off another to pot either or both, without knocking over the wooden skittles.

Carom is a version of billiards played on a table with no pockets using three different coloured balls. Each player has their own cue ball and scores points by playing off their opponent’s cue ball into the other ball or vice versa. A common version of the game is three cushion carom, in which the cue ball must make contact with three cushions between hitting the first and second balls.