Snooker: One of Many Party Games

Snooker, the popular expression for playing eight ball pool is just one of a group of party games that seems to be popular everywhere in the world. Who knows why certain party games really catch on while others fizzle out and die. One thing is for certain, that snooker has a long tradition that can be found around the world. From India to North America, people are having a great time playing snooker. Sometimes games are played for money and other times just for fun. But one thing is for sure, the game of snooker brings diverse people together.

The Basic Rules of Snooker

The object of the game in snooker, is to score more points than the opponent by sinking balls into the table pockets in order. As the snooker game starts, the balls are placed in the center of the table. The players take turns to hit a shot in a single strike. If they sink one of the red balls, they score a point. They then take a second shot. This time they try and sink a ball of another color. If they do, then they gain the value of the color. It is returned to its correct position on the table and they must start over. This process continues until they fail to sink the ball that they are aiming at, at which point their opponent comes back to the table to play the next shot. The snooker game continues in this manner until all the reds are gone and only the 6 colors are left on the table. Then the aim is to sink the balls in the order yellow, green, brown, blue, pink, black. When the final ball is sunk, the snooker player with the most points wins.

Playing Snooker in a Group

All you really need to play a game of snooker is obviously a good snooker table. After that, as long as you have a few cue sticks and a rack of balls, you can play. You can even turn your snooker games into party games. Just gather your closest friends and make some friendly wagers. Then see who has the skill and who has the perseverance to win the game. Since snooker is always more fun with groups, pair up by two and decide on a system of play.

Pairing for Party Games Snooker

When playing snooker as party games, try and make the teams as even as possible. That means that you should avoid pairing the best players together. No one likes it when a pair is just running the snooker table. If you are out there to make some money, then that's fine. But as far as party games go, try and keep it fun. Pair the best player with the worst and pair players of similar skill together. Then will make the games much more competitive.

Variations on Snooker

Of course, there are many ways to play classic snooker. Snooker was originally developed by British military officers in India but fairly soon took off in popularity around the world. Many different variations emerged as every culture put its own stamp on the game of snooker. Today, you can play any of these snooker games you want. You can always look up styles of play and rules on the Internet. The same hold true of many classic party games. So if you are in a bind and want to come up with some great party games, then a quick Internet search will give you what you want to have a great time.