Definition of Local bylaws

Alternate name for the cue ball.
In carom billiards games, a term for the opponent's cue ball, which for the shooting player is another object ball along with the red.

This is when it is necessary to change a set handicap after play indicates it favors one player more than the other.

Either to hit the balls hard with no intention in mind other than to get lucky (or 'hit-and-hope'), or to shoot hard at the money ball ball with the same intention. Compare slop and fluke.

Also striped ones, striped balls. The ball suit (group) of a fifteen ball set that are numbered 9 through 15 and have a wide colored bar around the middle. Compare bigs, highs, yellows, overs; contrast solids.

Ten Ball is a rotation is a rotation game very similar to nine-ball, using ten balls instead of nine, and with the 10 ball instead of the 9 as the "money ball".
The object of the game is pocket the 10-ball on any legal shot.

To fail to make a legal shot.

The triangular device, generally plastic, used to group the balls in a pyramid form prior to the beginning of a game.

A point bead on a scoring string.

Powdered chalk housed in a cube. This chalk is rubbed into the tip of your cue to help with grip between the tip of the cue and the cue ball. This is more important to use if you are using a medium or hard tip, as opposed to a soft tip, which already provides some good grip. As a warning when purchasing a type of chalk, there is much debate over which chalk offers the best friction, so you best do your research!

Chiefly British: The cushion on the top rail. Compare foot cushion; contrast bottom cushion.

This is a series of angled rails present within some pool tables that directs pocketed balls to a central location on the table for retrieval after the game.

Competition between an individual player and an individual opponent, as opposed to team play such as scotch doubles and other multi-player variants.
A team play format in which an individual player from the home team plays a race against an individual player from the visiting team, and then is finished for that match. Several large leagues use this format, including APA/CPA and USAPL.

This is the International Billiards and Snooker Federation. This organization governs non-professional snooker and billiards play all over the world.

Modification of the rules and/or scoring of a game to enable players of variable abilities to compete on a more even playing field. Examples of handicapping include spotting balls and giving games on the wire to an opponent. In league play, other forms of handicapping include awarding compensating points to a lesser-skilled team, or using numerical player ranking systems to adjust final scores between opponents of different skill levels.

This is a simple method of gambling where bets are determined between each game instead of playing matches.

An instance of contact between balls, usually used in the context of describing an object ball contacting another object ball (e.g. "the two ball kissed off the twelve ball"), or in snooker the cue ball making contact with a ball after the initial contact with the object ball. If the player's intention was to cause two object balls to kiss (e.g. to pocket a shot ball after a ricochet off a stationary one), it is often called a kiss shot.

A joint type in which the butt and shaft screw together in a tight lock, resulting in a better shot with more hitting power.

A player who was not shooting well during a match but suddenly turns it around and starts playing better and more accurately. e.g. "He was misisng everything for the first part of the match, then found a stroke to come back and win."

Also split shot. In pool, a type of shot in which two object balls are initially contacted by the cue ball simultaneously or so close to simultaneously as for the difference to be indistinguishable to the eye. In most sets of rules it is a foul if the split is one in which one of the object balls is a (or the only) legal target (ball-on) and the other is not; however, such a split is commonly considered a legal shot in informal bar pool in many areas if it is called as a split and does appear to strike the balls simultaneously).

A type of spin imparted to the cue ball to make it rebound from a cushion at a shallower angle than it would if the spin had not been used.

When the object ball lies behind another ball which makes it impossible to be struck by the cue with a direct hit.

Also known as slop. To pocket a ball by luck; "he ratted in the 9 ball"; usually employed disapprovingly.

The material which covers the bed and cushions of a pool table. The cloth used to cover a pool table is very special and can come in a variety of grades. Along with the general quality of the table itself, the cloth play a very important role in how a particular table plays.

This shot is a minimally calculated distressed shot which makes it evident to the opponent you no longer have any hope to winning the game.