Bottle pool

The leather shake bottle used as a carom target in bottle pool.

Bottle pool (also known as bottle billiards) is a billiards game. It combines aspects of both carom and pocket billiards. Played on a standard pool table, the game utilizes three balls and a narrow-necked bottle called a shake or tally bottle. The bottle is traditionally made from leather, and is placed on the table and used as a target for caroms. Those unfamiliar with the game sometimes mistakenly use its name as a synonym for the very different game of kelly pool.[1][2][3][4][5]

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.[6] 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.[1] 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.[7][8][9]

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.[6] 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.[3][6][10][11][12]

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.[6][13]

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."[6]

  1. ^ a b New York Times Company (January 11, 1894). Bottle-Billiards Tournament. Retrieved March 1, 2007.
  2. ^ Hoyle, Edmond (1907). Hoyle's Games - Autograph Edition. New York: A. L. Burt Company. pp. 297–8.
  3. ^ a b Shamos, Michael Ian (1993). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards. New York, NY: Lyons & Burford. p. 30. ISBN 1-55821-219-1.
  4. ^ Ozone Billiards, Inc. (2001-2006). Advertisement for "tally bottles", confusing bottle pool with kelly pool. Retrieved March 1, 2007.
  5. ^ The Michigan Daily (2007). Pool hall gives students a chance to play with history by Cortney Dueweke. Retrieved March 1, 2007. Archived February 20, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ a b c d e New York Times Company (August 21, 2006). Billiards With a Bottle. And This Game Is Dying? by Harry Hurt III. Retrieved March 1, 2007.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ Sinclair Lewis (October 1920). Main Street: the story of Carol Kennicott. New York: Grosset & Dunlap. p. 349.
  9. ^ Oregon State University (2007). Special Collections: Linus Pauling The Nature of the Chemical Bond, A documentary History. Retrieved March 1, 2007.
  10. ^ New York Times Company (February 11, 2007). Inside the Union Club, Jaws Drop by Christopher Gray. Retrieved March 1, 2007.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ Billiards Room (2006). Michigan Union Billiards & Game Room: Fun Facts. Retrieved March 1, 2007. Archived January 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ BCA Rules Committee (November 1992). Billiards - The Official Rules and Record Book. Iowa City, Iowa: Billiard Congress of America. pp. 111–112. ISBN 1-878493-02-7.