Blah Billiards

So yesterday we were doing the Perth pop-in to everyone we know and stumbled upon an old bar, pool table style........... thing(!) in Annes back shed. After a few Googles and confused looks on our faces, we discovered that its an old Bar Billiards table.

Apart from the resemblance to Pool, Bar Billiards is vastly different. It is played with short cues from 1 of the narrow ends of the table, not all around. The aim is to sink as many white/red balls as possible into a series of holes in the slate surface itself. Each hole has a set score which is tallied on the table backboard and the ideal shot is one that goes 'in-off' sinking both the ball struck with the cue AND the 2nd ball involved. Sitting on the table are 3 obstacles called 'Dollies' which, if struck, end your turn and either erase your score from that turn or 1 case your entire score!

The game is controlled by a 10 minute timer inside which holds the ball return gate open. Each player shoots, adding score when a ball (or 2) goes down. When sunk, the balls roll into the ball return over and over until the timer stops, causing the gate to close. Each player continues to shoot until they DON'T sink a ball or they hit a Dolly. Play alternates until the timer stops. As usual, highest score wins.

To me, that all sounded interesting enough to dig into what it would realistically take time/effort/money wise to get it working again, how rare it is and what it would be worth once restored (not that it would be for sale but its good to know). So far I've done some reading on wikipedia and a few other sites but the most un/interesting part so far was some youtube.com videos.

Bar Video - hear the timer?
70's Tournament Footage - 20secs -> 4min
Home Video with horrible overuse of camera effects

It appears like the reason these tables no longer exist is a reflection of the entertainment value they provide. If your still awake at the end of the game, you win! My realistic evaluation is therefore, yes, it would be an interesting project and not that costly but the result of a months work and a few hundred $$ is a game you might play once a year.

Having said that, if someone had the space to play it and was interested in getting it running, I think I would be too.... purely for the novelty of it. I'll be continuing my research over the next few weeks and will probably start crunching numbers so let me know if it jump-started any of your interested brain cells.
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