djm wrote: ↑Fri Mar 05, 2021 10:30 am
I have never played billiards (not even sure of the rules), but there is a big billiard Hall in Clovis (Fresno Ca) near where I usually stay and am tempted to have a go next time I am there.
Billiards is more a family of related rules than a specific game, and a bunch of games called billiards developed in different areas or even individual gentleman's clubs and among different social groups of people - like card games still are to a large extent. Snooker was considered a form of billiards originally before its dominance in the UK. (In Spain "billar" which literally means billiards is still the general name for pool or snooker.) Carom billiards (or French billiards), English billiards and Russian billiards (or Russian Pyramid) are most common general types, but within those you have a vast range of different variants and rules such as different numbers of balls and cushions. They mostly come from the 18th century before the rules got standardised into set games like snooker and pool, although in France for example until after WW2 when pool became popular after it was introduced by US soldiers carom billiards was the dominant form these kinds of games.
Almost all of these games though have rules that tend to reward clever trick shots and skilful cushion bouncing much more than modern games.
As for dog racing... I went a few times to the one in Sittingbourne. There even have a special limo for classy chavtastic parties:
My boss in the job I had in Sittingbourne was half Irish, half Chinese Singaporean (as he pointed out the only thing these two cultures had in common was a love of gambling) and took us a few times after work for a lark. The was a time when another Irish guy was there, and the look on his face when a guy who looked somewhat Chinese started speaking with an Irish accent was priceless.
Also I realise I am going off topic here are my bookshelves: