Billiards vs Snooker vs Pool: What's the Difference?

The quick answer

All three are cue sports played on a cloth-covered table, but they differ in table size, the number and type of balls, the pockets, and how you score. Snooker uses the largest table and the most balls; pool uses smaller tables and fewer balls; and "billiards" most often refers to games played with just three balls — sometimes on a snooker table (English billiards), sometimes on a pocketless table (carom billiards).

Snooker

Snooker is played on a large 12ft × 6ft table with 22 balls — 15 reds, six colours (yellow, green, brown, blue, pink, black) and a cue ball — and relatively small, rounded pockets. Players score by potting reds and colours in sequence, building breaks. Games are longer and more tactical, and the larger table with tighter pockets makes it the most demanding of the three. Snooker is hugely popular across the UK, India and much of Asia.

Pool

Pool (properly "pocket billiards") is played on smaller tables (typically 7–9ft) with larger pockets and far fewer balls. The common formats are 8-ball (15 object balls plus the cue ball) and 9-ball (nine numbered balls plus the cue ball). Games are quicker and more casual, which is why pool dominates bars, lounges and gaming cafés, especially in the US. Its faster pace makes it the most social of the three.

Billiards

"Billiards" is the trickiest term because it means different things. English billiards is played on a snooker table with just three balls (two cue balls and a red), scoring through cannons, pots and in-offs. Carom billiards is played on a pocketless table with three balls, scoring purely by caroms (hitting both other balls in one stroke). In casual Indian usage, "billiards" is sometimes used loosely for the whole category, which is where the confusion starts.

At a glance

• Table size: snooker (12ft, largest) > billiards (12ft / pocketless) > pool (7–9ft, smallest)
• Balls: snooker 22 · pool 9–16 depending on format · billiards 3
• Pockets: snooker (small, tight) · pool (larger) · carom billiards (none)
• Pace: pool fastest/most social · snooker longest/most tactical · billiards precise/technical
• Popularity: snooker strong in India/UK/Asia · pool strong in the US and in lounges/cafés

What it means for your club

Many Indian venues run a mix — snooker tables for serious players, pool for casual and group play, sometimes billiards too. The good news for operators is that the management needs are the same across all three: time the table, bill accurately, take UPI, run a canteen, and keep members coming back.

That's exactly what CueFlow is built for — it handles snooker, billiards and pool tables the same way, so a mixed venue runs every table type from one system. If you're weighing what to install, the choice is about your audience (serious vs casual, space, budget), not about whether your software can cope.

Frequently asked questions