SNOOKER DISPUTE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17781, 26 February 1926, Page 11

SNOOKER DISPUTE.

NECESSITY FOR UNIVERSAL RULES. A letter received by me this week (says Jack Oke in the Melbourne “Herald,”) regarding an argument which cropped up during a game of snooker recently at the Commercial Club, South Melbourne, shows that it is about time that representatives of the billiard - saloons and clubs got together, and adopted a set of snooker rules which could be universally used. Lindrum’s saloon is the only one I know of which plays under the correct rues, and all snooker, especially snooker pool there, must be played under the latest rules. This is as it should be, and every saloon and club should be the same. The argument which cropped up at the Commercial Club does not need a set of rules to decide it, but indirectly the rules of the game will have to be referred to. Two members were playing a set of snooker for a side-wager, and two onlooking* members also made a wager on the ultimate result of the game. The game was so closely contested that during the game the two players decide to extend, and they agree to combine another half set of snooker to the one already being played —the aggregate score of the game and a half to decide the wager. The black being potted finishes the first game, and the remaining half-set to be played is placed on the table. Naturally the onlooker who backed the winner of the first game wishes to claim the bet, and contends that this bet was to be decided on the result of the first game, and cannot have anything to do with the extension. Opposite views are held by the other, and he wants the wager decided by the result of the other half game. To make matters more complicated, the player who was behind at the end of the first game won the second and also had the largest aggregate. Which onlooker wins the bet ?

Mr Chas. Baker, who was an aspirant for the amateur championship last year, is generally called upon to

settje any arguments regarding billiards or snooker in the - club, and an appeal was made to him for a decision. He has sent me his decision, and it is correct.

The rules of snooker do not say anything about extending a game, and after the black ball has been potted in its proper order, the game is finished if one player is in the lead. In the case of a tie, the black is re-spotted, and lots drawn as to who plays first from baulk. The first score off the black then ends the game. This decision was not accepted unanimously, because a snooker tournament recently held by the club was decided by two games. However, this was a different matter altogether. Both players know that they are playing two games before they commence, and the one having the highest aggregate at the end of the second game will win. A tie in the first game is not played out, the second game beginning even if both players have scred the same number of points. If the aggregate scores are equal at the finish of the second game, then the black is respotted for the pla^fj£L