All Pool Games

Enjoy the challenges of winning a pool game without entering a hall!

For some people, pool represents an opportunity to relax and socialize with others seeking the same types of distractions. They might also play the game a little more seriously and earn a bit of cash from a friendly wager. The most avid pool lovers see a challenging game of skill that helps them show off their mental abilities. After all, a player can only win at pool if they can imagine skillfully the appropriate angles to strike each ball on the table. Professional pool playing is also a sport that some people pursue as a career. Online pool games provide some of the same opportunities as live pool games.

Read on to learn more...

Pool is one of many games known as "cue sports" that features some sort of stick ("cue") or mallet used to strike balls on a table or field, respectively. Historians and other experts consider a form of the outdoor lawn sport croquet played in the 1340s as one of the earliest forms of billiards, which is one of several cue sports credited as the foundation of modern American pool. In that sport, players hit colorful balls with wooden mallets through hoops called wickets across flat, low-grass lawns.

Over time, different varieties of cue sports popped up and transitioned away from outdoor lawn gameplay to indoor table play. Modern American pool or pocket billiards combines elements from several of these games, including English billiards, carom billiards and pyramid pool. They're the underlying reason why modern pool tables have a distinctive appearance and design.

Modern pool is traditionally played on an indoor rectangular table of 7-, 8-, 9- or 10-feet in length that features six holes known as pockets (i.e. four at the corners and one on each long side), wooden top rails and a green, napless, woollen tabletop cover known as baize. One or more players utilize cue sticks to strike one white ball known as the cue ball and a mix of 15 striped and solid balls of different colors.

Game Play

Online Pool games, simulation and competitive versions, provide similar experiences to not only modern American pool but also other billiards-style games:

Basic gameplay requires placement of the balls in a rack shaped like a triangle to start. One or more players agree on a version of pool to play. For example, a player might decide with a singleplayer challenge to only sink striped balls into the pockets. In multiplayer pool, the players might agree to 8-ball pool in which that they each select stripes or solids and then whoever sinks their balls into the pockets first while taking turns wins. With another popular version, straight pool, each player tries to rack up points by trying to sink as many of the total number of balls as possible. To sink the balls without missing or sinking the cue ball, or "scratching," a player must align the cue ball with a specific ball they want to strike, while taking into account angles, mathematics and physics, and then hit the cue ball with the tip of the pool stick.

Online games often simulate real-world pool. Players can even hone their skills without using a real-world table before hitting an amateur or professional tournament circuit. Of course, online pool offers more than standard play. Many games make it possible for users to play in themed settings and feature non-pool-related tasks, achievements and awards, such as rolling balls through collectible stars or coins. A few games even return pool to an outdoor setting and simulate a grass lawn or other spot with balls and no pool sticks whatsoever. These games feel more like mini golf than pool and sometimes feature odd-shaped surfaces and rails designed to increase difficulty. Additionally, the player taps and drags the cue ball to align it and then releases it to strike other balls. That said, all games usually provide some sort of guide or targeting arrow to help the player correctly align the shot.

Grab a virtual cue or cursor and show off those skills!

We regularly update our curated list of pool games. Check out the most recent popular titles, including 8 Ball Billiards Classic, 8 Ball Pool, 8 Ball Pool Challenge, Billiard Blitz Challenge, Pool Rush, Shaun Pool and Speed Billiards.

Pick a challenge and clear the table with one of our Pool games today!