A considerable portion of my time as Secretary is devoted to dealing with the numerous queries concerning the correct interpretation of the Rules, which reach me almost daily from every part of the country, and which it gives me the greatest pleasure to answer as fully and explicitly as possible.
The difficulty that many players experience in carrying the simple rules laid down for their guidance to their practical application in any given set of circumstances, would astonish anyone who is not accustomed to it, but, after some twelve years' experience in this connection, I have ceased to be astonished at anything.
Honestly considering that we now have the simplest and clearest code of Rules for Billiards that it is within the skill of man to devise, I was considerably chagrined when a correspondent recently wrote that"in attempting simplicity"' we had"achieved complexity."I still do not believe that this assertion has the slightest foundation in fact, neatly as it is put, but it is slightly disturbing to one's equanimity that anyone should be found to voice such an opinion.
One of the most common misapprehensions of the Rules of Billiards is the failure to realize that after any foul, the opponent has the option of playing from where the balls are left, or of having them spotted. Several inquiries have reached me as to whether this obtains in the case of a player forcing his own ball off the table, but, as this is a foul stroke, and the Rule mentions no exceptions, the answer should be obvious. A Snooker Misconception.
Another very frequent misunderstanding is the impression that under the revised Rules of Snooker, a minimum penalty of four points is exacted for any foul, yet there is nothing in the Rules in support of any such contention. For certain specified fouls a minimum penalty of four points is certainly exacted, but, in other cases, where no minimum is mentioned, it is clear that a lesser penalty may apply. Thus, for a losing hazard off the red (providing no other foul has been made) the penalty is one point only. Taking Up an Intervening Ball at Pool.
Again, a certain amount of misunderstanding exists as to the correct interpretation of Rule 12 of the revised Rules of Pool. This states that"The striker is, in all cases, entitled to a stroke clear of a ball which is not on, directly in a straight line to any point of the ball he is on. The Referee shall take up any ball that interferes with such stroke...."
It is often argued that unless a ball is nearer to the cue-ball than the latter is to the object ball it cannot be taken up. No support for this argument can, however, be found in the Rules, and it is possible for a ball to be slightly farther from the cue ball than is the object ball, and yet be in such a position as to interfere with a stroke directly in a straight line to some point of the latter, in which case the striker is fully entitled to have it taken up.