Although much has been written about the early days of billiards and snooker, there is little firm evidence of actually how billiards started as an indoor game and the way in which the earliest games were played.
Some researchers have suggested that the very earliest billiards games were indoor versions of outdoor games such as croquet or bowls; however a recently discovered article in a Victorian magazine does not claim any evolutionary link from lawn games to table games. There is documentary proof of a billiard table existing in 1470 having been purchased by Louis XI of France, but even a hundred years later, there is little evidence suggesting that billiards was becoming a popular pastime, although Mary Queen of Scots is supposed to have enjoyed a game. Not only were the French, it seems some years ahead of the English in playing billiards, they were also the first to publish instructions and rules.
Two distinct forms of billiards existed before the modern three ball version. The earlier of these involved a hoop (called a 'port') at one end of the table and a skittle ('king') at the other. Each player had his own cue-ball and points were scored by 'passing' through the port, by touching the king without toppling it, or by hazarding (potting) his opponent's ball. Games were of only a few points duration, the reason being no doubt, that a lot of the play was based on preventing the opponent from 'passing.' One or two aspects of this ancient game seem to have survived to the present day.
One similarity was the method of deciding who should have first turn. Each player would attempt to put his ball as near as possible to the king, the nearer having the choice. This is similar to 'stringing' in the modern game, where players aim for the bottom cushion. Also, if a player was threatening to, 'pass,' his adversary could turn the tables and, 'pot,' the enemy white through the port - rather like potting the opponent's white (and probably about as popular) in today's game. It is evident that our Victorian correspondent (who is identified only as 'H.B') took a lot of his facts from, "he Complete Gamester, "y Charles Cotton, first published in 1674. H.B. however omitted to mention the fact that tables at that time had the full compliment of six pockets, just as present day tables. It would appear that these pockets served only one purpose - as a means of despatching the opponent's ball. In its early days therefore, billiards was entirely a winning hazard (potting) game, losing hazards (in-offs) and cannons not existing. It would be interesting to speculate how this form of the game might have developed with the addition of a third ball.