Pool, also more formally known as pocket billiards (mostly in North America) or pool billiards “Pool billiards” is sometimes hyphenated and/or spelled with a singular “billiard”. The WPA itself uses “pool-billiard” in its logo but “pool-billiards” in its legal notices. The organization compounds the words to result in an acronym of “WPA”, “WPBA” having already been taken by the Women’s Professional Billiards Association. Normal English grammar would not hyphenate here, and the term is actually a Germanism. (mostly in Europe and Australia), is the family of cue sports and games played on a pool table having six receptacles called pockets along the , into which balls are deposited as the main goal of play. Popular versions include eight-ball and nine-ball. An obsolete term for pool is six-pocket. A general rules booklet on pool games in general, including eight-ball, nine-ball and several others. There are hundreds of pool games. Some of the more well known include eight-ball, nine-ball, ten-ball, straight pool, one-pocket and bank pool. There are also hybrid games combining aspects of both pool and carom billiards, such as American four-ball billiards, cowboy pool and bottle pool.
