By Samuel M. Ngari and Rosalinda Mukami.
Pool is a game that has gained popularity in many places worldwide, including Chuka University. Pool roams have been established in and around the school. Pool roam today is a place where the pool is played, but in the 19th century, the name was opined as a betting parlour for horse racing.
Where did pool games originate?
Wikipedia claims its originality to be uncertain, though it is thought to have originated in France and was played in the 18th century by rich people. The term “Billiard” is derived from the French language. However, other sources claim it was played sometime during the 15th century in Northern Europe by people from all classes not only by rich people. These claims are further solidified by William Shakespeare, who mentioned the pool game in his play “Antony and Cleopatra” in 1600.
What does the game involve?
Pool is usually played on a billiard table with six pockets and a rectangular top. The balls can be eight, seven, nine, or ten and a bank pool. Eight balls are the most frequent.
During the early stages of pooling, participants would put an equal amount of money into a pot and throw stones at a chicken. The person who successfully hit the chicken would win the pooled money. As the game evolved, people started using balls that were shoved rather than struck with wooden sticks called maces, and people shifted to using cues that were better and sharper.
The players use a ball that is different from the rest to pull all the balls together whoever pockets all the balls together of the other player(s) in a certain order is announced the winner of all the stakes submitted during the beginning of the contest.
In case you have wondered why the top of a pool/ billiard table is usually green, is mainly to stimulate a grass-like resemblance and also green is the standard colour.
Pooling growing popularity in Chuka University?
Samuel Magandi a first-year student pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture in Animal Science, describes the game as exciting and fun to play. Magandi mostly plays the game during the weekend and views the game as a men’s thing and is rarely played by women. He benefits by spending his leisure time playing pool and making friends around the pool table. He also states that there is a school pool team, which by the time of this interview had gone to a tournament outside the school.
Benson Kariuki a first-year student pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Education Science, describes the game as educating. Kariuki who has been playing the game since 2017, admits to being hooked to the game. He has learnt new shots, although admits the game can be addictive since one can get lost and forget to track the time missing classes once in a while. He admits using the game as an escaping mechanism and even skipping meals. He uses around 500 shillings per week on the game and this is quite expensive, urging his comrades to play responsibly. Kariuki was camera shy dear reader.
Weldon Cheruiyot an entrepreneur and supervisor at Campus Arena a pool business and a football-watching hub, near the varsity talks to us. Cheruiyot claims that the demand by many people opted them to open a pool business, where they host tournaments. He also agrees with Kariuki that the game can be addictive if one is not cautious. On a bad day, Cheruiyot claims to be making around 1500 shillings. The few challenges Cheruiyot has faced are few pool players or lack of players during the long holidays.
Is the game considered an Olympian sport?
Pool is not considered an Olympic sport, although it is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Pool is present in the World Games run by the World Games Association.
In Kenya a federation was formed in 2022, called the Kenya Pool and Billiards Federation Team, which has hence participated in various games for instance the prestigious All Africa Pool Games.
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