Everyone has seen the star basketball player massaging the basketball before a game. Everyone has seen the batter in the on-deck circle swinging the bats over and over again. Because they need to get comfortable with the equipment of their game, the players are not doing this to attract the cameras or entertain the fans, and in the case of a billiard game, there isn’t any difference. You need to know the equipment if you are a self-proclaimed billiards expert or even if you’re a simply someone trying to take up this noble game of billiards for the first time.

About four and one half feet of the ground and somewhere around twice that long is the regular, regulation tournament size billiard table. Usually measuring around 50" by 100" this is the playing surface for the regulation billiards table. For those who like to practice their billiards techniques at home or at the local community center, these numbers are very important. Sometimes, you may rent (or buy) a table but it may not be regulation size, in some places that offer billiards tables for purchase or offer you to come in and rent time.

Knowing the dimensions of the pockets you are aiming for is also important in the game of billiards. The corner pocket have angles of about 142 degrees, give or take a couple, and the angle for the side pockets have about 103 degrees, give or take a couple. Billiards has much to do with geometry as any game in the world, just in case you thought these numbers may be completely meaningless.

When it comes to the cue, which should have a 14 mm wide tip, 15oz weight, and a length of 40" the use of regulation billiards equipment is in the hands of the user. The weight of a billiards ball should be around 5.5 to 6 ounces, and it’s diameter of about 2 ¼ inches. Slightly raised, between 20 and 40 inches, the playing surface of the billiards table should be flat and cushioned in a way to provide some English for the ball when it is hit just right.

It is vital to any player looking to achieve something to know the equipment, but still, billiards is a game like many others that can be also played by the casual observer and still is enjoyable. To surpass all others who play the game, a billiards player needs to have knowledge of how the game should be set up and how it should be played. Because they are trained with regulation equipment, they have all that information, and not because of the raw talent or god-given ability of the player.