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once gathered, which results in both balls being touched by the cue ball, but with all three balls barely moving, or that result in a position that can be duplicated over and over. The most important of these is the rail nurse which involves the progressive nudging of the object balls down a rail, keeping them close together and positioned at the end of each stroke in the same or near the same configuration such that the nurse can be replicated again and again. At the U.S. straight rail professional tournament held in 1879,
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A technique soon developed, known as "crotching", referring to the space near the corner of a table where the rails meet. By moving the two object balls into the crotch, a player could endlessly score off of them, all the while keeping them immobilized in that corner. Crotching was quickly banned in
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Skill in the professional game increased mostly through the refinement of gather shots and the development of a variety of "nurse" techniques. A gather shot is one in which brings the cue ball and object balls together, ideally near a rail. A nurse shot involves careful manipulation of object balls
90:
for the first player, a second cue ball for the second player (differentiated by a spot or by being yellow), and an object ball, usually red. The object of the game is to score points by striking the player's assigned cue ball with a
214:
in which straight rail is featured as one of five carom billiards disciplines at which players compete, the other four being 47.1 balkline, one-cushion billiards, 71.2 balkline, and three-cushion billiards.
161:
210:, a development of one-cushion that has become the most prominent professional carom billiards game. Additionally, Europe hosts professional competitions known as
119:
Straight rail, from which other carom games derive, is thought to date to the 18th century, although no exact time of origin is known. The derivation of the name
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Today, straight rail play is relatively uncommon in the U.S. but retains popularity in Europe, where it is often played as a practice game for both balkline and
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129:, wherein it is referred to as "the straight rail game." In 1855, the first public stakes straight rail match in the U.S. took place in
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is not clear, though may be a reference to the pocketless table. An early mention appears in the March 23, 1881, edition of
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Although
Schaefer was hailed as "the wizard", the repetitive nature of straight rail led to the development of
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and a
Monsieur Damon of Paris battled for seven hours, but the high run, set by Phelan, was just nine points.
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at the table. With the balls barely moving and repetitively hit, there was little for the fans to watch.
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where only a certain number of points can be scored before the balls must be driven away, and
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Carter Beats
Gallagher.; the Toledo Player Gains the Lead Early and Retains it till the End.
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1862, and players are required to move the ball out of the corner after three points.
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so it makes contact with both the opponent's cue ball and the object ball in the same
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Billiards — The
Billiard Congress of America Official Rules and Records Book
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that is the most basic form of the game. The game is played on a
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111:. Games are played to a predetermined number of points.
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Animation showing the "chuck nurse" with a description
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are standardized by international sanctioning bodies.
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Animation showing the "rail nurse" with a description
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321:Hoppe, Willie (1975). Thomas Emmett Crozier (ed.).
291:
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300:: Billiard Congress of America. pp. 85–6.
1040:International Billiards and Snooker Federation
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195:, where the cue ball must contact one of the
296:(50th anniversary commemorative ed.).
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248:The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards
82:, one, usually white, that serves as the
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1025:World Confederation of Billiards Sports
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873:Artistic Billiards World Championship
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878:UMB World Three-cushion Championship
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900:World Women's Snooker Championship
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16:Most basic form of carom billiards
14:
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932:WPA World Eight-ball Championship
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927:World Straight Pool Championship
905:WPA World Nine-ball Championship
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175:, where the table is divided by
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922:WPA World Ten-ball Championship
403:: F. G. Menke, Inc. p. 80.
374:. Hotho & Co., June, 1991.
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363:
360:. Retrieved December 30, 2006.
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314:
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149:scored 690 points in a single
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959:Cue sports at the World Games
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370:Shamos, Michael Ian (1991).
292:BCA Rules Committee (1998).
282:Retrieved December 27, 2006.
245:Shamos, Michael Ian (1993).
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987:European Pool Championships
395:Menke, Frank Grant (1939).
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895:Six-red World Championship
883:World Snooker Championship
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323:Thirty Years of Billiards
167:tobacco card, circa 1880s
31:located at the corner of
23:Historic print depicting
853:Comparison of cue sports
356:January 7, 2007, at the
255:: Lyons & Burford.
208:three-cushion billiards
1101:The rules of games in
397:Encyclopedia of Sports
329:: Dover Publications.
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1097:Cue sports portal
203:as part of the shot.
193:one-cushion billiards
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62:, is a discipline of
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767:Danish pin billiards
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56:three-ball billiards
133:. The contestants,
954:World Pool Masters
674:Artistic billiards
486:British eight-ball
278:(March 23, 1881).
276:The New York Times
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165:Jacob Schaefer Sr.
147:Jacob Schaefer Sr.
126:The New York Times
52:straight billiards
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43:, January 1, 1859.
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944:World Cup of Pool
749:English billiards
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50:, also called
25:Michael Phelan
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949:Mosconi Cup
866:tournaments
772:Bumper pool
740:Other games
648:One-cushion
548:Cowboy pool
533:Bottle pool
212:pentathlons
187:balk spaces
33:10th Street
1063:Cue sports
1056:Categories
823:Techniques
613:Three-ball
608:Speed pool
603:Seven-ball
588:One-pocket
578:Kelly pool
538:Bowlliards
479:Eight-ball
461:Cue sports
219:References
70:pocketless
992:U.S. Open
975:Euro Tour
937:champions
915:champions
888:champions
843:Cue stick
811:Resources
777:Bagatelle
730:Shoot Out
685:Goriziana
680:Four-ball
667:Five-pins
558:Cutthroat
523:Bank pool
495:Nine-ball
179:balklines
93:cue stick
74:unmarked
60:free game
58:, or the
41:Manhattan
1117:Category
818:Glossary
782:Boccette
655:Balkline
598:Rotation
573:Honolulu
553:Cribbage
528:Baseball
509:Ten-ball
354:Archived
327:New York
199:cushions
173:balkline
86:cue ball
37:Broadway
1103:italics
1068:Players
910:Women's
702:Snooker
694:Snooker
543:Chicago
115:History
1007:9-Ball
1002:8-Ball
980:events
792:Novuss
583:Killer
378:
333:
304:
259:
153:inning
99:stroke
862:Major
802:Slosh
762:Kaisa
471:games
183:into
107:carom
848:Rack
568:Golf
469:Pool
376:ISBN
372:Pool
331:ISBN
302:ISBN
257:ISBN
35:and
39:in
27:'s
1119::
399:.
325:.
251:.
227:^
54:,
453:e
446:t
439:v
426:.
420:.
384:.
339:.
310:.
265:.
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