By billiards I mean 3-cushion billiards. Think of a pool table with only cushions and no pockets! There are three balls on the table and each of the two players has his/her own cue ball. The object is to stroke your cue ball and have it hit the other two balls in such a way that your cue ball bounces off cushions three times before it hits the second ball!

This is a wonderfully geometric game and there are several mathematical schemes that help you compute the trajectory of your cue ball.

I had the pleasure of playing billiards for a few years at the Louisiana State University Faculty Club when I was a young professor there in the 1960's. A retired professor by the name of Giles Gray was the main teacher who helped Bob Dorroh and I learn the game.

It is hard to find a "billiard" table theses day, you know, one with no pockets. If you know of one in the Corvallis, Oregon area please let me know at schori@math.orst.edu.

While in Denver during July of 2000 I attended a Billiard competition and had the pleasure of seeing some of the top billiard players in the world. For example Carlos Hallon is 2nd in the world and Manual Rosales is the Mexican champion.