An interesting fact relates both to the origins of this game and the limitations of television in the past.
Why is the billiards table green?
Pool, snooker, carom… all originated from lawn games over 600 years ago.
What does the color green remind you of? It is the color of grass! Indeed, pool, snooker, carom, and other cue games today all derive from lawn games that date back over 600 years. The term “billiards” is believed to originate from the French word “billart” or “billette,” meaning cue or “bille,” meaning ball. The game we know today as billiards formed around the 1340s and was initially played outdoors on grass, quite similar to croquet—a game where players use mallets to hit balls through hoops. Later, King Louis XI of France (1461 – 1483) introduced billiards indoors and became the first to own a billiards table. He continued to improve and popularize the game, which quickly spread among the French nobility.
Nobility in the 17th century playing pocket billiards on a green table.
By the 1600s, the lawn version of billiards had disappeared, and indoor billiards tables became very popular in England and France. Because of its origins as a lawn game, billiards tables were made with green cloth to resemble the original version. In the image above, you can see nobility in the 17th century playing pocket billiards on a green table, but with a cue that resembles a golf club rather than the straight cues we use today. The straight billiard cue, tapered and smooth, was invented around 1800.
The color of the snooker table is specified as green to create a strong contrast with the red balls.
Specifically for snooker, the color of the billiards table is always green. This color has been specified since 1871; prior to that, snooker tables were made in various colors, often orange. Under low light conditions, this color made it very difficult for players to observe the precise movement of the balls on the table, leading to disputes among players. An incident occurred when a sailor named Arthur Terry got into a physical altercation with his opponent Riland Metcalfe over a disputed shot on the billiards table. Terry was convicted but allowed to leave the court without punishment because, in the judge’s opinion, “Terry was not entirely at fault; the color of the billiards table was partly to blame.” The color of the snooker table was specified as green to create a strong contrast with the red balls.
So, why are there still blue billiards tables?
Blue billiards tables are still used in the US Open Pool Championship today.
This blue color, referred to as “tournament blue” or “TV blue,” emerged in the 1970s. When the U.S. Open Pocket Billiards Championship first aired on television, the green table made the balls harder to see on screen. Therefore, the green was changed to blue, allowing viewers to follow the match more easily and reducing eye strain caused by the bright green color. Blue billiards tables are still used in the US Open Pool Championship to this day, even though modern television technology no longer has limitations with the color green. Thus, both green and blue remain popular colors for billiards tables today.
Exceptions
Red billiards table.
Besides green and blue, you may still encounter billiards tables in other colors, typically red. Hainsworth, a company specializing in billiards cloth in England since 1783, offers various colors of billiards cloth. Billiards tables can also be decorative items, allowing users to choose the color of the table surface to match their space, rather than being limited to just green or blue.
