Stuck In The Mud
No one has ever fully explained why the mud in this game only seems to surround the table.
15 minutes
Years ago, a great pool table appeared in some marsh land. No one knew from whence it came, but locals flocked to see the mysterious apparition. Unfortunately, the treacherous underfoot conditions meant that anyone who got close to the table became, quite literally, stuck in the mud and remained there forever more… This game is in honour of that story.
Set up a normal game of pool and then invite up to six players to pick a spot around the table. Once they have picked that spot and got comfortable, they must decide which of their feet has become ‘stuck’. That foot cannot move for the entirety of the game. Pick one player to break (probably someone at the correct end of the table). The game continues clockwise, with each player having a shot; each time they pot a ball their go continues. The game ends once all balls are potted and the winner is the player who has potted the most balls.
Speed Pool
As titles of games go, this one is fairly self-explanatory.
5 minutes
Sometimes, in a game of pool, you get a player who really, really milks their turn: taking ages over each shot, ruining the flow of the game. It’s incredibly frustrating. For this version of pool, you can have as many players as you like (similarly to ‘stuck in the mud’, the winner is the player who pots the most balls), the twist being that you have ten seconds from the moment you’re handed the cue, until you hand it to the next player, to take your shot. If you go over that allotted time, you lose a point.
Killer
No one should actually die in this game. If someone dies, something has gone wrong with the game, probably involving a pool cue.
15 minutes
For this game, you need a numbered set of pool balls (normally the spotted and striped ones) and either two, three, five or fifteen players! Allocate each player an equal set of randomly numbered balls (so for three players they’d get five each, five players three each, fifteen players one each). Explain that the aim of the game is to protect the balls you’ve been allocated, so with your shot (each player gets one shot per turn) you can either choose to knock one of your balls away from danger, or try and pot another players’ ball. The winner is the last player with balls remaining. (With two players, divide the balls in half, and anyone who pots the ‘8 ball’ automatically loses.)
Blindfold Pool
Blindfold pool is a fun game, but a terrible swimming idea.
10 minutes
Split your group into two pairs and blindfold one of each team. Then, quite simply, play a normal game of pool, but with the blindfolded players taking each shot, while their sighted players direct them. You could choose to switch the blindfold between players after each shot.
Football Pool
The football pools! Finally a cultural reference for those us who haven’t heard of ‘Little Direction’ or Adele’s iPod…’ PIPE DOWN, GRANDDAD, THIS IS A NEW GAME, NOT YOUR OLD, WEIRD, SATURDAY GAMBLING!
15 minutes
This is an elaborate game, but one well worth it. You need to set up a giant, human-sized pool table. In essence, a rectangle, marked out with firm sides and gaps left in for six buckets (in the places pockets would go on a pool table). You’ll then need as many footballs as you can gather – the majority of them being equally split between red and yellow, with a white and a black ball as well. Once you’ve got all of that in place, you can play football pool in exactly the way you would imagine those two words go together.
Last Person Standing
The other game with this name is just seeing who can remain standing for the longest amount of time. This game is more fun.
10 minutes
Unlike in most games of pool, in this version it doesn’t matter how many balls you pot; quite simply, the winning player (and you can play with however many players you’d like) is the player who pots the final ball.
