Pool and snooker are two similar sports which both entail using sticks called cues to pocket balls of different colors into six holes on the sides and corners of a rectangular table. Yet these two sports go a long way to illustrate the difference between the old organized world and the new unorganized world.
Snooker is a sport from the age old organized tradition. You are much more likely to get dressed up when playing snooker, often in a dinner suit and bow tie. You play snooker on a long table of well over two meters in length and a meter wide. You hit the balls gently, relying on their smooth passage across the slate-bedded table to reach their destination pocket.
Because the table is so large, success (known as "break building": an unbroken series of pocketing the balls) depends upon using spin to position the white cue ball for potting the subsequent ball. There are set rules which are strictly adhered to, for example, if you accidentally tap a snooker ball with the end of your cue you "foul" and forfeit your shot.
Snooker is played at a thoughtful, leisurely pace and some time can elapse between shots. One frame between average players can take up a good hour.
The contrast between snooker and pool is clear. Pool represents the unorganized world. You can play in any clothes that you find comfortable. The pool table is much smaller, just over a meter in length and less than a meter wide. The pockets are larger relative to the size of the balls. Paradoxically, even though the pool table is smaller, you tend to hit the balls harder because the cloth on the table (which can be and often is blue or red as well as green) is more coarse. The rules are less strict, insofar as the acceptance of minor mistakes when setting up a shot tends to be greater. The pace of pool is quicker: you don't need complicated implements such as "spiders" which are supplementary cues that let you reach areas of the snooker table in order to play shots that human size would otherwise preclude.
Games between good pool players can be over in 10 minutes. There is less break building because the table is small enough for the good players to pot a few balls and win.
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