Bar Billiards Tables
Bar billiards or Russian billiards is a fascinating traditional game first imported into England from Belgium in the 1930s. Designed for pubs and clubs, shots are taken from one end only which reduces the required floor space. It also means that the bar billiards table can be pushed into an awkward corner or niche thus turning a little-used area into a money spinner.
The table comes with an adjustable electronic timer with a mechanical coin-slide. When the time is up, the internal bar drops and no more balls are returned to the front for replay. Players score points by knocking balls into the holes at the other end of the table while avoiding three "not-to-be-toppled" skittles near the high-scoring holes and the rules are such that games are frequently decided by the last ball on the table.
|
|
Made in Britain
You can either have an Essex Straight Six Coin-Op mechanism which takes normal coins or an Essex 'Banana' Token mechanism. The Straight Six mechanism can be configured for various different UK coin combinations including 'Freeplay'. Tokens allow a landlord to charge a fixed amount for each game, without having to mess about with the coin mechanism. Remember to order the tokens separately, if you choose this option. To learn more about the Essex coin-op mechanism including how to configure it, please click here.
Approximate weight and dimensions 160kg - 6ft Long x 3ft Wide x 34" High (just under 3') - (183 x 92 x 86 cm). Tables come with two cues, a set of balls, scoreboard, mushroom skittles and rules.
Delivery is included in the price and by default your table will be delivered to the pavement from a tail-lift lorry. The delivery people will not normally bring the table inside your property. Bar Billiards tables are very heavy and at least 2 people are required to lift the main cabinet and move the slate into position. Tables require remedial assembly, (bolting the legs to the cabinet and then securing the slate and cushions in place), and can take anything up to 2 hours to put together.
Delivery can be up to 5 weeks from placing the order but is usually quicker. You will be contacted beforehand to arrange a delivery date.
We can install and assemble your table at an extra cost, if required.
If you do want this option, we will need to give you a quote before ordering
as it depends on many variables, i.e. 2nd floor, difficult access to the property,
etc. To request a quote click here.
We cannot be held responsible for additional costs incurred if our deliverers
are not given due warning of difficult access.
Delivery is not free and will be charged at cost if we are unable to deliver or install or if additional charges are incurred due to receiving inaccurate information about access to the delivery property.
Change to $  Change to  |
UK pounds (ex.VAT) |
Pounds (incl. VAT) |
Typical ETA in wkg days |
Add to basket |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Supreme Bar Billiards Table |
£1119.13 | £1287.00 | 20 + transit time | ||
'Banana' Tokens (50) |
£21.65 | £24.90 | 2 + transit time | ||
For an immediate quote and ETA, add to the basket & select your location. |
Overseas Orders
Non-UK mainland customers, please email for a quote giving your address including post code/zip. Please be aware that shipping and customs duties are a significant cost.
Product Index
General
Info
View
Basket
Contact Us
Game Rules
Shortcuts
Go
Bowls
Chess
Skittles
Croquet
Mah Jong
Dominoes
Poker
Sets
Fair Games
Casino Games
History of Bar Billiards
The similarity of Bar Billiards with Bagatelle, the pub game that was most popular for at least a century after 1770 is so evident that it seems highly likely that Bar Billiards is a derivative of Bagatelle via some lineage but that lineage is, at present, unknown. Beyond that assumed and mysterious connection, it isn't known how Bar Billiards originated but in the early 1930s an Englishman called David Gill observed a game called Russian Billiards (Billiard Russe) being played in Belgium. A Russian link is therefore a possibility but it seems more likely that the game was named so as to sound slightly exotic to the ears of West Europeans at the time.
Gill convinced the English manufacturer Jelks to make a version of the game which he called Bar Billiards. Pubs seemed keen to buy tables and other manufacturers soon got in on the act. The first pub league was created in Oxford in 1936 and shortly afterwards leagues sprang up in Reading, Canterbury and High Wycombe. Eventually, a governing body was formed called the All-England Bar Billiards Association which supervises the game across 18 counties, mainly in the South of England.
There do not appear to be any standards to Bar Billiards rules and at least one other variation is in wide circulation that utilises 4 skittles instead of 3.
Bar Billiards is still popular in the South of England but has, unfortunately, lost a lot of its popularity due to the emergence of American 8 ball Pool.
For more information on Bar Billiards, see the Online Guide to Traditional Games.