page_title: Billiard ball
section_title: Novelty balls
hierarchical_section_title: Billiard ball / Types / Novelty balls
caption_attribution_description: Various novelty pocket billiards balls. Clockwise from the top: Red and white balls and markers from a novelty game called Starball; an Elvis Presley commemorative cue ball from Graceland; a leopard-patterned 9 ball; colorful balls from a poker-themed set; regular balls and the small "jack" from a miniature bocce set used on a table instead of a lawn or court.
context_page_description: A billiard ball is a small, hard ball used in cue sports, such as carom billiards, pool, and snooker. The number, type, diameter, color, and pattern of the balls differ depending upon the specific game being played. Various particular ball properties such as hardness, friction coefficient and resilience are important to accuracy.
context_section_description: There is a market for specialty cue balls and even entire ball sets, featuring sports team logos, cartoon characters, animal pelt patterns, or other non-standard decorations.
  Entrepreneurial inventors also supply a variety of novelty billiard games with unique rules and balls, some with playing card markings, others with stars and stripes, and yet others in sets of more than thirty balls in several suits. Marbled-looking and glittery materials are also popular for home tables. There are even blacklight sets for playing in near-dark. There are also practical joke cue and 8 balls, with off-center weights in them that make their paths curve and wobble. Miniature sets in various sizes (typically ​ ²⁄₃ or ​ ¹⁄₂ of normal size) are also commonly available, primarily intended for undersized toy tables. Even an egg-shaped ball has been patented and marketed under such names as Bobble Ball and Tag Ball.
caption: Various novelty pocket billiards balls
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