page_title: Balkline
section_title: Modern forms
hierarchical_section_title: Balkline / Modern forms
caption_attribution_description: The making of this document was supported by the Community-Budget of Wikimedia Germany. To see other files made with the support of Wikimedia Germany, please see the category Supported by Wikimedia Deutschland. বাংলা&#160;| Deutsch&#160;| English&#160;| Esperanto&#160;| français&#160;| magyar&#160;| italiano&#160;| македонски&#160;| മലയാളം&#160;| Nederlands&#160;| português&#160;| svenska&#160;| українська&#160;| +/− European Carom Billiards Championships 2015 Deutsch: Schiedsrichter zeichnet Markierungen für Cadre 47/2English: Refferee marks Balkline 47.2
context_page_description: Balkline is the overarching title of a group of carom billiards games generally played with two cue balls and a third, red object ball, on a cloth-covered, 5 foot × 10 foot, pocketless table that is divided by lines drawn on the surface, called balklines, into marked regions called balk spaces. Such balk spaces define areas of the table surface in which a player may only score up to a threshold number of points while the object balls are within that region.
  The object of the game is to score points, also called counts, by striking a player's cue ball so it makes contact with both object balls on a single stroke. A win is achieved by reaching an agreed upon number of counts.
  The balkline games developed to make the precursor game, straight rail, more difficult to play and less tedious for spectators to view in light of skill developments which allowed top players to score a seemingly endless series of points with the balls barely moving in a confined area of the table playing area. Straight rail, unlike the balkline games, had no balk space restrictions, although one was later added. According to Mike Shamos, curator of the U.S.
context_section_description: For the most part, the differences between one balkline game to another is defined by two measures: the spacing of the balklines, and the number of points that are allowed in each balk space before at least one ball must leave the region. Generally, balkline games, and their particular restrictions, are given numerical names indicating both of these characteristics; the first number indicated either inches or centimeters depending on the game, and the second, after a dot, indicates the count restriction in balk spaces, which is always either one or two. For example, in 18.2 balkline, one of the more prominent balkline games and of U.S. origin, the name indicates that balklines are drawn 18 inches (46 cm) from each rail, and only two counts are allowed in a balk space before a ball must leave. By contrast, in 71.2 balkline, of French invention, lines are drawn 71 centimetres (28 in) from each rail, also with a two count restriction for balk spaces.
caption: Referee marking balklines at the European Carom Billiards Championships 2015.
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