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W.G. Clifford described Blue Pool in his 1927 book Billiard Table Games for Tables of All Sizes. The short passage gives a pyramid of reds and one blue, with an optional coloured-ball shot after a red. It documents a historical variant; it does not establish that this form preceded snooker.
Equipment & Table Layout
Clifford places the reds as for Pyramids and the blue on the centre spot. Use a suitable pocket table and agree the opening, fouls and end-of-game procedure before a revival game; his short Blue Pool passage is not a complete modern tournament code.
Core Rules & Flow of Play
The stated sequence starts with a red. After potting it, a player may choose another red or the blue; a pocketed blue is respotted. Treat details not addressed in the short source as agreed house provisions rather than filling them in as historical fact.
Scoring Dynamics
The source normally values the coloured ball at two points and expressly permits a higher agreed value. For a simple house revival, use one point per red and two per blue, and settle the remaining procedures before play.
Strategic Layers
In contrast to open-table games where any ball can go first, Blue Pool forces a red-first requirement that shapes safety play. Careful safety shots can leave clusters of reds blocking paths to the blue. Positioning the cue ball becomes a battle of angles and pace: set up multi-red runs when the blue looms perilously close to a pocket or spool out safe snookers when it sits inconveniently. The ebb and flow between red accumulation and blue-ball gambits keeps every frame alive.
Why It Fell Out of Favor
Cliffordβs 1927 passage says these variants were already seldom played and had been superseded by snooker. That observation predates the 1960s; the passage does not document the detailed reasons for playersβ preferences.
Bringing Blue Pool Back Today
A club can use this outline for a clearly labelled house revival. Write down the opening, foul penalties, when colours may be attempted, and how the final blue ends play. Any final-ball multiplier is an added house rule, not a βshell-outβ provision established by the cited passage.
Conclusion
Blue Pool offers a compact historical alternative to a full set of snooker colours. The appeal is choosing between another red and the blue. Keep the documented core and any agreed house additions clearly separate so every player knows the version being used.
Sources
References checked October 19, 2026: Quoted primary passage: W. G. Clifford, Billiard Table Games for Tables of All Sizes 1927, footnote 6; Blue Pool setup and scoring.
