Pool Balls

Pool balls have been made of cast phenolic resins or plastic for nearly 30 years. Before that, pool ballswere made of Ivory, but were switched over to a renewable material that also cost quite a bit less.

Pool balls are numbered from 1 to 15 with the sixteenth ball being an ivory colored "cue" used by the playerto strike the other balls. Balls 1-7 are "solid", while balls 9-15 are "striped". Once a player sinks his or her first ball, they would then now target the type that they had first sunk - solid or stripes. The most important ball on the table is the black "8" ball, which is the final target once you've sunk your set of colored balls. In most pool games, the first person to sink the eight ball - legally - would be declared the winner.

Some newer pool balls will allow you to add a fancy look to your table through the use of dyes and advanced ball manufacturing. If you are looking to spend major cash on your pool balls, you may want to look at some of the more valued brand names. Elephant Balls, the official tournament balls of the ESPN Ultimate 9-Ball Challenge, are usually the highest priced in most stores but offer the highest value. Their pool balls claim to excel in the following specifications: density, balance, diameter tolerance, sphericity, colour, surface polish and brilliance.