One of the hardest games in billiards if not the very hardest is called three cushioned billiards.  It’s been called by the name of the angle game, and also three-rail.  What you’re supposed to do is hit the cue and be able to hit all three cushions before hitting the second object ball.  It was thought the game was invented by Wayman McCreery.

In 1878 the first tournament was held.  Many players however did not like the game much, the only way it was able to gain popularity was with a trophy being offered to the winner of a yearly tournament.  With this trophy being introduced the game of three cushion became very popular, that in 1924 two giants of billiards said they would play a game of three cushion.  Willie Hoppe and Ralph Greenleaf these were the two giants who said they would play and Hoppe won the match.  However when Hoppe retired in 1952 the game lost its luster.

Three cushioned was perhaps the most difficult billiard game out there.  At an average scoring of only 1 point per turn.  This turns into a 50% success rate on their shots.  In fact in the United States three cushion is the most popular carom game that is played.  The game is also still popular in Europe and Asia.

It’s easy to see how this game would be a very hard game to play.  It’s not really easy to understand even when you look at it in a simple way.  Thankfully other pool games have also remained popular that are very easy to play and understand.

But if you want to attempt a game of three cushioned billiards more power to you, it would probably be a game that could last a long time with the success rate of shots being very low.  So try the game, it’s always a great idea to attempt different things, this would be a good start for trying something new and different.

People who now play three cushioned billiards you should really thank the two greats who brought it even more to the forefront that again is Willie Hoppe and Ralph Greenleaf.  If they wouldn’t have agreed to play the game it may not have jumped in popularity and might have died out and not been known to people in today’s world.  So try the game and see what the hardest billiard game is all about.