Trick shot

A trick shot (also trickshot or trick-shot) is a shot played on a billiards table (most often a pool table, though snooker tables are also used), which seems unlikely or impossible or requires significant skill. Trick shots frequently involve the balls organized in ways that are unlikely or impossible to appear in normal play, such as balls being in a straight line, or use props such as extra cues or a triangle that would not be allowed on the table during a game. As an organized cue sports discipline, trick shot competition is known as artistic pool.

Billiards trick shots are the subject of increasing international competition, both amateur and professional. There are world championships, such as the WPA Artistic Pool World Championships and the World Snooker Trickshot Championship (which has not been held since 2006), and made-for-TV events, such as Trick Shot Magic and the World Cup of Trick Shots, often televised in both the US and the UK and providing enough prize money that some professional players specialize in the discipline.

The formats vary depending on the competition. Some, such as the World Snooker Trickshot Championship are purely exhibitions, with a panel of judges scoring subjectively to determine the winner.

Events such as Trick Shot Magic and the World Cup feature head-to-head competition where the players select shots that have strictly outlined requirements specified in a playbook. Each year, players are allowed to submit their own shot inventions, however, they are disclosed prior to the event to give all players an equal chance to practice them. Players or teams are given two attempts to complete a selected shot within the given parameters, and earn one point for each successful shot, either a first shot or follow-up shot. Each player or team gets to select a given number of shots, generally eight or ten, and a winner is declared when one side is mathematically eliminated. Trick Shot Magic, ESPN's annual artistic pool pro tournament, has been widely considered the televised version of the World Artistic Pool Championship, and it has held the highest ratings in televised cue sports competitions in the United States between 2000 and 2009.

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