American Pool vs Snooker vs Heyball: What’s the Difference?

Walk into Sessions Billiards & Darts and you’ll find three distinct games under one roof: American Pool, Snooker, and Heyball (Chinese Eight Ball). They can look similar to a newcomer — balls, cues, a felt-covered table — but each plays completely differently. Here’s what actually sets them apart.

American Pool

Played on a smaller table (typically 7-9ft) with larger, 2-inch balls and wider pockets, American Pool is fast, forgiving and the most widely recognised cue sport worldwide. Games are short — usually just 8-ball or 9-ball — which makes it accessible for casual play and quick sessions. Cues built for American Pool tend to have a slightly thicker tip and shaft, favouring power and forgiveness over the pinpoint precision snooker demands. See our American Pool Cues range.

Snooker

Snooker is played on a much larger 12ft table with smaller balls and famously tight pockets, using 21 balls (15 reds, 6 colours, and the cue ball) instead of pool’s 15. It rewards patience, precision and long-term positional planning far more than pool does — a single break can take minutes to build. Snooker cues are typically slimmer through the shaft with a smaller tip for precise contact and controlled spin. Browse our Snooker Cues.

Heyball (Chinese Eight Ball)

Heyball is the newest of the three to most South African players, and it’s exactly the format Sessions Billiards & Darts was built around — one of the first venues of its kind in Africa dedicated to it. It’s played on a 9ft table that looks like a snooker table but plays much more like pool: 8-ball rules, larger pockets than snooker, and a faster pace than the traditional game. It’s become hugely popular across Asia for exactly this reason — it combines snooker’s bigger table and cleaner aesthetic with pool’s faster, more forgiving gameplay. Our Chinese Eight Ball Cues range is built specifically for it.

Which Should You Play?

If you want fast, social, pick-up-and-play games — American Pool. If you want a deeper technical challenge that rewards patience and long-term strategy — Snooker. If you want the best of both, on a bigger table with a cleaner, more modern feel — Heyball is worth trying, especially if you’ve never had access to it before.

The good news: you don’t have to choose just one. All three are available on our tables in Bellville, and our Cues range covers every format if you want your own equipment for whichever one — or all three — you end up loving.