Loading...Pool is an interesting game, as the skill comes from your ability to predict and execute the hitting of a ball to redirect other balls into certain pockets. It’s a fun game, but Alex Bellos decided to take it to another level by creating Loop, a pool variant where rather than a rectangular table you play in a elliptical one.
Loop is played with four balls: one 8 ball, two colored balls, and one cue ball. The goal of the game is to get your colored ball into the hole, which is roughly in the center of the table, and once you’ve done that, get the 8 ball in. At the same time, your opponent is trying to do the same thing with their balls. The reason that Numberphile filmed a video about Loop is because the game is pretty mathematically based; it involves a lot of angles. To make your life a little easier, there is a small dot on one of the focuses of the ellipse, which helps you figure out how to hit the colored ball so it will rebound into the hole. No matter where your colored ball is on the table, if you hit the ball as if the ball was coming from the dot, it will go in the hole. (assuming you hit it cleanly and with enough power) Not only is Loop itself an interesting game, but the math behind it is also fascinating, and is illustrated well in this Numberphile video.