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Five-pin billiards or simplyfive-pins or5-pins (Italian:[biliardo dei] cinque birilli;[1]Spanish:[billar de] cinco quillas or casín), is today usually acarom billiards form ofcue sport, though sometimes still played on apocket table. In addition to the customary three balls of most carom games, it makes use of a set of five upright pins (skittles) arranged in a "+" pattern at the center of the table. The game is popular especially inItaly, but also in some other parts ofLatin America andEurope, with international, televised professional tournaments (for the carom version only). It is sometimes referred to asItalian five-pins orItalian billiards (Italian:biliardo all'italiana),[2] or as simplyitaliana (in Italian and Spanish). A variant of the game,goriziana or nine-pins, adds additional skittles to the formation. A related pocket game, with larger pins, is played in Scandinavia and is referred to in English asDanish pin billiards, with a Swedish variant that has some rules more similar to the Italian game.
Until the late 1980s, the game (with some rules differences) was a form ofpocket billiards, known in English asItalian skittle pool,[3] and was principally played in pubs, with an object ball that was smaller than the two cue balls.[2] Professional and regulated amateur play today exclusively uses pocketless tables and equal-sized balls. Professional competition began in 1965,[1] and play is centered inbilliard parlors, with players competing in provincial, regional, and national federations.[2] The pocket version is still favored by some in amateur play.
The regulation game is played on a normal 5 by 10 ft (1.5 by 3.0 m) pocketless carombilliards table,[4] with standardized playing surface dimensions of 1.42 by 2.84 m (approximately 4-2/3 by 9-1/3 ft), plus/minus 5 mm (approx. 0.2 in), fromcushion to cushion.[5] The slatebed of the table must be heated to about 5 degrees C (9 degrees F) aboveroom temperature, which helps to keep moisture out of the cloth to aid the balls rolling and rebounding in a consistent manner, and generally makes the table play "faster".[3][6] In informal play, an unheated table is often used.
Like most other carom games, five-pins requires three standard carombilliard balls of equal diameter: acue ball for the first player, typically plain white, another cue ball for the second player, historically white with a spot but now typically yellow, and a redobject ball,.[7][2] The balls are 61.5 millimetres (2.42 in) in diameter and weigh between 205 and 220 g (7.2 and 7.8 oz); 7.5 oz is average).[7][8] The white cue ball is given to the starting player, who may place it anywhere on the head side of the table (without disturbing the pins)—i.e., anywhere unobstructed between thehead rail and thecenter string. The red object ball is placed at thefoot spot (i.e., the intersection of thefoot string and thelong string. The yellow (or spotted white) cue ball of the opponent is placed on the long string, in a position that can be labelled the "foot rail spot", 10 cm (approx. 4 in) from thefoot rail.[9][10]
As the name implies, the game makes use of five upright pins calledskittles in English (so-called since at least 1634),[3]birilli (singularbirillo) in Italian andquillas in Spanish, which look like miniaturebowling pins, 25 mm (0.98 in) tall, and with 7 mm (0.28 in) round, flat-bottomed bases.[8] There are traditionally four white pins, and one red.[2] The red pin is placed on thecenter spot (the exact middle of the table both lengthwise and widthwise), and the four white pins are placedequidistant from the red in a square diamond pattern around it. Two whites are aligned along the center string with thehead andfoot spots, as well as the rail diamonds in the center of the head and foot rails, and with the red object ball, and red pin. Meanwhile, the other two whites are placed on thecenter string, aligned with the diamonds in the center of the long rails, and again with the red pin. The final pattern looks like a plus sign. This arrangement of pins on the table is referred to as the "castle". Tables have the precise castle positions for the pins, and for the starting positions of the balls, permanently marked, as they must be placed back into position before every shot if any have been knocked over or moved.[11]
Each player uses acue stick to shoot the appropriate cue ball; average cue length is 140 cm (about 55 in.)[2] Abridge stick (rest) may be used to reach long shots.[12]
Though there are variants inCentral andSouth America, theItalian five-pins rules are the best codified. Because theItalian-rules championships organized by the Italian Federation of Billiard Sport (FIBiS) are international, televised events, and often hosted outside of Italy, the FIBiS rules are the globalde facto standard,[2] and have been incorporated into the rules promulgated by theUnion Mondiale de Billard.
The goal of the game is to earn a required number of points, before one's opponent does, by using one's cue ball to cause the opponent's cue ball to knock over pins (and tonot do so with one's own cue ball), and by contacting the red object ball with either cue ball, after one's own cue ball has contacted that of the opponent, and/or by causing the object ball to knock over pins, again after one's own cue ball has contacted that of the opponent.[13]
The game is played by two players or by two teams (a pair of doubles partners most commonly, but also larger teams). Determining who goes first can be done by any means (lag usually, but also coin toss, tournament stipulations about player order, etc.). Each player or team is assigned one of the two cue balls; this is the only cue ball they may hit with the cue stick. The first player or team always uses the (plain) white cue ball, the opponent the other ball. Unlike in many games, shots arealways taken in rotation – the same player or team never shoots twice in a row even if they have scored (other than if the opponent fouled before actually shooting when their turn came up, such as by moving one of the balls accidentally). Play continues until one player or team wins by being the first to achieve or exceed a specific number of points (usually 50 or 60), either agreed upon beforehand by the players, or set by tournament organizers.[2][13] In informal play, the number is often lower, such as 25.
In order to score, the incoming player or team muststroke the assigned cue ball (sometimes called thebattente or "clapper") tocarom off the opponent's cue ball (sometimes called the "receiver") — either directly or off a cushion — with the goal of secondarily having theopponent's cue ball, directly or by way of rebounding off a cushion, next hit the pins and/or the red object ball (sometimes called thepallino ("bullet") or "jack", terms common to several other games, such asbocce).[2]
Unlike in the major carom gamethree-cushion billiards, there is no requirement to hit one or more cushions at any time.[2]
Knocking over pins, by any of the acceptable prescribed manners, earns cumulative points as follows:[2][14]
The acceptable means of knocking over pins include any that result from hitting the opponent's object ball first with one's own, and not hitting the pins with one's own cue ball. For example, one can simply send the opponent's cue ball into the pins, send the opponent's cue ball into the red object ball and have the object ball hit the pins, or hit the opponent's cue ball and then the object ball with one's own cue ball and send the object ball into the pins.[16][17]
The object ball itself is also worth points:[2][16][18]
The game has somefouls unique to its ruleset, as well as the usual fouls of billiards games. All fouls nullify any points the shooter would have earned on the foul shot, and award the opponent free points (which vary depending on the type of foul).[2][17]
Because of the particularity of the first-listed foul above, players watch the game carefully, and tournaments have referees.Any points earned by the shooter on a foul shot are awarded to the opponent (except when, as noted above, pin value is not calculated). Anextra 2 points go to the opponent if the object ball was correctly hit on an otherwise foul stroke (in addition to being awarded the 3 or 4 points the object ball was worth).[citation needed] Ball-in-hand on fouls is not entirely free; the incoming shooter after a ball-in-hand foul can only place his/her cue ball on the opposite half of the table from the other cue ball, and must shoot from the end (short part) not side of the table.[2] The cue ball does not have to be placed in thekitchen (behind the head string), just within the proper half of the table.[citation needed]
Five-pins integrates some of the target-shooting aspects ofpool,snooker, etc. (perhaps via the influence ofEnglish billiards) into carom billiards, which is otherwise oriented at scoring carom points.
Safety play andcue ball control are essential when attempting to score, with the goal of leaving the balls in such a position that the incoming opponent ishooked (snookered) and will have a difficultbank,kick, ormassé shot to perform.
Because kicks and banks are so common, players must be more skilled at these shots than they would need to be for most other cue sports. The game also requires a good understanding ofcarom angles and the effects of "English" (sidespin) on the cue ball.
Organized by theUnion Mondiale de Billard (UMB), and inaugurated in 2019, the Five-pins National Team World Championship is an international event. Italy won the first edition for national teams of 5 pins in Lugano (Switzerland), the second edition in Hall in Tirol (Austria) and the third edition in Madrid (Spain).
| Year | Location | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 |  Lugano |  Italy (ITA) |  Uruguay (URU) |  Argentina (ARG) Germany (GER) |
| 2023 |  Hall in Tirol | Italy (ITA) | Uruguay (URU) |  Denmark (DEN) Argentina (ARG) |
| 2025 |  Madrid | Italy (ITA) | Argentina (ARG) | Denmark (DEN) Uruguay (URU) |
Inaugurated in1965, the Five-pins Individual World Championship (Campionato del Mondo "5 Birilli", sometimes also referred to as the World Open) is an international event, hosted to date in various places inItaly,Argentina,Switzerland andSpain. It is semi-annual; many years since its inception have not featured such a tournament. There are various divisions, including youth, women, men, teams, and a one-on-one open championship.[1]
Organized byItalian Federation of Billiard Sport (FIBiS), the Five-pins Pro World Cup (World Cup Pro "5 Birilli"), was a semi-annual event begun in1993, and discontinued after1997. In only one year (1993) were both the Pro World Cup and the World Championships held. The event was a one-on-one invitational championship, without other divisions.[1]
A professionally competitive version known asgoriziana (ornine-pins,9-pins,nine-pin billiards, etc.) adds four additional outer pins to the "+" pattern, and has a more complicated scoring system. Goriziana itself also has multiple amateur rules variants.
Five-pins is a major plot point of the Italian-produced, English-language drama/romance filmBye Bye Baby, which starsBrigitte Nielsen as a professional player. The movie does not focus on five-pins, but does demonstrate many aspects of the game clearly in a few sequences.
