Honolulu, also known asbanks, kisses, and combinations orindirect, is apocket billiards game. Players mustpocket all shots in an indirect fashion to reach a set number of points. The game shares some similarities with othercue sports, played on tables and with balls used forpool, but differs with foul points being awarded for regular direct shots.
Honolulu is generally played between two competitors or teams. The game is played on a traditionalpool table, with fifteenpool balls.[1] The object of the game is to score eight points by pocketing balls in a legitimate manner. What is and what is not consideredlegitimate is where the game diverges from more common pool game objectives. In Honolulu,pocketing a ball directly is a foul shot.[2] Points can, however, be scored by completingbanks,combinations,caroms orkick shots.[3] In addition, players may not playshort-rail kicks, or kick from cushions into adjacent pockets.[3][4][5]
Every shot must becalled.[2] Before a shot, players have to designate both the ball and target pocket.[6] Players may elect tocall more than one ball on a single shot, but all balls called must be correctly potted, or there is no score.[3][7][5] At the start of a game, the balls areracked on a pool table'sfoot spot, with a set of fifteen balls, placed in random order, and a cue ball. On the openingbreak shot, the player must either call a ball out of the rack and an intended pocket, or cause two object balls and the cue ball to strike a rail. The failure to do so is a foul.[3] Unlike other games of pool, there is no concession of a game after conceding three successive fouls.[1]
As in the similar game ofone-pocket, the penalty for all fouls in Honolulu is the loss of a point, meaning one previously pocketed ball must be returned to the table's surface. Suchspotted balls are placed on the table as close as possible to the foot spot, and as close as possible to any balls already occupying that space in the direction of thefoot rail. If a player has no balls to spot, the penalty is owed, and at the end of the player's next scoringinning, the requisite number of balls owed are replaced.[3][5][8]
According to theBilliard Congress of America, the governing body forbilliards in the United States, Honolulu presents players with "an unending kaleidoscope of strategic and shot-making challenges."[3]
