So, you reckon you're good at pool then eh? Maybe you beat all your friends regularly and think you're ready for a fresh challenge. Now is the time to find out if you've got what it takes, to see if you can keep your nerve when playing for keeps, now is the time to see how much you can take when you're playing against the best. Adrenaline forces your muscles into a new state of awareness, sweat drips from your brow, stinging your eyes but you play on through the pain because you know, you know you can win if you just keep it together for one more shot, and this is what it's all about, all those endless hours forcing yourself to stay in the pub, drinking and playing pool, this is the AISoc pool tournament. Sign up by mailing me here

Ok, so the way we work out the scores will go here, as soon as our Master of Tournaments gets off his arse and starts doing some of the work he gets credit for. For now, it's enough to say that you get points for winning and you lose points for losing. Also, you'll get more points for beating someone who's higher ranked than you than you would for beating someone ranked beneath you. The way it works is this, you contact the person you wanna play, either by mailing them from the links in the table or just by asking them (we will also be having pool nights at some point). Suggested venues for playing are Teviot and Leisureland(two doors down from the AI Building at South Bridge). Simply forward who won or lost the match (I suggest playing best of 3 or best of 5) to me at aisoc@dai.ed.ac.uk and I will update the table rankings. All mail on this subject must have POOL in header of their email or it is likely I will just ignore them, heh. There is also a feature called compulsory challenge, each player gets to make one compulsory challenge per week, where the opponent of your choice must play you within a week of your challenge being issued, or risk being docked points. For a compulsory challenge to stand it must be cc'd to me as well as the person you are challenging. There will be prizes for the winner and probably a couple of runners up aswell and I am assured they will be of a much-favoured alcoholic persuasion which is much goodness. There will probably also be a prize for the loser of the tournament, although this will probably involve some sort of ritual humiliation in front of all your peers and as such is not a good thing.

While you are free to play by any set of rules you agree amongst yourself, the official set of rules to be used in any arbitration is here. So, if you are playing someone and there is any sort of dispute over a shot, these rules will be in effect. While this will probably be no use most of the time, cos you'll be in a pool hall and not have access to a computer, rest assured that all of the AISoc ruling class know these rules and if you're playing one of us, we'll pull you up for things (unless we feel sorry for you, cos you're getting whipped)(or if you look good bending over a table we may forgive you too). Anyone who feels inclined to argue over what the rules should be can feel free to beat themselves over the head with a sock full of batteries until they no longer wish to do so. My decision is final, so nah-nah-nah-nah. Anyone found to be cheating will not only have their score decreased but will also have to sit through some sort of inhumane abuse, the current thinking on which is being locked in a room with Niall Tracey for five minutes.

The above is not supposed to be a total guide for how to play pool, merely some clarification of contentious points. If you think I have missed anything out mail me here and I will either update the rules, or start whipping rotten tomatoes at you.