Flanges is an alternative game of billiards, called "pool for the masses", which requires only the set of balls and a pool table. Cue sticks are not used. The name is derived from the word "phalanges," referring to the digits of the hand (which are intensely and occasionally painfully involved in game play).

Game Preparation and The Object

Four players array themselves variously at each corner of the pool table, armed with four pool balls each (cue ball included). The object is to end the game with the most balls in the diagonally opposite pocket. A player must hold his or her billiard balls at all times – if one is dropped, any player can grab it, and if it is dropped into the pocket the player is guarding, it counts.

Game Play

The player in one of the bottom left corners (once designated, this is the “smet," or start point, for all following games) begins by taking the first shot – bare-handed – at the opposite pocket. If the point is made, that player can shoot again. If it is missed, the ball becomes fair game for anyone to recover. Since the object of the game is to score the most balls in the opposite pocket, recovering balls is a good tactic towards ensuring a higher score. Once the ball is recovered, the turn rotates counterclockwise to the next corner, and the same process is repeated, until all the balls are scored. The winner has the privilege of starting the next game off at the smet, and everyone else rearranges in no particular order.

Rules

1. If you screw up, it’s too bad.

For instance, if an attempt to recover a ball results in knocking that ball into the guarded pocket – or anyone else’s, for that matter – the ball is counted as “scored.” Any ball knocked into a center pocket is out of play, and not counted towards anyone’s score.

2. Stick to your corner.

A player is allowed some range of motion, but running around to the other side of the table to grab an errant ball is not allowed. Balls dropped on the floor are an exception. When a player runs out of balls, he should keep one hand – probably his left – on the back of his pocket.

3. If a ball is played out of turn, 'Flanges' can be called.

If a player is overeager and tries to consign a ball to a pocket before its time, any player can call “Flanges” and take the ball.

4. Balls cannot be blocked on the initial shot.

If a player blocks a ball that is legally thrown before it has reached a point of certain hit-or-miss, the ball automatically counts for the player who shot it. A blocked shot is called a "Taylor".

In Case of a Tie

In the case of a tie, players “lag” best two out of three. For this, the losing players clear out and the tied players attempt to propel the ball so that it ends up as close as possible to the bumper closest to them after being bounced off the opposite bumper (lengthwise) without actually hitting the close bumper. If the close bumper is hit, then the shot is voided, and unless the opposing player(s) also void their shots, the lag is lost.