Game in which two or four players use long-handled cues to shove disks into scoring areas of a diagram marked on a flat, smooth surface (6 52 ft [1.8 15.8 m]). It was popular in England as early as the 15th century, especially with the aristocracy; it later became popular as a deck game among travelers on ocean liners and cruise ships. The current form of the game was defined at St. Petersburg, Fla., U.S., in 1924