Twenty minutes pass or more when I feel someone approaching. During five minutes he shows me why he is a champion. Why do the rich get richer? It is evident that they are here to have some fun: to get away from the routine of the city and to relax after a week of work while they stand over a wooden table, trade stories, remember former days and listen to songs of salsa, carrilera and vallenato. "The good thing about the ‘Club de Billares Londres’ is that people come here from all over the city from every social class, rich or poor, to drink or to play, and no one gives you a dirty look, the kind that asks you what you are doing here. I decide to stop for a cup of coffee near the Centro Andino shopping complex, that part of the city which never sleeps with its many fancy restaurants, pubs and bars.

His eyes glance around the room and stop at a table which is being cleaned. The woman in the middle of it all, referee Michaela Tabb, urges the crowd to stop cheering when Daryl Peach misses a shot. Daryl Peach, aka the Dazzler, what is billiards is the first player to be introduced to the crowd. It was around the 1800s when snooker was introduced. As I wander through the "T zone" - which takes its name from a certain intersection - and come out at the Calle 85 with Carrera 15, I see a glowing neon light on one side of the street, and it strikes my attention. When I get out my camera, they look at me. I sit down to rest and take one last good look around. They look at each other, laugh and invite me to join them in their game. It has to do with the reputation of the game in the country where some seem to associate it with a subculture of booze, women and song. I spend about half an hour playing with them and then my attention is caught by the sight of a table on the other side of the room where two women are just beginning their game.

There was a revival in the 1890s, but from then on, croquet was always a minority sport, with national individual participation amounting to a few thousand players. His dexterity at the table attracts a small group of spectators and he then stops because other clients are waiting to use that same table. Suddenly, one of them stops and speaks to me. However there are key differences between a billiards table and a pool table, and knowing the difference is important while you shop for the right one for you. However, there was no iPod inside the box! Near them, I see two women who are playing ‘pool’ on a different kind of table. I see my face multiplied by the shards of glass and I am taken by surprise at the yellow glow that permeates the venue. The surprise on my face must show. It evokes an image, the wood of an old house which has witnessed the passing of history. The roof of the club conserves traces of the Republican, early 19th century-style house that once was inhabited by some Spaniard or Creole, and which has come back to life thanks to the legendary game of billiards.

I speak to the manager and he tells me that he doesn’t quite know when billiards first began in Bogotá, but that for more than forty years, ever since the club first opened, the sport has been played here every day. This is a very popular topic in billiards forums, pool halls, and well, probably every pool player I know at least once became curious as to what type of cue the master uses. The pool player from Blackpool negotiates a positioning problem involving the 1- and 2-balls. Peach advances for a three game advantage over Roberto Gomez. Even so, the geometry of the game stands out. They ask me if the photos will come out in magazines such as People or Semana. I get out my camera once again and begin taking pictures. The runner-up will get $30,000. It is the hope of many a pool player that pool will eventually be recognized as an Olympic level sport. Once he is standing over the table, stick in hand, he says that he will give me a demonstration.