Big break! Giant pool table is 30 feet long and uses 6lb bowling balls

Most people would rather have a swimming pool in their back garden than an actual pool table.

But this is the enormous billiards table, believed to be the largest in world, that an American man built in his yard.

Former cage fighter Steve Wienecke used five truck loads of gravel and spent 250 hours to build the one-and-a-half feet high felt-covered pool table.

Rack and roll: Steve Wienecke throws a ten-pin bowling ball he uses as a cue-ball on the giant pool table he built in his back garden in Missouri

Cue-less: Mr Wienecke throws a heavy bowling ball instead of using a traditional cue in the game of giant pool he invented

Players in the game, dubbed 'Knokkers', hurl 6lb ten-pin bowling balls at coloured balls to pot them in giant pockets.

Everything on the table is four times the normal size and players are not allowed to move their feet once they have thrown the cue ball.

Mr Wienecke, from Fredericktown, Missouri, says his table is the largest in the world and now hopes the game will become an international sensation when he builds portable versions to be used in bars that have large gardens.

'Back in 1985 I was playing in a local pool league and I thought it'd be so neat to be playing up on the table', he told local magazine Rural Missouri.

'It's exactly like a regulation pool table, only everything is scaled up to four times the size. Even the dimensions of the pockets are the same, just a lot bigger.'

The table is covered in heavy duty felt and has enormous cushions that bounce the bowling balls back to the table.

Players must roll the ball in a fashion similar to lawn green bowling but the rules are the same as American 8-ball pool.

Mr Wienecke raised money to build the giant table with money donated from local businesses.

'I knew they couldn't tell me there was another one of these down the street. My wife, Tina, thought it was a little crazy. But when she saw the first game she said ' you have something here,' Mr Wienecke added.

'It's safe, fast-paced, and entertaining for others to watch. Let's just say — it's very different, but in a good way.

'Long arms are definitely an advantage. But anyone can play, even kids. My kids and grand kids love to play.

'If you can thrown a hook in bowling you can get massé shots. That ball will grab the carpet and curl. It's pretty intense.'