The problem is that a billiard is a big, expensive piece of equipment, and you are limited by your venue. In chess, you only need a chessboard, which is cheap,

The problem is that a billiard is a big, expensive piece of equipment, and you are limited by your venue. In chess, you only need a chessboard, which is cheap, and a table. In collectible card games like Magic: The Gathering, it is even simpler as people bring their own cards, so all you need is the table. For a LAN party, people usually bring their own computer and they have a spot for the entire event, so having everyone play at the same time is trivial.