Three-ball

Three-ball (or "3-ball", colloquially) is a pocket billiards game played with three standard pool object balls and cueball. The goal is to pocket the three object balls in as few shots as possible. Theoretically, any number of players can participate, in rotation, but more than five can become unwieldy. The game involves a somewhat more significant amount of luck than either nine-ball or eight-ball, because of the disproportionate value of pocketing balls on the break shot. In some areas and subcultures, such as the Asian youth-dominated pool hall scene of San Francisco, three-ball is a popular local tournament game, and is also frequently gambled upon (typically for a one- to five-dollar ante per round.)

Play

The game is played on any pocket billiard table with six pockets. Under tournament conditions, a single game or round usually consists of five innings per player, and a match or contest may consist of multiple games, back-to-back or spread out over a period of time (even weeks). In a gambling context, three-ball (like the group pool games killer and cutthroat, and the card game poker) is typically played in multiple rounds (each played out until someone wins the betting pool), sometimes for many hours, with players able to enter and leave as suits their finances and risk-aversion.)

Object

The object of the game is to sink all of the object balls in as few strokes as possible, with points being added to the player's score for each stroke and for specific fouls. Unlike in eight-ball and nine-ball, the player at turn remains at turn until all object balls are pocketed, or the player concedes or reaches the maximum point limit (see below). A missed shot counts as a point, much like a stroke count in golf.

There is a predetermined cut-off score of a certain number of points, after which the player must turn the table over to the next player (or conclude the game/round if the player was the last in the lineup). Among casual players this is typically seven or eight points, while among skilled players it is most commonly five, and sometimes even as low as three. It is also considered sportsmanlike to simply concede defeat before reaching this number if victory or a tie is clearly impossible; when conceding, one is scored at the cut-off number, not the number one conceded at (e.g. if one is playing a game where the cut-off is eight, there is already a tie for three, and one cannot get "out" in under four, one would concede and take an eight.)

Winning

Once a player's inning is over, the next player starts over with a fresh rack. After all players have finished, the player with the lowest score is declared to be the winner. In a tournament context, the winner of the event may be the player with the lowest total score over many rounds of play (strict scoring), or the highest number of won rounds (loose scoring). In case of a tie, a playoff round is played between the tied players (and repeated if another tie results, etc.)

The rack

Three object balls (conventionally the 1, 2 and 3 balls) and a cue ball. are racked either in a triangle — like a miniature eight-ball or snooker rack — with the apex ball on the foot spot., or in a straight line, again with the lead ball on the foot spot, and the other balls behind it, lined up toward the center of the foot rail. No particular arrangement is necessary, as there is no specific order in which the balls must be sunk, nor do any of them have specific point values. Racking is often simply done by hand, though there is at least one manufacturer of triangular three-ball racks, and many also simply use the 8-ball/straight pool triangle to rack three-ball. Players usually are not permitted to rack their own balls that they are about to break, because of known techniques for occasionally sinking all three object balls on the break in a predictable manner (which can be maximized by making particular, minute adjustments to the rack angle, position and tightness — i.e., cheating.) If straight rather than triangular racking is required, the rule against self-racking may or may not be dropped; as of this writing there are no publicized techniques for predictably sinking all the balls from a straight rack. As in other games, the player at turn may demand a re-rack if not satisfied with the correct formation or position of the racked balls.

The break

Players' turn order is decided at random at the beginning of the game or match, as in other several-player pool games. The cue ball is placed anywhere behind the head string and a typical hard break (as in nine-ball or eight-ball) is performed. The break is the first stroke of a player's game, and thus counts toward his or her score. Any balls sunk on the break are considered to be legally sunk and the player now only has to sink the remaining balls.

Very good players can sink all three object balls on the break with surprising frequency, resulting in the perfect (but still tieable) score of one point, especially if the balls are triangle-racked; this feat is achieved using an adaptation of the instant-win break technique from eight-ball and nine-ball; the straight rack was introduced to make this more difficult, as it does not provide the contact point and angles that the well-known technique requires.

Fouls

Every shot costs one point, and a foul of any kind costs the player an additional one-point penalty. Fouls consist of: pocketing the cue ball; knocking the cue ball off the table; a double hit on the cue ball with the cue (including illegal "scoop-under" jump shots); push shots; and (possibly, depending on how serious the game is) accidentally (or otherwise) moving a ball with a hand, the butt of the cue, etc. A shot in which the player sank one or more object balls but also fouled incur a one point penalty - a foul always results in a penalty of 1 point. Thus, a break shot that sank all three object balls plus the cue ball is a score of two (one for the actual shot, plus one for the foul).

Shots after a cueball scratch (into a pocket or off the table, or in strict play after accidentally moving the cueball) must, similarly to the break shot, be taken from on or behind the headstring and must go forward across/from the headstring, as in typical American barroom eight-ball, rather than taken ball-in-hand. (However some do play the game using ball-in-hand rules adapted from nine-ball. If this rule variant is to be used it should be agreed upon clearly beforehand, as many players feel that it makes the game too easy, and observe that ball-in-hand after fouls in nine-ball is a punishment for the fouler and a reward for the opponent, which effectively cancel each other out in three-ball because the fouler also receives the ball-in-hand reward.)

Object balls knocked off the table are spotted on (or behind, as near as possible) the foot spot, and do not count as fouls (since the mistake already punishes the shooter by requiring at least one more shot to get out.) Kisses, caroms, kicks, banks, combinations and non-scoop-under jump shots are legal.

It is not a foul to do a weak break that fails to drive balls to rails or into pockets. Similarly, it is not a foul to make a weak shot that does not pocket a ball or hit a rail. These mistakes are, again, effectively self-punishing, by costing the player a shot.

Customs and variations

There are no official or standardized rules for three-ball, though local tournaments promulgate rulesets that have some sway over area player populations even outside the context of the tournaments.

Like the otherwise dissimilar (one shot per turn) several-player pool game killer (also known as "elimination"), three-ball is scored on a chalk board or piece of paper to keep track of who has how many points. Because of three-ball's "backwards" scoring (compared to most other games, which have the additive scoring that most people are used to), it is customary to help keep score accurately by one or more players intoning the score-so-far after each shot, in the form "that's [x], shooting [x+1]" (e.g. "that's three, shooting four"; note the absence of "for" after "shooting", since it is a potentially confusing homophone of "four"), or something similar. In the absence of this mechanism or an official scorekeeper, one would have to write down the score-so-far after every shot, which is disruptive of flow and concentration for the shooter, if required to do it, or onerous for other players to be responsible for).

The popular "all tie" or "everyone ties" rule (sometimes also called "[if] two tie, all tie", or even the illogical "one tie, all tie") is a common money game variation, in which if two (or more) players among several tie for lowest (best) score then all players, regardless of having conceded or getting poor scores, remain in the game/round if they are willing to ante again to continue. Play then resumes, often yielding another tie and an even larger pot, and so on.

An uncommonly required but "serious consequences" variant is that if one sinks all three object balls on the break but also scratches or otherwise fouls, this is an instant loss instead of a score of two, taking the form of the player receiving the maximum allowed score (see above), which is technically still tieable, so not truly an instant loss. This rule is an adaptation from nine-ball and common North American eight-ball, in which sinking the game-winning target ball is an instant win unless one also fouls, yielding a (true) instant loss.

Other rules may vary from locale to locale (even to the point of introducing new fouls: some table owners ban, and punish with a 1-point pentalty, any jump or massé shots due to [not necessarily reasonable] fear of damage to the billiard cloth by enthusiastic but insufficiently skilled players).

One variant is that scratching on the last stroke results in all balls pocketed on that shot being spotted and the 1-point penalty stroke being assessed.. Another, from nine-ball, is that it is a foul to fail to either drive at least one object ball into a pocket, or contact an object ball then have at least one ball contact a rail..

Online computer gaming variants may lean more toward nine-ball rules (perhaps due to the limitations of their software), including: the above two variant rules; ball-in-hand after fouls; it is a foul to not drive some number of balls to a rail or into a pocket after the break; and a rule that object balls knocked off the table are counted as pocketed (unless it is the last ball, in which case it is spotted and must be shot again).

A rare variant is adapted from tournament eight-ball, in which players do not continue shooting if they miss or foul, and the winner is the player that pockets the 3 ball (the other two balls being the 1 and 2, and shot in ascending order). The incoming player receives ball-in-hand if the preceding opponent fouled. The lowest numbered ball must be struck first, and the 3 ball cannot be pocketed earlier than last with a combination, kiss or carom shot the way the 9 ball can in nine-ball.

Technique

Players skilled at carom and kiss shots are at a marginal advantage in three-ball, because sometimes the only way to win is to sink two balls with one shot; average players lacking expertise in multi-ball shots succeed at this only a truly negligible percentage of the time, while expert players can make them a still quite small, but statistically meaningful, percent of the time. Otherwise, players skilled at eight-ball, nine-ball, one-pocket or straight pool are well-equipped to excel at three-ball.

Because of the value of pocketing multiple (especially all) object balls on the break, a strong break (and a skilled one, if the balls are triangularly racked) is an important technique.

History

The modern game of three-ball appears to have originated from an earlier game of the same name, played as a rotation game with the 1 through 3 balls, and the same rules as nine-ball, but with the 3 taking the place of the 9. Its evolution over the last few decades into a turn-based game with rules more akin to those of straight pool is possibly by way of the influence of other multi-shot-per-turn pastimes such as darts and golf putting, though there is a lack of documentary evidence as of this writing.

Use as practice for other games

Some billiards instructors strongly recommend using repetitive playing of solo three-ball as a form of practice, especially using the 8 ball and 9 ball (because they are the "money" balls in their namesake games and thus the most likely to be "choked" on), along with the 6 ball (or whatever ball is closest to the color of the cloth, if not playing on a green table) since it is the hardest to see clearly. This form of practice is reasonable as a drill to hone position play in "closing the deal" (the all-important last three shots common to both games - run-out setup, money-shot setup and money shot). A nine-ball-inspired variant is to use the 9 and two other balls and shoot them in ascending order, like the end of a real nine-ball game. An eight-ball practice variant is to use two solids or two stripes and the 8 ball, and shoot the 8 ball last. Other practice variants adapt rules from one-pocket, bank pool, bank-the-eight, and other games.