Eight-ball

This article is about the American-style game. For the British-style game, see Blackball (pool).

Eight-ball players

Eight-ball is a pocket billiards (pool) game popular in much of the world, and the subject of increasing international amateur and professional competition. It is played with sixteen balls (a cue ball and fifteen object balls) on a pool table with six pockets.

History

The game of eight-ball is derived from an earlier game invented around 1900 and first popularised in 1925 under the name B.B.C. Co. Pool by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company. The forerunner game was played with seven yellow and seven red balls, a black ball, and the cue ball. Today, numbered stripes and solids are preferred in most of the world, though the British-style variant uses the traditional colors. The game had relatively simple rules compared to today and was not added (under any name) to an official rule book until 1940.

International rules

American-style eight-ball rules are played around the world by professionals, and in many amateur leagues. The rules for eight-ball may be the most contested of any billiard game. There are several competing sets of "official" rules. The non-profit World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), with national affiliates such as the Billiard Congress of America (BCA), promulgates the World Standardised Rules for amateur and professional play. The for-profit International Pool Tour has also established an international set of rules for professional and semi-professional play, used in major tournaments broadcast on television. Meanwhile, many amateur leagues, such as the American Poolplayers Association (APA) / Canadian Poolplayers Association (CPA), and the Valley National Eight-ball Association (VNEA) / VNEA Europe, use their own rulesets as their standards (most of them at least loosely based on the WPA/BCA version), while millions of individuals play informally using colloquial rules which vary not only from area to area but even from venue to venue.

A summary of the international rules follows (see the WPA/BCA or IPT published rules, which conflict on minor points, for more details):

Equipment

There are seven solid-colored balls numbered 1 through 7, seven striped balls numbered 9 through 15, an 8 ball, and a cue ball.

A proper rack, with the two corner balls different and the Eight-ball in the center.

The balls are usually colored as follows:

• 1 and 9 - yellow
• 2 and 10 - blue
• 3 and 11 - red
• 4 and 12 - purple (pink in some sets)
• 5 and 13 - orange
• 6 and 14 - green
• 7 and 15 - maroon (brown in some sets)
• 8 - black
• cue - white (sometimes with spots).

The table's playing surface is approximately 9 ft. by 4.5 ft. (regulation size), though some leagues/tournaments may allow other sizes.

Setup

To start the game, the object balls are placed in a triangular rack. The base of the rack is parallel to the end rail (the short end of the pool table) and positioned so the apex ball of the rack is located on the foot spot. The balls in the rack are ideally placed so that they are all in contact with one another. This is accomplished by pressing the balls together from the back of the rack toward the apex ball. The placement of the balls, for a legal rack according to World Standardised Rules is that the 8 ball is placed in the center, while the two lower corners must be a stripe and a solid (see image). The cue ball is placed anywhere the breaker desires inside the "kitchen".

Break

One person is chosen (by a predetermined method, e.g., coin flip, win or loss of previous game, lag) to shoot first and break the object ball rack apart. If the shooter who breaks fails to make a legal break (usually defined as at least four balls hitting cushions or an object ball being pocketed), then the opponent can demand a re-rack and become the breaker, or elect to play from the current position of the balls.

Long exposure photo of the break in eight-ball.

If the breaker pockets a ball, it is still that player's turn and the table is considered "open" (meaning the breaker can still make any object ball to determine if he/she will only shoot solids or stripes throughout the game). If the breaker fails to make another ball after the break, the table is still considered "open" until someone legally pockets a ball.

According to World Standardised Rules, if the 8-ball is pocketed on the break, breaker may ask for a re-rack or have the 8-ball spotted and continue shooting. If the breaker scratches while pocketing the 8-ball on the break, the incoming player has the option of a re-rack or having the 8-ball spotted and begin shooting with ball in hand behind the head string.

For regional variations, see below.

Turns

A player (or team) will continue to shoot until committing a foul (fault), or failing to pocket a legal object ball. Then it is the turn of the opposing player(s). Play alternates like this for the remainder of the game. After a foul, the incoming player has ball-in-hand anywhere on the table.

Pocketing the 8 ball

Once all the player's object balls are pocketed, he/she may attempt to sink the 8 ball. To win, the player must first call which pocket they plan to sink the 8 ball into. If the 8 ball is shot into the wrong pocket or a foul (see below) occurs, the player loses. Otherwise, the player's turn is over.

Winning

• The player has legally pocketed the 8 ball, after all his/her object balls have been pocketed
• The opposing player illegally pockets the 8 ball (e.g. before clearing all of his/her object balls, in the same shot as the last such object ball, or into a pocket other than the one that was called)
• The opposing player scratches the cue ball into a pocket, or knocks it off of the table, when the eight ball is pocketed. A scratch or foul is not loss of game if the 8-ball is not pocketed or jumped from the table
• The opposing player commits any foul on the shot that pocketed the 8 ball (in non-tournament situations, non-cue-ball fouls may be excused from this requirement)
• The opposing player knocks the 8 ball off of the table.

Fouls

• The shooter fails to strike one of his/her own object balls (or the 8 ball, if all of said object balls are already pocketed) with the cue ball, before other balls (if any) are contacted by the cue ball. This includes "split" shots, where the cue ball strikes one of the shooter's and one of the opponent's object ball simultaneously.
• No ball comes into contact with a cushion or is pocketed, after legal cue ball contact with the (first) object ball (or 8 ball).
• The cue ball is pocketed.
• The shooter does not have at least one foot on the floor (this requirement may be waived if the shooter is disabled in a relevant way, or the venue has not provided a mechanical bridge)
• The cue ball is shot before all balls have come to a complete stop from the previous shot
• The cue ball is struck more than once during a shot
• The cue ball is jumped entirely or partially over an obstructing ball with an illegal jump shot that scoops under the cue ball
• The cue ball is clearly pushed, with the cue tip remaining in contact with it more than momentarily
• The shooter touches the cue ball with something other than the tip of the cue
• The shooter touches any other ball (with body, clothing or equipment), other than as necessary to move the cue ball when the player has ball-in-hand
• The shooter knocks a ball off of the table
• The shooter has shot out-of-turn.
• On the break shot, no balls are pocketed and fewer than four balls reach the cushions (in which case the incoming player can demand a re-rack and take the break or force the original breaker to re-break, or may take ball-in-hand and shoot the balls as they lie)

English-style rules

Main article: Blackball (pool)

In the United Kingdom, an overall rather different version of the game has evolved, influenced by English billiards and snooker, and has become popular in amateur competition in Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and some other countries. As with American eight-ball, there are two competing standards bodies that have issued international rules. Aside from using unnumbered object balls (besides the 8), UK-style tables have pockets just larger than the balls and more than one type of rest is typically employed. The rules significantly differ in numerous ways, including the handling of fouls, which may give the opponent two shots, racking (the 8 ball, not the apex ball, goes on the foot spot), selection of which group of balls will be shot by which player, handling of frozen balls and snookers, and many other details.

Informal Rule Variations

Australia

Australian bar rules dictate that if one loses the game with all seven balls remaining on the table, one has been "pantsed" and must hobble one full lap around the pool table, with one's pants around one's ankles. (See also related New Zealand variant.)

Canada

In Canada there is a similar level and type of variation as in the US, below. One particularly common feature of eastern Canadian bar pool is that failure to hit the 8 ball when one is shooting for the 8 is a loss of game, unless one was hooked (snookered) by one's opponent (even so, if a pocket is called and attempted for the 8 in such a situation, failure to hit the 8 is an instant loss). Pocketing an opponent's ball while shooting for the 8, even if the shot was otherwise legal, is also a game-loser, often even in league play. "Split" shots, where the cue ball simultaneously strikes a legal and an opponent's object balls, are generally considered legal shots in informal games, as long as they are called as split shots, and the hit is in fact simultaneous to the human eye (or, of course, was not but the cue ball actually hit the legal object ball first.)

Latin America

In Mexico and parts of South America, the 1 ball often must be pocketed in the right side pocket relative to the end of the table one breaks from, and the 15 ball must be pocketed in the other side pocket (left). This rule probably developed to make it harder to run out after the first shot. Position play takes a larger role in this variation, and many times a player's strategy will revolve around getting the 1 or 15 in. When racking the balls for this variation, the 1 and 15 balls are placed behind the 8 ball at the center of the rack, the 1 ball on the right and the 15 ball on the left (from the racker's perspective).

A Latin American variant of last-pocket is that each player is allowed two cue ball scratches when shooting for the 8, which simply end the shooter's turn at the table and give the opponent ball-in-hand; only the third such scratch is a loss of game (though scratching the 8 ball itself off of the table or into the wrong pocket is an instant loss); this version is common even in US pool bars that are dominated by recent Latino immigrants.

New Zealand

A traditional (non-tournament) rule in New Zealand informal games of eight ball is the "down-trou" requirement: if a player is able to sink his or her balls plus the eight ball in a single stretch, their opponent is expected to honor theirs humiliation by dropping their pants. (See also related Australia related variant.)

United Kingdom

The English Pool Association [1] is recognized by the Sports Council as the governing body for pool in England.

Further information: [[:Blackball]]

There are several colloquial blackball variations, which along with differences between published blackball rules and American-style eight-ball can be encountered by eight-ball players as a form of culture clash when playing against opponents who are more accustomed to blackball, the two-shot rules being the most significant.

United States

Bank-the-eight is a common American amateur variation, especially on coin-operated tables (because it makes the game last longer), in which the 8 ball must be banked or kicked, off one or more cushions, into the called pocket; either player may suggest bank-the-eight at any time before or during the game, and the other may accept or refuse; all other rules apply as usual. Playing bank-the-eight may be considered rude if there is a long line of players waiting to use the table.

A similarly-motivated variant is last-pocket, in which the 8 ball must be pocketed in the same pocket as the shooting player's last object ball (i.e. each player may be said to eventually "own" a pocket in which their 8 ball shot must be played if they have already run out their suit); all other rules apply as usual.

In informal amateur play in some regions, the table will only be considered open if no balls were pocketed, or an equal number of stripes and solids were pocketed, and the cueball was not pocketed, on the break; if an odd number of balls are pocketed, such as one solid and two stripes, or no solids and one stripe, the breaker must shoot the stripes (in this example). It is also common in some areas that if the cue ball is pocketed, or flies off the table, on the break, the breaker loses the game instantly. In non-money games it is common for a foul break in which the rack was not struck at all (e.g. due to a miscue) to be re-shot by the original breaker.

In common bar pool, fouls that are not cue ball scratches into a pocket or off the table generally only cause loss of turn, with cue ball left in place (even if it is snookered), and even in the case of a cue ball scratch, this only results in ball-in-hand behind the head string. Handling of fouls while shooting and/or pocketing the 8 ball varies widely, from area to area, in bar pool. In some cases any foul while shooting for the 8 is a loss of game, in others only a foul while pocketing it, and in yet others only certain fouls, such as also sinking an opponent's ball, while pocketing the 8 (that last is not even a recognised foul at all in the major American-style tournament/league rulesets.)

Other US bar pool oddities from area to area include: Knocking the cue ball off the table on the break may be an instant loss; scratching the cue ball on the break may be an instant loss; pocketing the 8 ball on the break may be either an instant loss or instant win; no safeties may be allowed at all — all shots must be an at least vaguely plausible attempt to pocket a legal ball; scoop-under jump shots may be valid; all jump shots may be banned; massé shots may be banned; it may be illegal to use the 8-ball in any way in combinations, caroms or kisses; the table is almost never so open as for it to be legal to use the 8 ball, or a ball of the opposite suit as the target ball, first in making a combination shot while the table is open; the eight ball may be required to be pocketed "cleanly" in the sense of no contact with other object balls (even if the kiss shot can be accurately called); failure to hit one of one's object balls (or the 8 if shooting for the 8) may be considered a "table scratch" and result in the opponent having ball-in-hand behind the head string; "split" shots, where the cue ball simultaneously strikes a legal and an opponent's object balls, may be considered legal shots, as long as they are called as split shots, and the hit is in fact simultaneous to the human eye (or, of course, was not but the cue ball actually hit the legal object ball first); most commonly of all it may be required that all shots must be called in detail, as to what balls and rails will be involved in the shot, with the shot considered a turn-ending foul if it was not executed precisely as planned (and a loss of game if the "foul" shot pocketed the 8 ball); or completely oppositely, that nothing other than the 8-ball has to be called in any way — "slop" counts (mostly). Most league (i.e. more formal, "official" rules) players are also bar pool players in other circumstances and will switch back and forth between league rules and their local house rules, depending on whom their opponents are.

See Also

• List of World Eight-ball Champions

External links

• World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) — the International Olympic Committee-recognised promulgator of international rules for a variety of cue sports including eight-ball.
• Billiard Congress of America (BCA) — the US national WPA affiliate and self-described "governing body of pool" in the United States
• American Poolplayers Association — the self-described world's largest pool league (site also provides pool-related news and articles); see also the affiliated Canadian Poolplayers Association
• Billiard Parlors — Directory of pool halls in the U.S. and Canada
• English Pool Association Website
• Cambridge, UK Pool League Website