Eight-ball Totally Explained

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

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 and seven, a, and the cue ball. Today, numbered and 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 wasn't 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 numbered 1 through 7, seven numbered 9 through 15, an, and a .
The balls are usually colored as follows:

1 and 9 - yellow
2 and 10 - blue
3 and 11 - red
4 and 12 - purple
5 and 13 - orange
6 and 14 - green
7 and 15 - brown
8 - black
cue - white.

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 are placed in a triangular rack. The base of the rack is parallel to the (the short end of the pool table) and positioned so the apex ball of the rack is located on the . The balls in the rack are ideally placed so that they're 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 "".

Break

One person is chosen (by a predetermined method, for example, coin flip, win or loss of previous game, ) to shoot first and 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 and become the breaker, or elect to play from the current position of the balls. If the breaker pockets a ball, it's 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 or 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 Standardized 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 behind the .
For regional variations, see below.

Turns

A player (or team) will continue to shoot until committing a , or failing to pocket a legal object ball. Then it's the turn of the opposing player(s). Play alternates like this for the remainder of the game. After a foul, the incoming player has 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 (for example 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 isn't loss of game if the 8 ball isn't 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.

The player can't combo another ball to sink the eight ball to win.

If the player shoots the eight ball, and sinks the white ball after, the player still wins.

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 "" 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 doesn't 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 hasn't provided a )

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

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

In the United Kingdom, blackball as 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 (except for the 8), UK-style tables have pockets just larger than the balls, and more than one type of 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 balls and, and many other details.
The English Pool Association (External Link

) is recognized by the Sports Council as the governing body for pool including blackball in England.

Eight-ball rotation

The hybrid game eight-ball rotation is a combination of eight-ball and rotation, in which the players must pocket their balls (other than the 8, which remains last) in numerical order.

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, or even fully naked. (See also related New Zealand variant.)

Canada

In Canada there's a similar level and type of variation as in the US (see below). One particularly common feature of Canadian bar pool is the "hooked yourself on the 8" rule — 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 then, if for the 8, as opposed to "just a shot", for example a, 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're called as split shots, and the hit is in fact simultaneous to the human eye (or, of course, wasn't but the cue ball actually hit the legal object ball first.) A further Canadian bar-pool picadillo is that a shot is a turn-ending (but not ball-in-hand) foul if one pockets one's called shot but also pockets another ball incidentally, even if it's one's own (however, if that secondary pocketing is called, the shot is legal, regardless of the order in which the balls were dropped).

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 when shooting for the 8, which simply end the shooter's turn at the table and give the opponent ; 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.
In Brazil, a foul is generally punished by pocketing the lowest-numbered ball of the opponent.

New Zealand

A traditional informal rule in New Zealand is the "down-trou" requirement: A player who loses without pocketing any of their own balls is expected to honour this humiliation by dropping their pants. (See also related Australian variant.)

United Kingdom

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 UK pub pool, the being the most significant.
The "pantsed" or "down-trou" down rule of Australia and New Zealand is also becoming more commonplace in Universities and pubs in the UK.

United States

Bank-the-8 is a common American amateur variation, especially on coin-operated (because it usually makes the game last longer), in which the 8 ball must be or, off one or more, into the ; 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's 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 (for example each player may be said to eventually "own" a pocket in which their 8 ball shot must be played if they've already run out their ); 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, or the cue ball was scratched, on the break; if an odd number of balls were legally pocketed, such as one solid and two stripes, or no solids and one stripe, the breaker must shoot the stripes (in these examples). 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's common for a foul break in which the rack wasn't struck at all (for example due to a ) 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's snookered). Even in the case of a cue ball scratch, this only results in behind the . Handling of fouls while shooting at and/or pocketing the 8 ball varies widely, from area to area, in bar pool. In some cases any foul while shooting at but not pocketing the 8 is a loss of game, in others only a foul while otherwise successfully pocketing the 8, and in yet others only certain fouls, such as also sinking an opponent's ball, while pocketing the 8 (that last isn't even a recognized foul of any kind in the international and 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 win or instant loss; 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 are often 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 first ball in a combination shot while the table is open; the 8 ball may be required to be pocketed "cleanly" in the sense of no contact with other object balls (even if the can be accurately called); failure to hit one of one's own object balls (or the 8 if shooting for the 8) is considered a table-scratch and gives the opposing person a shot in hand; "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're called as split shots, and the hit is in fact simultaneous to the human eye (or, of course, wasn't 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 bank/kick cushions will be involved in the shot, with the shot considered a turn-ending (but not ball-in-hand) foul if 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 — "" can count (mostly). Most league (for example 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.

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