Ninh explains the Rules of 8 Ball Pool The object of the game is for you to win more
games than your opponent.
8 Ball Pool (not to be confused with 9 ball pool) is a game that’s usually played between
two people, and to win a game, you must legally hit the 8 ball into a pocket.
To get to the 8 ball, you must use a wooden cue to hit a white ball (known as a cue ball),
into a numbered ball and for that ball to go into any of the pockets on the table.
This is known as ‘potting’ or ‘sinking’ the ball.
The table is roughly 9ft by 4.5ft (sometimes 7ft x 4 ft), and the object balls are numbered
1 to 15. Balls 1-7 are solid colours, (sometimes known
as spots) and Balls 9 to 15 are striped.
The idea is to either sink all the spots, or all the stripes to get to the 8 ball and
then to legally sink the 8 ball to win the game.
The game starts with a break. Unlike in 9 Ball Pool, any ball can be hit
off the break. For a break to be legal, at least 4 balls
have to hit the rails of the table and the cue ball must not go into any pocket.
If you sink a ball, depending on whether the ball is a ‘spot’ or a ‘stripe’, you
must then go for the same kinds of balls and sink them into the pockets too.
Once all of your designated balls have been sunk, you may aim to pot the 8-ball and you
have to declare which pocket to sink the 8 ball into.
If you legally sink the 8 ball into the correct pocket, you win.
Your opponent will be designated the other kinds of balls.
And if at any point you fail to pot the relevant ball, it is the end of your turn and your
opponent will be given the chance to aim for their designated balls, so that they can get
to the 8 ball themselves.
There’s things can’t you do in 8 Ball Pool, isn’t there?
Yep … You cannot touch any of the balls with anything
except your cue. You cannot sink the cue-ball, accidentally
or otherwise. You cannot hit or sink one of your opponents
balls before your own. You cannot fail to hit the object ball.
You cannot hit any of the balls off the table. You cannot hit the cueball twice in one stroke.
And you cannot play a push shot. These infractions result in a scratch (or
a foul), and your opponent will be awarded the cue ball in his hand.
He can then place the cue ball anywhere on the table and continue with his shot.
Competitive matches are usually played to the best of 10, 15 or 20 games, and the player
who wins 6, 8 or 10 games faster than their opponent - wins.
That’s basically the rules of 8 ball pool in a nutshell, but there’s a few things
you’ll need to understand before playing or watching a game.
For example: Automatic Loss – There are ways in which
you can lose the game automatically, almost all of them involving the black 8 ball. These
include hitting the black ball off the table, sinking the black ball and the cue ball at
the same time, accidentally sinking the blackball before you’ve cleared your designated balls
and sinking the black ball in the wrong pocket. Call shot – In some variations of pool (and
in some tournaments) you may be required to declare which ball you’re sinking into which
pocket. Potting the right ball into the wrong pocket results in a foul.
Blackball – Blackball is a British variation of these rules. Instead of having numbered
balls, the colours are red, yellow and black. It’s played in almost the same way on a
smaller 7ft table, you have to either sink all of the reds or all of the yellows, but
the main rule differences are that skill shots are allowed and fouls are awarded with two
shots instead of having the ball in hand.
8 Ball Pool is the most common variety of pool worldwide, and once you’ve played or
watched a few games, the rules will become clear.
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Ninh Ly, @NinhLyUK, www.ninh.co.uk