Eight-ball , sometimes called stripes and solids and, more rarely, bigs and littles or highs and lows , is a pool game popular in much of the world, and the subject of international amateur and professional competition. Played on a pool table with six pockets, the game is so universally known in some countries that beginners are often unaware of other pool games and believe the word "pool" itself refers to eight-ball. The game has numerous variations, including Alabama eight-ball, crazy eight, English eight-ball pool, last pocket, misery, Missouri, 1 and 15 in the sides, rotation eight ball, soft eight, and others. Standard eight-ball is the second most competitive professional pool game, after nine-ball and for the last several decades ahead of straight pool.
Eight-ball is played with sixteen balls: a cue ball, and fifteen object balls consisting of seven striped balls, seven solid balls and the black 8 ball. After the balls are scattered on a break shot, the players are assigned either the group of solid balls or the stripes once a ball from a particular group is legally pocketed. The ultimate object of the game is to legally pocket the eight ball in a called pocket, which can only be done after all of the balls from a player's assigned group have been cleared from the table.
History
The game of eight-ball is derived from an earlier game invented around 1900 (first recorded in 1908) in the United States and initially popularized under the name "B.B.C. Co. Pool" (a name that was still in use as late as 1925) by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company. This 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.
World Standardized 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 Standardized 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 (as of 2007, this league has suspended operations, and is focusing on invitational matches, but is expected by many players to resume in 2009). 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
The table's playing surface is approximately 9 by 4.5 feet (2.7 by 1.4 m) (regulation size), though some leagues and tournaments using the World Standardized Rules may allow smaller sizes, down to 7 by 3.5 feet (2.1 by 1.1 m), and early 20th century 10 by 5 feet (3.0 by 1.5 m) models are sometimes also used.
There are seven solid-colored balls numbered 1 through 7, seven striped balls numbered 9 through 15, an 8 ball, and a cue ball. The balls are usually colored as follows:
- 1 and 9 - yellow
- 2 and 10 - blue
- 3 and 11 - red
- 4 and 12 - purple (TV: pink) *
- 5 and 13 - orange
- 6 and 14 - green
- 7 and 15 - brown (TV: tan) *
- 8 - black
- Cue - white
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 order of the balls should be random, with the exceptions of the 8 ball, which must be placed in the center of the rack (i.e., the middle of the third row), and the two back corner balls one of which must be a stripe and the other a solid. 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.
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 Standardized Rules, if the 8 ball is pocketed on the break without fouling, the breaker may ask for a re-rack and break again, or have the 8 ball spotted and continue shooting with the balls as they lie. If the breaker scratches while pocketing the 8 ball on the break, the incoming player may call for a re-rack and break, or have the 8 ball spotted and begin shooting with ball-in-hand behind the head string, with the balls as they lie.
For regional variations, such as pocketing the 8 on the break being an instant win, see below.
Turns
A player (or team) will continue to shoot until committing a foul (fault), taking a safety, or failing to legally pocket an object ball on a non-safety shot. Thereupon it is the turn of the opposing player(s). Play alternates in this manner for the remainder of the game. Following a foul, the incoming player has ball-in-hand anywhere on the table, unless the foul occurred on the break shot, as noted previously.
Pocketing the 8 ball
Once all of a player's or team's group of object balls are pocketed, they may attempt to sink the 8 ball. To win, the player (or team) must first designate which pocket they plan to sink the 8 ball into and then successfully pot the 8 ball in that called pocket. If the 8 ball falls into any pocket other than the one designated, is knocked off the table, or a foul (see below) occurs and the 8 ball is pocketed, this results in loss of game. Otherwise, the shooter's turn is simply over, including when a scratch occurs on an unsuccessful attempt to pocket the 8 ball. In short, a World Standardized Rules game of eight-ball, like a game of nine-ball, is not over until the "money ball" is no longer on the table. This rule is unusual to some bar and league players, because in American, Canadian and many other varieties of bar pool, and in some leagues, such as APA, such a foul is a loss of game. This is not the case in World Standardized Rules, nor in some other leagues that use those rules or a variant of them, e.g. VNEA beginning with the 2008/2009 season, and BCAPL), and USAPL.
Winning
Any of the following results in a game win:
- A player legally pockets the 8 ball into a designated pocket, after all of that player's object balls have been pocketed
- The opposing player illegally pockets the 8 ball (e.g. before clearing all of that player's object balls, does so on the same shot as the last such object ball, or the 8 falls into a pocket other than the one that was designated)
- The opposing player knocks the 8 ball off the table.
- The opposing player commits any foul, including scratching the cue ball into a pocket, or knocking it off the table, in the course of a shot that pockets the 8 ball. (As noted above, a scratch or other foul while shooting for the 8 ball is not a loss of the game if the 8 is not pocketed or jumped from the table.)
Fouls
- The shooter fails to strike one of his 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, if shooting for the 8).
- The cue ball is pocketed ("scratched")
- The shooter does not have at least one foot on the
Playlogic
3rd Person Shooter: Action Adventure: Action RPG / RTS: Adventure: Arcade / Puzzle ... Do what it takes to be a Pool Hall Pro! Features. Many game modes: Arcade, Tournament ...
PoolShooter.com - News, Articles, Rules, Tips for Billiards, Pool, and ...
PoolShooter.com Promoting the Sports of Pocket Billiards. Friday, November 20, 2009 . MENU. Organizations. Rules. Calendar. Links. Pool Hall
Mike Sigel - Great Pool Shooter, Mike Sigel
Mike Sigel, aka "Captain Hook", is a fine pool shooter whose biography reads through one of pool's most exciting decades.
Pool
Lonely's Pool Hall: 0: LuckyOnes: 0: MidniteAngels: 0: MysticDreamz: 0: OurPlace: 0: Punishers ... ball strikes a legal object ball first (stripe or solid, whichever belongs to the shooter ...
Minnesota Fats - Pool Hall of Fame Inductee Minnesota Fats
Minnesota Fats, the self-anointed "greatest pool shooter of all time" would need to move to ... Nick Varner - Pool Hall of Fame Great Nick Varner; Baseball Hall of Fame - Profiles of ...
Billiards in Connecticut - Find CT Pool Hall
Shooter Family Billiard Wayne, NJ 973-248-0800 Tulsa Billiard Palace Tulsa, OK ... Bookmark This Page: Billiards in Connecticut - Find CT Pool Hall
Shooter's Lounge pool room | Pool Halls in Bloomington | Pool Halls ...
When visiting a "Shooter's Lounge Pool Hall", there are two things you should consider. First, how large is the Pool Hall you are planning to Play Billiard on it ?
EBGames.com - Buy Pool Hall Pro - Nintendo Wii
Puzzle & Cards Role-Playing Shooter Simulation ... Single player mode lets you play against Pool Hall players. World tour takes you all over ...
IGN: Virtual Pool Hall Review
Virtual Pool Hall ... your skills a bit, a trip through the full-motion video tutorials with legendary shooter ...
Shooterz Deli & Pool Hall in Port Orchard, WA, 98366 (360) 871-3863
Reviews and ratings of Shooterz Deli & Pool Hall in Port Orchard, WA, 98366 (360) 871-3863. Get phone numbers, maps, directions and addresses for Shooterz Deli & Pool Hall.