Eight Ball Pool
SUMMARY
Eight-ball (also known as solids and stripes, spots and stripes, and very occasionally highs and lows) is a pool billiards game played on a pool table with six pockets, cue sticks, and sixteen billiard balls: a cue ball and fifteen object balls. There are seven solid-colored balls numbered 1 through 7, seven striped balls numbered 9 through 15, and a black 8 ball among the object balls. Once the balls have been spread with a break shot, a player is assigned to either the solid or striped group after lawfully pocketing a ball from that group. The goal of the game is to legally pocket the 8-ball in a “called” pocket after clearing all of the balls from a player’s designated group from the table.
The game is the most popular pool discipline, and it is often considered synonymous with the term “pool.” There are several regional versions of the game. It is the second most popular professional pool game, behind nine-ball, and has surpassed straight pool for several decades.
History of 8 Ball Pool
Eight-ball emerged in the United States around 1900 as a development of pyramid pool, in which any eight of the fifteen object balls can be pocketed to win. The game came about as a result of two changes: the 8 ball had to be pocketed last to win, and each player could only pocket half of the other object balls. By 1925, the game had grown in popularity to the point where the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company introduced purpose-made ball sets that included seven red, seven yellow, one black, and the cue ball, allowing spectators to see which suit each ball belonged to more easily. (In the later British-originating form, blackball, such colors became standard.) In the years that followed, the regulations, as legally written in the Billiard Congress of America’s rule book, were updated on a regular basis.
A Brief Guide to all the rules of 8 ball pool
Pool regulations are among the most contentious of any sport, with subtle variances being played in various countries, towns, localities, and even businesses. The World Pool Billiard Association (WPA) has produced a standardized set of rules that must be followed by both beginners and professionals.
- The object balls should be set in a triangle rack at the lower end of the table, with the apex ball of the rack resting on the foot location, before the game begins. With the exception of the black 8-ball, which should be put in the middle of the third row, the order of the balls should be random. The white ball should be put wherever on the table behind the service line.
- If it’s the first game of a match, a coin should be tossed to determine who gets to break first. After then, everyone takes a turn taking a break.
- To make a legal break, the player must strike the balls and make sure that four of them hit cushions while the cue ball stays out of the pockets. The player has the right to request a re-rack if the 8-ball is potted on the break.
- The player who is the first to pot an object ball must thereafter continue to pot balls from that category (stripes or solids). The opposing player must pot the opposing group.
- A player will keep making shots until he or she fouls or misses an object ball. Then it’s the opposite player’s turn. The game continues in this manner for the rest of the time.
- When a player fouls, the opposing player has the right to place the cue ball anywhere on the table. There are various fouls in pool, with the following being the most common:
You’re missing your own item balls.
The cue ball has been knocked off the table.
Taking out one of the opponent’s object balls.
Twice hitting the cue ball.
Rather than striking the cue ball, you push it.
When it is not their turn, a player will take a shot.
- After all of a player’s balls have been potted, the 8 ball must be sunk. They must first choose which pocket they want to pot the 8-ball in, and then follow the instructions. If you fail to do so, the opposing player will return to the table. If the player pots the 8 ball in a pocket other than the one designated, the game is forfeited.