Pool seems to have rules that vary over time or from pub to pub.
When I was a boy, it was normal to nominate a bag for the black but that seems to have died out in Fife. The rules that applied in my (now closed) local for many years were:
If your opponent plays a foul stroke, you then have two shots and a free table. You can legally hit any ball with your first shot, including the black. Potting a ball (of either colour) maintains your two shots, although actually potting the black before its time means you lose the game. The free table is limited to one cue strike although your "second" shot doesn't begin until your first miss with the initial of the two shots (commonly known as two shots carry).
If your opponent potted the white from the break, it was still an open table regardless of what colours had gone down. You then had two shots free table as above. Therefore your opponent could pot white and red from a break, you could then step up and pot a yellow on your first shot (free table) and then nominate reds as your colour of choice. Basically this amounted to nominating on your second cue strike and there was no going back. Also, if no balls had gone down with the white at the break or on your first cue strike, you still had to nominate a colour.
Potting one of each colour during normal play was always a foul, regardless of which ball had been struck first. Potting an opponents ball was always a foul outwith the free table.
Full Version: 8-ball Pool
QUOTE (centralparker @ Nov 4 2008, 12:40) 
Pool seems to have rules that vary over time or from pub to pub.
When I was a boy, it was normal to nominate a bag for the black but that seems to have died out in Fife. The rules that applied in my (now closed) local for many years were:
If your opponent plays a foul stroke, you then have two shots and a free table. You can legally hit any ball with your first shot, including the black. Potting a ball (of either colour) maintains your two shots, although actually potting the black before its time means you lose the game. The free table is limited to one cue strike although your "second" shot doesn't begin until your first miss with the initial of the two shots (commonly known as two shots carry).
If your opponent potted the white from the break, it was still an open table regardless of what colours had gone down. You then had two shots free table as above. Therefore your opponent could pot white and red from a break, you could then step up and pot a yellow on your first shot (free table) and then nominate reds as your colour of choice. Basically this amounted to nominating on your second cue strike and there was no going back. Also, if no balls had gone down during the break or your first cue strike, you still had to nominate a colour.
Potting one of each colour during normal play was always a foul, regardless of which ball had been struck first. Potting an opponents ball was always a foul outwith the free table.
When I was a boy, it was normal to nominate a bag for the black but that seems to have died out in Fife. The rules that applied in my (now closed) local for many years were:
If your opponent plays a foul stroke, you then have two shots and a free table. You can legally hit any ball with your first shot, including the black. Potting a ball (of either colour) maintains your two shots, although actually potting the black before its time means you lose the game. The free table is limited to one cue strike although your "second" shot doesn't begin until your first miss with the initial of the two shots (commonly known as two shots carry).
If your opponent potted the white from the break, it was still an open table regardless of what colours had gone down. You then had two shots free table as above. Therefore your opponent could pot white and red from a break, you could then step up and pot a yellow on your first shot (free table) and then nominate reds as your colour of choice. Basically this amounted to nominating on your second cue strike and there was no going back. Also, if no balls had gone down during the break or your first cue strike, you still had to nominate a colour.
Potting one of each colour during normal play was always a foul, regardless of which ball had been struck first. Potting an opponents ball was always a foul outwith the free table.
Yes, those were pretty much the rules when I grew up and learned to play pool.
They haven't been for years though and most places now adopt UK rules. I used to play pool to quite a reasonable standard (was ranked top 10 in Dumfries but haven't played for about 7 or 8 years now).
When I last played, in the cirucmstances you describe:
Opponent's Foul - One Free Shot, One Visit - You get one shot to do what you like with (other than pot the black obviously unless you are on it) and then a normal visit continues as it would have done anyway. Two shots do NOT carry.
Break - Person breaking, if he pots a ball can nominate EITHER colour to continue his break with. If he doesn't pot a ball, opponent nominates his colour BEFORE playing a shot. It the person breaking does a foul break the opponent comes to the tabel with one free shot and one visit and didn't have to nominate his colour until after the free shot.
Potting one of each colour with one shot is perfectly legal providing you actually hit your own colour first. It's a perfectly legitimate and skillful tactic for clearing a pocket if your opponent has left one of his balls "hanging" over a pocket.
There is no nomination for the black these days. When I started you not only had to nominate and stick to your pocket but your opponent couldn't pick the same pocket for it either.
I get FURIOUS when people do not adhere to this rule............
When your opponent pots the white, you place the ball in the D and can only play down the table, unless all of your balls are up the other end, or you ar snookered on all balls down the table.
People normally understand the playing down the table bit, but not the second part of it. They seem to think it's ok for you to be snookered or put in a very tough position from their foul!
When your opponent pots the white, you place the ball in the D and can only play down the table, unless all of your balls are up the other end, or you ar snookered on all balls down the table.
People normally understand the playing down the table bit, but not the second part of it. They seem to think it's ok for you to be snookered or put in a very tough position from their foul!
QUOTE (Fudge @ Nov 4 2008, 13:39)
I get FURIOUS when people do not adhere to this rule............
When your opponent pots the white, you place the ball in the D and can only play down the table, unless all of your balls are up the other end, or you ar snookered on all balls down the table.
When your opponent pots the white, you place the ball in the D and can only play down the table, unless all of your balls are up the other end, or you ar snookered on all balls down the table.
I've never come across this one. Although a very similar rule does apply in billiards (now there's a game that's vanished over the years).
QUOTE (centralparker @ Nov 4 2008, 13:46)
I've never come across this one. Although a very similar rule does apply in billiards (now there's a game that's vanished over the years).
It's another decades out of date rule. When I started you could only play down the table from the "D". Even if your only ball left was on the cushion behind the "D" you had to play down towards the black and back up.
It was (and IS if Fudge is right and some places still play it that way) a quite ridiculously stupid rule that was rightly done away with years ago. These days, if indeed the table still has a "D" you can play in any direction from it. In fact under the most recent rules I believe there isn't a "D", just a baulk line and you can play from anywhere behind it following a foul.
EDITED to add: I've never heard of the "unless" variations that Fudge describes. Under the rules we first had you had to play down the table from the "D" end of story. Didn't matter if you were snookered or all your balls were behind the baulk line or anything else. Then they did away with the playinig down the table nonsense. No version we played ever had this ability to play up the table providing the balls were in certain positions he describes.
QUOTE (Skyline Drifter @ Nov 4 2008, 13:34)
When I last played, in the cirucmstances you describe:
Opponent's Foul - One Free Shot, One Visit - You get one shot to do what you like with (other than pot the black obviously unless you are on it) and then a normal visit continues as it would have done anyway. Two shots do NOT carry.
Break - Person breaking, if he pots a ball can nominate EITHER colour to continue his break with. If he doesn't pot a ball, opponent nominates his colour BEFORE playing a shot. It the person breaking does a foul break the opponent comes to the tabel with one free shot and one visit and didn't have to nominate his colour until after the free shot.
Potting one of each colour with one shot is perfectly legal providing you actually hit your own colour first. It's a perfectly legitimate and skillful tactic for clearing a pocket if your opponent has left one of his balls "hanging" over a pocket.
Opponent's Foul - One Free Shot, One Visit - You get one shot to do what you like with (other than pot the black obviously unless you are on it) and then a normal visit continues as it would have done anyway. Two shots do NOT carry.
Break - Person breaking, if he pots a ball can nominate EITHER colour to continue his break with. If he doesn't pot a ball, opponent nominates his colour BEFORE playing a shot. It the person breaking does a foul break the opponent comes to the tabel with one free shot and one visit and didn't have to nominate his colour until after the free shot.
Potting one of each colour with one shot is perfectly legal providing you actually hit your own colour first. It's a perfectly legitimate and skillful tactic for clearing a pocket if your opponent has left one of his balls "hanging" over a pocket.
I haven't played pool for a good few years but did have a spell in a league playing with the rules I described earlier. I do remember some people talking about the introduction of "new rules" - probably the same as what you mentioned above. But by that time I was just playing with the same group of blokes in the pub and we stuck to the game as we knew it.
My local used to have a 7ft table with fairly tight pockets and what a difference that made to the game! Instead of pot pot pot, positional play became far more important and quite a few titanic tactical battles developed.
If an opponent had a "goalkeeper" hanging over a bag, etiquette dictated that you did your utmost to avoid striking it accidentally, particularly if a couple of your balls were clustered behind it. But inevitably, sometimes a player would knock it in inadvertently amid some light-hearted booing. But what happens if you do this in a serious competition? Can you be red-carded?
QUOTE (centralparker @ Nov 4 2008, 13:57)
If an opponent had a "goalkeeper" hanging over a bag, etiquette dictated that you did your utmost to avoid striking it accidentally, particularly if a couple of your balls were clustered behind it. But inevitably, sometimes a player would knock it in inadvertently amid some light-hearted booing. But what happens if you do this in a serious competition? Can you be red-carded?
Deliberate failure to play your own ball first is punished with loss of frame.
Making a deliberate foul to knock your opponent's ball hanging over a pocket out of the way provided you have cannoned your own ball first is perfectly acceptable tactics. It's a foul and gets the "One free shot, one visit" punishment but play continues and sometimes it's seen as the only way to progress the frame.
So you can't just line your opponent's ball up and skelp it into the pocket, just losing a turn by doing so. But you can play a cannon onto it and pot it, taking the punishment accordingly if you want to and think he can't clear up with his next visit.
An inadvertent foul of any sort never gets anything more then the "One free shot, one visit" punishment.
QUOTE (Skyline Drifter @ Nov 4 2008, 13:51)
These days, if indeed the table still has a "D" you can play in any direction from it. In fact under the most recent rules I believe there isn't a "D", just a baulk line and you can play from anywhere behind it following a foul.
I've seen people lifting the white ball after a foul (even though it was still on the table) and placing it in the D. Can you now put it anywhere in baulk? I've never played that rule, I think it's difficult to accept new rules if you have been used to different ones for years.
One rule that we never bothered enforcing was the one that said a minimum of two balls must strike a cushion after a break.
Has anyone ever seen the black potted straight from the break? What is the ruling if that happens?
One thing I loved about pool is that even though a high level of skill was required to win consistently, you had a chance of beating just about anyone in a one-off game. That very rarely happens in snooker when facing a much superior opponent.
ive seen having to hit a cushion when you pot a ball!!
Looks like the rules of the game are slowly being standardised but I doubt if regional variations will ever be erradicated completely.
Darts used to be just as bad. Some parts of Britain used completely different boards to others and these linger on today in a few places, along with the old rule of starting on a double. Of course, the standardisation of darts was aided by widespread national TV coverage whereas pool (as we know it) has never enjoyed this exposure. Then there is the American 9-ball pool which is on Sky TV - another bloody version of the game!
Darts used to be just as bad. Some parts of Britain used completely different boards to others and these linger on today in a few places, along with the old rule of starting on a double. Of course, the standardisation of darts was aided by widespread national TV coverage whereas pool (as we know it) has never enjoyed this exposure. Then there is the American 9-ball pool which is on Sky TV - another bloody version of the game!
QUOTE (centralparker @ Nov 4 2008, 15:23)
I've seen people lifting the white ball after a foul (even though it was still on the table) and placing it in the D. Can you now put it anywhere in baulk? I've never played that rule, I think it's difficult to accept new rules if you have been used to different ones for years.
One rule that we never bothered enforcing was the one that said a minimum of two balls must strike a cushion after a break.
Has anyone ever seen the black potted straight from the break? What is the ruling if that happens?
One thing I loved about pool is that even though a high level of skill was required to win consistently, you had a chance of beating just about anyone in a one-off game. That very rarely happens in snooker when facing a much superior opponent.
One rule that we never bothered enforcing was the one that said a minimum of two balls must strike a cushion after a break.
Has anyone ever seen the black potted straight from the break? What is the ruling if that happens?
One thing I loved about pool is that even though a high level of skill was required to win consistently, you had a chance of beating just about anyone in a one-off game. That very rarely happens in snooker when facing a much superior opponent.
Yes, following ANY foul you can place the white in the "D" or behind baulk on the new tables and play on from there if it's preferable.
We always enforced the two balls to strike a cushion rule. If they don't it's a re-rack.
I've not only seen the black potted on the break, I've DONE it. And that too is a re-rack. You cannot win (or lose) in one shot. You can however win (or lose) without playing a shot and I've seen both. I twice saw someone break and clear up without giving their opponent a shot (one of them was me!
) and I've several times seen someone in our team win a frame without playing a shot when his opponent started by potting a ball or two then cannoned the black into a pocket before our guy had a shot.
QUOTE (centralparker @ Nov 4 2008, 15:48)
Looks like the rules of the game are slowly being standardised but I doubt if regional variations will ever be erradicated completely.
Darts used to be just as bad. Some parts of Britain used completely different boards to others and these linger on today in a few places, along with the old rule of starting on a double. Of course, the standardisation of darts was aided by widespread national TV coverage whereas pool (as we know it) has never enjoyed this exposure. Then there is the American 9-ball pool which is on Sky TV - another bloody version of the game!
Darts used to be just as bad. Some parts of Britain used completely different boards to others and these linger on today in a few places, along with the old rule of starting on a double. Of course, the standardisation of darts was aided by widespread national TV coverage whereas pool (as we know it) has never enjoyed this exposure. Then there is the American 9-ball pool which is on Sky TV - another bloody version of the game!
9 Ball pool is in reality as different a sport from 8 ball pool as snooker is. The name implies far more similarity than there actually is. Indeed 9 ball probably has more similarity to snooker than it does to 8 ball.
You do realise Sky regularly cover the 8 ball pool tournaments too do you (not live right enough but they show them over several nights)?
QUOTE (centralparker @ Nov 4 2008, 15:23)
I've seen people lifting the white ball after a foul (even though it was still on the table) and placing it in the D. Can you now put it anywhere in baulk? I've never played that rule, I think it's difficult to accept new rules if you have been used to different ones for years.
One rule that we never bothered enforcing was the one that said a minimum of two balls must strike a cushion after a break.
Has anyone ever seen the black potted straight from the break? What is the ruling if that happens?
One thing I loved about pool is that even though a high level of skill was required to win consistently, you had a chance of beating just about anyone in a one-off game. That very rarely happens in snooker when facing a much superior opponent.
One rule that we never bothered enforcing was the one that said a minimum of two balls must strike a cushion after a break.
Has anyone ever seen the black potted straight from the break? What is the ruling if that happens?
One thing I loved about pool is that even though a high level of skill was required to win consistently, you had a chance of beating just about anyone in a one-off game. That very rarely happens in snooker when facing a much superior opponent.
I used to play in the West Renfrewshire league where the only rule was there were no rules. Over the years more pubs from Paisley joined the league after theirs collapsed and they eventually brought their rules with them. "Scottish Rules" as we were told. I only played for one season after the rule changes but you're right, it's like playing a totally different game.
As i recall (i may be wrong) after a foul you could pick up the white and place it ANYWHERE! The first time i thought the guy was taking it to the toilet for cleaning.
Some rules were good. Nominating after the break got rid of tippy tappy starts to frames.
Potting the black off a break always meant a re-rack.
QUOTE (fishtrunkAKA @ Nov 4 2008, 16:04)
As i recall (i may be wrong) after a foul you could pick up the white and place it ANYWHERE! The first time i thought the guy was taking it to the toilet for cleaning.
Not the UK Pool Rules or the Scottish Rules (which are the same) but certainly the 8 ball tournaments that Sky show, after potting the white in off the opponent can put the white anywhere he likes on the table.
The best "rule" I have ever seen in Pool is one I have only ever seen in one pub.
In "Curlers" in Glasgow, there is , or certainly was, a sign above the tables stating:-
"No Winner Stays On. Your money, Your choice of opponent"
I think this is the way it should be in all pubs, I cannot stand this notion of someone "holding" the table. When I pay my 50p , £1 or whatever for my, admittedly, rare game of Pool, I want to be playing against one of my mates, not some random stranger getting a free game from me purely because he / she happened to beat some other random stranger in the previous game.
In "Curlers" in Glasgow, there is , or certainly was, a sign above the tables stating:-
"No Winner Stays On. Your money, Your choice of opponent"
I think this is the way it should be in all pubs, I cannot stand this notion of someone "holding" the table. When I pay my 50p , £1 or whatever for my, admittedly, rare game of Pool, I want to be playing against one of my mates, not some random stranger getting a free game from me purely because he / she happened to beat some other random stranger in the previous game.
QUOTE (Ade Eyemond @ Nov 4 2008, 16:17)
The best "rule" I have ever seen in Pool is one I have only ever seen in one pub.
In "Curlers" in Glasgow, there is , or certainly was, a sign above the tables stating:-
"No Winner Stays On. Your money, Your choice of opponent"
I think this is the way it should be in all pubs, I cannot stand this notion of someone "holding" the table. When I pay my 50p , £1 or whatever for my, admittedly, rare game of Pool, I want to be playing against one of my mates, not some random stranger getting a free game from me purely because he / she happened to beat some other random stranger in the previous game.
In "Curlers" in Glasgow, there is , or certainly was, a sign above the tables stating:-
"No Winner Stays On. Your money, Your choice of opponent"
I think this is the way it should be in all pubs, I cannot stand this notion of someone "holding" the table. When I pay my 50p , £1 or whatever for my, admittedly, rare game of Pool, I want to be playing against one of my mates, not some random stranger getting a free game from me purely because he / she happened to beat some other random stranger in the previous game.
it's annoying in pubs with only one table, especially when it's the local shark circling by the bar.
On price, i was down in Spennymoor this summer visiting a mate and the pool tables (excellent) were 30p. Takes you back.
QUOTE (Ade Eyemond @ Nov 4 2008, 16:17)
The best "rule" I have ever seen in Pool is one I have only ever seen in one pub.
In "Curlers" in Glasgow, there is , or certainly was, a sign above the tables stating:-
"No Winner Stays On. Your money, Your choice of opponent"
I think this is the way it should be in all pubs, I cannot stand this notion of someone "holding" the table. When I pay my 50p , £1 or whatever for my, admittedly, rare game of Pool, I want to be playing against one of my mates, not some random stranger getting a free game from me purely because he / she happened to beat some other random stranger in the previous game.
In "Curlers" in Glasgow, there is , or certainly was, a sign above the tables stating:-
"No Winner Stays On. Your money, Your choice of opponent"
I think this is the way it should be in all pubs, I cannot stand this notion of someone "holding" the table. When I pay my 50p , £1 or whatever for my, admittedly, rare game of Pool, I want to be playing against one of my mates, not some random stranger getting a free game from me purely because he / she happened to beat some other random stranger in the previous game.
Yeah, I'd agree with that to be honest. Nothing more irritating when you go for a game of pool with a mate if you can't actually get to play one another because some bloke who won the game before was better than both of us. I never used to enforce that if I won the game before unless the oncoming bloke was deperate to challenge me. I was always quite happy to stand down if two guys wanted to play one another.
In the Aberdeen league, we seem to adopt a different set from everyone else on here!
Two fundamentals - 'two shots carry', and it's behind the line. I've not even seen a "D" in ages.
From the break, four balls must hit a cushion (or one ball down). If a ball goes down, breaker can nominate either. If he pots red, nominates yellow and misses, it's a free table for his opponent.
If the white goes down, it's one 'visit' and an open table - if it comes off the table, it's two visits or 'two shots carry' and an open table.
Oh, and on every shot after contact, a ball must either hit a cushion or be potted. It helps stop this tippy tappy nonsense.
Deliberate fouls are not loss of frame, merely punished by the usual two visits to an opponent. Fantastic when used appropriately in tactical battles.
Free balls only exist when your opponent has fouled, and you can't see both extremes of any of your colour. You have to nominate a specific ball obviously, and potting it continues your visit.
Two fundamentals - 'two shots carry', and it's behind the line. I've not even seen a "D" in ages.
From the break, four balls must hit a cushion (or one ball down). If a ball goes down, breaker can nominate either. If he pots red, nominates yellow and misses, it's a free table for his opponent.
If the white goes down, it's one 'visit' and an open table - if it comes off the table, it's two visits or 'two shots carry' and an open table.
Oh, and on every shot after contact, a ball must either hit a cushion or be potted. It helps stop this tippy tappy nonsense.
Deliberate fouls are not loss of frame, merely punished by the usual two visits to an opponent. Fantastic when used appropriately in tactical battles.
Free balls only exist when your opponent has fouled, and you can't see both extremes of any of your colour. You have to nominate a specific ball obviously, and potting it continues your visit.
In my version of the "your opponents potted the white" rule, you can play the white from anywhere behind the baulk line---in any direction---but if you play the ball "up" the table (ie backwards) then it has to finish on the "down" side of the baulk line.
Two shots dont carry.
Two shots dont carry.
The most irritating local rule that most folk seem to play is "only one shot on the black".
Why? I'm on the black, you've got one of your own "set" left to pot, you've left your target ball over the pocket and gone in-off -you've fouled. Why should I be punished by having to take on a long pot that I might well miss, leaving you to mop up a sitter and have good chance of getting good position on the black.
I also nearly got into a fight because some plamff didn't recognise the "free ball after a foul" rule and my last ball was totally covered by two of his.
People that play "two shot carry" probably also play 10-pin bowling with bumper lanes.
My zenith at pool came in NZ when me and my mate humbled a couple of Welsh guys who were quite clearly sharks- we found out later they'd both played for the National team and I reeled off a 6-ball clearance to ensure a 2-1 win.. Admittedly we were all steaming which might have been a bit of a leveller but I was on fire that night.
Why? I'm on the black, you've got one of your own "set" left to pot, you've left your target ball over the pocket and gone in-off -you've fouled. Why should I be punished by having to take on a long pot that I might well miss, leaving you to mop up a sitter and have good chance of getting good position on the black.
I also nearly got into a fight because some plamff didn't recognise the "free ball after a foul" rule and my last ball was totally covered by two of his.
People that play "two shot carry" probably also play 10-pin bowling with bumper lanes.
My zenith at pool came in NZ when me and my mate humbled a couple of Welsh guys who were quite clearly sharks- we found out later they'd both played for the National team and I reeled off a 6-ball clearance to ensure a 2-1 win.. Admittedly we were all steaming which might have been a bit of a leveller but I was on fire that night.
QUOTE (Fudge @ Nov 4 2008, 13:39)
I get FURIOUS when people do not adhere to this rule............
When your opponent pots the white, you place the ball in the D and can only play down the table, unless all of your balls are up the other end, or you ar snookered on all balls down the table.
People normally understand the playing down the table bit, but not the second part of it. They seem to think it's ok for you to be snookered or put in a very tough position from their foul!
When your opponent pots the white, you place the ball in the D and can only play down the table, unless all of your balls are up the other end, or you ar snookered on all balls down the table.
People normally understand the playing down the table bit, but not the second part of it. They seem to think it's ok for you to be snookered or put in a very tough position from their foul!
That really pisses me off too. if you are playing with people that you haven't played before and they foul and then explain that no playing back.
Yes so you foul and i am the one who is essentially in a worse position than if you had played a legal shot. sounds fair.
Don't have a "local" but at the Pub in Stenhousemuir where I play a bit of pool now and again, they have a rule where you let the guy with no teeth and "HATE" tattoed on the knuckles of both hands win.
Doesn't it depend on whether you're playing on an American (stripes and spots, 9ft by 4.5ft) table or a British table (yellows and reds, 8ft by 4ft)?
American rules are usually (for us anyway):
At the start, if you pot a spot or a stripe, you must continue with the one you potted. If you pot and foul at the same time it remains open table, and if you pot one or more of each type, it remains open table until someone pots only one of the two in a shot. Potting off the break leaves open table.
Foul if you hit the black with the cue ball when your own set of balls is still on the table
Foul if you fail to hit any balls
Foul if you hit an opponent's ball directly
Foul if no ball hits the cushion or goes in a pocket
Foul if fewer than 3 balls hit the cushions off the break
Foul if cue ball pocketed or a ball is jumped off the table
Foul if black ball pocketed out of turn (This one forfeits the game)
If cue ball pocketed or off table, it must be placed behind or on the kitchen (the balk line) and the cue ball must move forwards or perpendicular to the long side of the table upon being hit
If a foul is committed, two shots are awarded the opponent. If they pot with the first then the second shot is ignored. If your opponent fouls and you are on the black you only get one shot
It is not a foul to pot your opponent's ball, provided that it is not the black and you did not hit it directly
No pocket must be nominated for the black
Oh and we have a "house rule" that if you pot the black off the break you win.
American rules are usually (for us anyway):
At the start, if you pot a spot or a stripe, you must continue with the one you potted. If you pot and foul at the same time it remains open table, and if you pot one or more of each type, it remains open table until someone pots only one of the two in a shot. Potting off the break leaves open table.
Foul if you hit the black with the cue ball when your own set of balls is still on the table
Foul if you fail to hit any balls
Foul if you hit an opponent's ball directly
Foul if no ball hits the cushion or goes in a pocket
Foul if fewer than 3 balls hit the cushions off the break
Foul if cue ball pocketed or a ball is jumped off the table
Foul if black ball pocketed out of turn (This one forfeits the game)
If cue ball pocketed or off table, it must be placed behind or on the kitchen (the balk line) and the cue ball must move forwards or perpendicular to the long side of the table upon being hit
If a foul is committed, two shots are awarded the opponent. If they pot with the first then the second shot is ignored. If your opponent fouls and you are on the black you only get one shot
It is not a foul to pot your opponent's ball, provided that it is not the black and you did not hit it directly
No pocket must be nominated for the black
Oh and we have a "house rule" that if you pot the black off the break you win.
I should add that 9 ball is a completely different kettle of fish as instead of 2 shots you just get to put the cue ball wherever you like.
QUOTE (For the Banter @ Nov 9 2008, 09:25)
Doesn't it depend on whether you're playing on an American (stripes and spots, 9ft by 4.5ft) table or a British table (yellows and reds, 8ft by 4ft)?
Proper 8-ball is played on a 6 by 3 feet table. Obviously you can play (UK) 8-ball on an American 9-ball table (8 by 4, not 9 by 4.5), but they're not made for that purpose.
QUOTE (Fuctifano @ Nov 6 2008, 23:29)
I also nearly got into a fight because some plamff didn't recognise the "free ball after a foul" rule and my last ball was totally covered by two of his.
People that play "two shot carry" probably also play 10-pin bowling with bumper lanes.
People that play "two shot carry" probably also play 10-pin bowling with bumper lanes.
And there be the difference between the two rule sets. You get "two visits" instead of a free ball after foul. A free ball is only awarded when you're "foul snookered", or can't see both sides of any of your balls.
You'd be amazed at how many people have no idea how to use their free 'visit', if you can call it free.
QUOTE (Gnash @ Nov 9 2008, 11:08)
Proper 8-ball is played on a 6 by 3 feet table. Obviously you can play (UK) 8-ball on an American 9-ball table (8 by 4, not 9 by 4.5), but they're not made for that purpose.
Proper 8 ball being?
The tables at my local Rileys are 9 by 4.5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_billiards has that as the maximum size. They are the American Tables.
This also agrees: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Pool-Billiards-...-pool-table.htm
Also, for those interested in the actual official rules of each version of pool, take a look at this site: http://www.bca-pool.com/play/tournaments/rules/rls_gen.shtml
QUOTE (Gnash @ Nov 9 2008, 11:08)
Proper 8-ball is played on a 6 by 3 feet table. Obviously you can play (UK) 8-ball on an American 9-ball table (8 by 4, not 9 by 4.5), but they're not made for that purpose.
My old local had a 7ft table and that made for a cracking game of pool. Instead of just potting balls, you really had to think about your position as well. Different game entirely really.
QUOTE (For the Banter @ Nov 9 2008, 21:25)
Proper 8 ball being?
The tables at my local Rileys are 9 by 4.5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_billiards has that as the maximum size. They are the American Tables.
This also agrees: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Pool-Billiards-...-pool-table.htm
Also, for those interested in the actual official rules of each version of pool, take a look at this site: http://www.bca-pool.com/play/tournaments/rules/rls_gen.shtml
The tables at my local Rileys are 9 by 4.5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_billiards has that as the maximum size. They are the American Tables.
This also agrees: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Pool-Billiards-...-pool-table.htm
Also, for those interested in the actual official rules of each version of pool, take a look at this site: http://www.bca-pool.com/play/tournaments/rules/rls_gen.shtml
By "proper" I meant UK pool, or as wikipedia calls it, blackball. Annoyingly, that page doesn't give the dimensions of a table, but it is definitely 6 by 3. If you don't believe me, stretch your arms out along the side of the table the next time you see one of these tables in the pub, assuming your arm span is normal your finger tips will allign with the cusions at either end. Probably best to do it when the pub is quiet.
I didn't realise the maximum dimension of the 9 ball tables was 9 by 4.5 right enough, I've played on 8 by 4 tables and assumed it was a standard size.
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