2.5 Eight Ball
Description
This article is from the Pool & Billiards FAQ, by Bob Jewett with numerous contributions by others.
2.5 Eight Ball
You know, stripes and solids :-)
Basically, the answer to any question about American 8-ball is "It's a
house rule." If you'd like to post a comment on 8-ball rules, please
quote your source - e.g., the BCA, Nippon Billiards Association, this
little bar in Los Angeles, or whatever. Some common house rules are:
You must take the balls that are sunk on the break, you must call the
exact path the balls will take (e.g. combinations and banks), and if
you sink the 8-ball on the break you win the game. This last, and some
others, presumably reflect the fact that most bars are outfitted with
pay tables, in which, once an object ball is sunk, it cannot be
recovered without paying for a whole new game. None of these are
Billiards Congress of America (BCA) rules.
Here are some of the actual BCA rules:
1. Table is open after break, no matter how many of either stripe or
solid balls are sunk.
2. Call shot- your inning ends when the called ball does not go into
the called pocket. Any balls not called remain pocketed. Note- you
do not have to call combinations, caroms, or banks-- only the ball
and pocket.
3. Foul penalty-- No balls are spotted except the eight, and no
previously sunk balls are pulled), and opponent gets ball in hand,
anywhere on the table, not just behind headstring. Jumped balls are
spotted. If you call a safety and still sink your own ball, your
inning ends. Scratch on break is still cue ball behind headstring.
4. Same penalty, ball in hand, applies on foul on 8 ball, when it
stays on the table.
5. Sinking the 8 ball on the break is not a win or loss; breaker has
choice of spotting the 8 or rebreaking.
It's not clear what happens if the breaker makes all seven stripes on
the break. It seems that he would be required to take solids, since
groups haven't been decided yet, and he must pocket all the balls of his
group before calling and shooting at the eight.
The rules in Britain are slightly different, emphasizing tactics rather
than shooting skill. The most significant difference is that after a
foul, the opponent takes two consecutive innings. Also, on pub tables,
the cue ball is *smaller* than the object balls (on American bar tables
it is larger) and lighter. See http://arseweb.com/rupe/pool/uk_rules.html
for comparisons of the various forms of UK 8-ball.
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