American Pool Rules: 8-Ball, 9-Ball, 10-Ball, Straight Pool & One-Pocket

All five games are played on the same six-pocket table with the same numbered balls. What changes is which balls you may hit, whether you have to call your shots and how a rack is won.

The World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) publishes the international Rules of Play, and every big league in North America builds on them. The basics below hold for all five games.

The table and its markings

Tournament tables are 9 feet long, with a playing surface of 100 × 50 inches. Bars usually have 7-foot tables and homes often have 8-foot ones. The proportions are always 2:1 and the rules are the same on every size.

• Head string: an imaginary line across the table a quarter of the way from the head rail (the end you break from). It passes through the second diamond.
• Kitchen: the area between the head rail and the head string. The WPA calls it "above the head string". The cue ball starts here for every break.
• Foot spot: the marked spot a quarter of the way from the foot rail, where the rack goes. Balls that are put back on the table ("spotted") go on or just behind it.
• Head spot and center spot: marks on the head string and in the exact middle of the table, used mainly in straight pool.

Lag, break and turns

At the start of a match both players lag: each shoots a ball to the far rail and back, and the one who stops closest to the head rail decides who breaks. You stay at the table as long as you pot a ball legally. When you miss or foul, your turn (your "inning") ends.

What makes a legal shot

On every shot the cue ball has to hit the right ball first. After that, either a ball goes into a pocket or at least one ball (the cue ball or any object ball) touches a rail. A shot that does neither is a foul called no rail after contact, which is how a "safe" tap against a ball is kept in check.

Common fouls

• Scratch: the cue ball goes into a pocket or off the table.
• Wrong ball first: the cue ball hits a ball you are not allowed to hit first.
• No rail after contact: nothing is pocketed and no ball reaches a rail.
• Touching a ball with your hand, clothing or cue, other than the normal tip-on-cue-ball stroke.
• Double hit or push shot: the tip stays on the cue ball or strikes it twice.
• No foot on the floor, shooting while balls are still moving, and knocking a ball off the table.

Ball in hand

In 8-ball, 9-ball and 10-ball the usual penalty for a foul is ball in hand: your opponent picks up the cue ball and places it anywhere on the table. After a foul on the break it is often limited to the kitchen. Straight pool and one-pocket work differently: the player who fouls loses a point and the cue ball normally stays where it stopped.

Jump and massé shots

A jump shot is legal when you strike down on the cue ball so it bounces off the cloth over a blocking ball. Deliberately digging under the cue ball to scoop it into the air is not allowed. Massé shots, where you strike down steeply to make the cue ball curve, are not banned by the WPA rules, but many venues forbid them to protect the cloth.

All-ball fouls or cue-ball fouls only

Under WPA rules, touching or moving any ball by accident is a foul. Most leagues are more forgiving: they play cue-ball fouls only, so brushing an object ball with your sleeve is not a foul as long as it does not touch the cue ball. The opponent simply puts it back (see the league boxes below).

The most played pool game in the world. One player takes the solids (1 to 7), the other the stripes (9 to 15), and the black 8 is pocketed last to win.

Setup and rack

The 15 balls are racked tightly in a triangle with the apex ball on the foot spot. The 8 goes in the middle of the third row, and the two back corners hold one solid and one stripe. Everything else goes in any order.

The break

The breaker places the cue ball anywhere in the kitchen and does not have to call anything. A legal break either pots a ball or drives at least four object balls to a rail. If it does neither, the opponent chooses: play the table as it lies, re-rack and break, or make the breaker break again.

• 8-ball potted on a legal break: under WPA rules this is not a win. The breaker either has the 8 spotted and plays on, or breaks again.
• Scratch on the break: a foul. The opponent takes the cue ball in hand in the kitchen. If the 8 also went down, it is spotted (or the opponent can ask for a re-break).

Taking turns

After the break the table is open, whatever was potted. Groups are decided by the first ball someone pots legally on a called shot after the break: pot a stripe and you have the stripes. On an open table you may hit any ball first except the 8.

From then on you must hit one of your own balls first. Under WPA rules you call each shot by naming the ball and the pocket. Nobody expects you to announce an obvious one, and you never need to name rails or kisses. You may also call safety: your turn ends after the shot even if one of your balls goes in, and that ball stays down.

Scoring and winning

Once all seven of your balls are gone, the 8 is your ball. Pot it in the pocket you called and you win the rack. You lose the rack if you:

• pot the 8 before your group is cleared, including on the same shot as your last ball;
• pot the 8 in a pocket you did not call;
• foul while potting the 8, such as scratching;
• knock the 8 off the table.

None of these apply on the break.

Common fouls

• Hitting the other player's ball or the 8 first.
• Scratching or failing to hit a rail after contact.
• The penalty is ball in hand anywhere for your opponent. WPA 8-ball has no three-foul rule.

The fast, attacking game of the pro tour. You must always hit the lowest-numbered ball first, but anything that drops counts, and the 9 wins whenever it goes in on a legal shot.

Setup and rack

Balls 1 to 9 are racked in a diamond. The 1 sits at the front, facing the breaker, and the 9 sits in the center. Under WPA rules the 9 is the ball on the foot spot. The other seven balls go in any order.

The break

The cue ball starts in the kitchen and must hit the 1 first. If no ball goes in, at least four balls must reach a rail, or it is a foul and your opponent gets ball in hand. In WPA events a third test applies: if nothing is potted, at least three balls must also cross the head string (the "three-ball rule"). A 9 potted on a legal break wins the rack straight away.

The push-out

Right after a legal break, the next shooter may announce a push-out. For that one shot there is no need to hit the lowest ball or a rail, so you can roll the cue ball to a better spot. Your opponent then decides who shoots next. A 9 potted on a push-out is spotted.

Taking turns

You never call your shots. Hit the lowest ball on the table first and any ball that drops keeps you at the table. Combinations, kisses and lucky rolls all count. When you miss, your opponent plays the cue ball from where it stopped.

Scoring and winning

The player who pots the 9 on a legal shot wins the rack, whether it is the last ball or goes in early on a combination. If the 9 drops on a foul, it is spotted and your opponent gets ball in hand. Matches are a race to a set number of racks. The lag decides the first break, and after that the break order varies by event: some play winner breaks, others alternate the break.

Common fouls

• Hitting a higher ball before the lowest one.
• Scratching, or no ball reaching a rail after contact.
• Three fouls in a row in the same rack lose it. The referee warns you when you come to the table on two fouls.

10-ball is 9-ball made harder. There is one more ball and every shot must be called, so lucky rolls don't count.

Setup and rack

Balls 1 to 10 fill a four-row triangle. The 1 is at the apex on the foot spot and the 10 sits in the middle of the third row. The rest go in any order.

The break

The break works as in 9-ball, without the three-ball rule. Start in the kitchen, hit the 1 first, and either pot a ball or send at least four balls to a rail, or it is a foul. A 10 potted on the break does not win. It is spotted and play goes on. The push-out rule after the break is the same as in 9-ball.

Taking turns

You must hit the lowest ball first, and on every shot after the break you name the ball and the pocket unless it is obvious. There is no safety call in 10-ball. If you pot a ball but not the shot you called, and you did not foul, your opponent chooses who shoots next. Balls that went in stay down, apart from the 10.

Scoring and winning

You win only by potting the 10 on a called shot when it is the last ball on the table. If the 10 drops any earlier, on the break, on a combination or by accident, it comes back to the foot spot.

Common fouls

• Wrong ball first, scratch or no rail after contact: ball in hand anywhere for your opponent.
• Three fouls in a row in one rack lose it.

The classic American game, where the best players run 100 balls or more without missing. Any ball can be played at any time, every ball you pot is a point, and the rack is rebuilt as you go so a run can continue for ever.

Setup and rack

All 15 balls are racked in a triangle with the apex on the foot spot, in any order.

The break

The opening break is the one defensive shot in the game. The breaker must either pot a called ball or drive the cue ball and two object balls to a rail. Failing that is a breaking foul: minus two points, and the opponent can play on or make you break again. That is why most opening breaks just clip a corner ball and send the cue ball back up the table.

Taking turns

Every shot is called: name the ball and the pocket. Any extra ball that drops on the same shot also scores. You may call safety instead, but any ball potted on a safety is spotted.

The re-rack

When only one object ball (the 15th) is left, play pauses. The 14 potted balls are re-racked with the apex spot left empty. The shooter carries on from where the cue ball and the 15th ball lie. The skill is to pot that 15th ball and break open the new rack with the same shot. Special rules move the 15th ball or the cue ball if either is sitting inside the rack area.

Scoring and winning

Each legally pocketed ball is worth one point, and the first player to reach the agreed target wins. Events set the number; 100 and 150 points are common. Scores can go below zero, because fouls cost points.

Common fouls

• Any standard foul costs one point. The cue ball stays where it stopped, except after a scratch, when your opponent gets it in hand in the kitchen.
• Balls potted on a foul are spotted.
• Three fouls in a row: you lose the point for that foul plus another 15, all 15 balls are re-racked, and you must break under the opening-break rules.

A slow, tactical game often compared to chess. Each player owns one corner pocket at the foot of the table, and only balls in that pocket count.

Setup and pockets

The 15 balls are racked in a triangle with the apex on the foot spot, in any order. Before breaking, the breaker picks one of the two foot corner pockets and the opponent gets the other. Under WPA rules, if the breaker says nothing, they get the pocket on the opposite side from where they placed the cue ball.

The break

The cue ball starts in the kitchen. There is no special break requirement beyond a legal shot, so most players break softly to push a few balls toward their own pocket without leaving an easy shot.

Taking turns

You may hit any ball first and you don't call shots. Your turn continues only while you pot balls in your own pocket. A ball that goes into one of the other four pockets is spotted at the end of your turn. A ball you knock into your opponent's pocket counts for them.

Scoring and winning

The first player with eight balls in their own pocket wins the rack. If one shot pots both your eighth ball and your opponent's eighth ball, the shooter wins. Matches are a race to a set number of racks.

Common fouls

• A foul costs one point: one of your scored balls is spotted. If you have none yet, you "owe" a ball and pay it back from your next score.
• After a scratch, your opponent has the cue ball in hand in the kitchen. Otherwise it stays where it stopped.
• Three fouls in a row lose the rack.

For the full wording, or to settle a dispute, go to the rulebook your event or league plays under.