8-ball, 9-ball and 10-ball: the rules in short

Three games cover nearly everything played in leagues and tournaments. This is how each of them works under the World Pool-Billiard Association's world standardised rules — the ones WPA, EPBF and most national federations play. Many leagues keep house rules of their own, a different break rule or a gentler foul rule; where they differ, the league's rules are the ones that count, and it is worth reading them before the first match night.

The words in italics below are explained in the glossary.

What every game shares

• A legal shot. The cue ball has to hit the right ball first — one of your own group in 8-ball, the lowest-numbered ball on the table in 9-ball and 10-ball. After that contact, either a ball has to go into a pocket or some ball, the cue ball included, has to touch a cushion. Anything less is a foul.
• Fouls. The usual ones: the cue ball going into a pocket or off the table (a scratch); hitting the wrong ball first; no ball touching a cushion after the contact; touching any ball with a hand, the cue or clothing; and shooting without a foot on the floor.
• Ball in hand. After a foul the opponent may put the cue ball anywhere on the table. This is what makes a foul so costly: with the cue ball wherever they want it, a good player expects to finish the rack.
• The break. The breaker has to pocket a ball or drive at least four balls to a cushion. A break that does neither is illegal, and the opponent gets the advantage — ball in hand, or the choice of breaking again, depending on the game.
• Racks and races. Each game is a rack, and a match is a race: in a race to 7 the first player to win seven racks wins the match. Most events alternate the break; some leagues let the winner of each rack break the next.

8-ball

• The rack. All fifteen balls, the 8 in the middle of the third row, a solid in one back corner and a stripe in the other.
• Choosing a group. The balls that go in on the break do not decide who has which group. If the breaker pocketed one, they play on and choose: the first ball they pocket on a called shot makes that group theirs — the solids, 1 to 7, or the stripes, 9 to 15. If they pocketed nothing, the opponent comes to the table and the choice is theirs.
• Calling. Every shot after the break is called: which ball, and which pocket. An obvious shot needs no announcing, but anything that could be doubted — a bank, a combination, a kick — is said out loud. Other balls that drop on a legal shot stay down.
• Calling safe. You may also call a safety instead of a ball. The shot still has to be legal, but the turn passes when it ends, even if one of your balls goes in — it stays down. In 9-ball there is no such call: pocket a ball on a legal shot and the turn is still yours. In 10-ball there is, but a ball that drops lets the opponent choose who plays next.
• The 8 last. Once your group is cleared you play the 8, called like any other shot, and pocketing it legally wins the rack.
• Losing on the 8. You lose the rack if you pocket the 8 before your group is cleared, in a pocket you did not call, or on a shot that is a foul — pocketing the 8 and scratching is the classic way. Knocking the 8 off the table loses too.
• The 8 on the break. Under world rules this is not a loss and not a win: the 8 is spotted and the breaker carries on, or the rack is broken again. Pub rules often make it an instant result, one way or the other — another thing to settle before you start.
• A foul on the break. A scratch on the break is a foul even if balls went in. They stay down, the table stays open, and the opponent has ball in hand behind the head string — not anywhere on the table, as after other fouls. If the 8 went in too, the opponent chooses: the 8 spotted and ball in hand behind the head string, or the rack broken again.

9-ball

• The rack. Nine balls in a diamond, the 1 at the front and the 9 in the middle.
• Lowest ball first. The cue ball has to hit the lowest-numbered ball first. After that, whatever goes in counts, and you keep shooting. Nothing is called.
• The 9 wins. Pocket the 9 on any legal shot and the rack is yours — on the break, on a combination off the 1, early or late. A 9 pocketed on a foul is spotted, and the opponent takes ball in hand.
• The push-out. On the shot straight after the break, the player at the table may declare a push-out: the cue ball can be sent anywhere, without having to hit the lowest ball or a cushion. The opponent then chooses whether to play from there or to hand the shot back. It keeps a rack from being decided by a lucky or unlucky lie after the break.
• Three fouls. Three fouls in a row by the same player, on three successive shots, lose the rack — provided they were warned after the second.

10-ball

• The rack. Ten balls in a triangle, the 1 at the front and the 10 in the middle of the third row.
• Lowest first, and called. As in 9-ball the lowest ball has to be hit first, but as in 8-ball every shot after the break is called. That takes most of the luck out: a ball that falls into a pocket you did not call does you no good, and the opponent decides who plays next.
• Calling safe. As in 8-ball you may call a safety, but what happens if a ball drops is different: the opponent chooses who plays next, just as after a ball you did not call.
• The 10 last. Pocket the 10 as the called ball once the other nine are gone, and the rack is yours. A 10 that goes in on the break, or without being called, never wins: it is spotted and the game goes on. A 10 called early, in a combination, is a different matter: some events count it as a win, many spot it and play on. It depends on the organiser, and the event's rules say which.
• Push-out and three fouls work as in 9-ball.

Why three games

8-ball is the one most people learn first, and the most played in bars and local leagues: choosing a group and planning the table make it a game of patterns. 9-ball is quicker, and the 9 can drop at any moment, which makes it the favourite for television and for big tournaments. 10-ball adds the called shot to 9-ball's order, so it rewards control over luck, and the professional game uses it more and more.

On CueResults every league says which game it plays, and the race, on its own page.