Game Rules

There are quite a few different types of pool that can be played, if you're speaking strictly of what is most widely known as pool.

9 Ball

First you have nine-ball. The goal of nine-ball is to pocket the nine-ball, of course. The lowest numerical ball currently on the table (of 1-9) must always be the first to come into contact with the cue ball. Balls don't have to be pocketed in order, though, as long as the lowest numbered ball was struck first. Technically, this means a player could win on a break the 1 ball was hit first and the 9 ball is pocketed.

The game is played in innings, as is normal for many games, and each inning ends when the player misses a shot, gets the nine-ball in for a win, or commits a foul (cue ball in a pocket, or hits a ball that isn't the lowest on the table first). In the case of a foul, the other player gets the cue ball in hand to place anywhere they desire on the table.

8 Ball

Eight-ball is probably the most well known and commonly played game of pool. Using the 15 object balls, the object of the game is to win by pocketing the eight-ball after you've pocketed all your object balls (stripes or solids, depending on what you are). You can also win if your opponent pockets the 8 ball before all of his balls have been sunk, if the 8 ball goes into a different pocket than called, the 8 ball gets knocked off the table, or if you scratch while pocketing the 8 ball.

One Pocket

1 pocket is a pretty interesting game. You can play with 2 players or 2 teams, and the point of it is to score points by pocketing balls into specific pockets. You earn points by getting one of the object balls (balls other than the cue ball) into your predesignated pocket. You win the game by being the first to score whatever number of points you came up with prior to starting the game (8 points is very common).  Whoever breaks for the game is the one who gets to choose his corner pocket for the game, and the opposing player's pocket is the corner opposite the breaking players' (both pockets residing on the side of the table the balls are racked on).

If you scratch in one pocket you lose a point and your opponent gets the ball in hand behind the line.  And your turn, of course, lasts as long as you keep pocketing  balls.

These are just 3 of the more common games you can play in pool.  Stick around because we'll be updating this page with an introduction to even more games you can play! If you're having trouble understanding any of the rules for any of these games feel free to shoot us an email and we'll try to clear things up for ya.