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- balls which are sunk on a shot where the called ball does not go into the called pocket are spotted. 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 previou= sly sunk balls are pulled), and opponent gets ball in hand, anywhere on = the = table, not just behind headstring. Jumped balls are spotted. If yo= u 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; the next shoot= er has choice of spotting the 8 or rebreaking.

The (1992) rules don't explicitly say it, but if the breaker makes a ball on the break and doesn't scratch or foul, he gets to shoot again, even though he didn't make a called ball from his group.

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.