Welcome to the 8Ball pool help section where you can learn to play and master the game of 8-ball pool. On this page you will find the general rules, and some playing guides on how to play and enjoy playing 8ball pool games with 8baller.co.uk.
8Ball Pool - The General Idea
The general idea for the 8ball pool game are mainly very simple, a quick overview is below;
Each Player has their own ball set to pot (spots or stripes)
Your set of balls gets decided by who pots what first
Once you pot all your balls you need to pot the 8ball
The first person who pots all their own balls, and the 8ball wins the pool game
If you pot the 8ball without potting all your own balls first, your opponent wins
8Ball Pool - The Game Rules
8ball pool is played with 15 balls and a cue ball. The goal of each player is to pocket their set of balls (solid: 1-7, or stripes: 9-15) and then to pocket the 8 ball. The first player to legally pocket the 8 ball wins the game. Players do not need to call their shots in this version of 8-ball. A player`s turn is over when they fail to pocket one of their balls or if they scratch.
Breaking
The break is made by Player 1, beginning from any point behind the Head String. The Head String is defined by an imaginary vertical line across the table at the rightmost spot. If Player 1 pockets a ball on the break, their set of balls (stripes or solid) is selected by the first ball. If Player 1 does not pocked a ball, Player 2 shoots and the table remains open until a ball is pocketed.
Losing the game
A player immediately loses the game for any of the following reasons:
- Pocketing the 8 ball when they are not shooting at the 8 ball.
- Scratching the cue ball while shooting at the 8 ball.
- Pocketing the cue ball and the 8 ball.
8Ball Pool - Play Now
Had enough of reading how to play? It's about time you played the game.