Pool

Objective

Pocket all seven balls of your group, the solids (1 to 7) or the stripes (9 to 15), then sink the 8-ball in the pocket you call. Do it before your opponent does and you win.

A match is one rack, and the 8 decides it either way. Sink it legally once your group is cleared and you win. Sink it too early, in a pocket you didn't call, or on a foul, and you lose on the spot.

The Table and the Rack

The table has six pockets: one in each corner and one in the middle of each long side. In the pictures here it lies sideways, with the head of the table on the left. A line across the head end, the head string, marks off the kitchen, the area you break from. The foot spot sits the same distance from the other end, and the rack goes there.

The fifteen object balls are racked in a triangle with its point on the foot spot. The 8 always sits in the middle of the third row, the two back corners hold one solid and one stripe, and every other ball is placed at random.

Ready to break: the cue ball sits in the shaded kitchen, aimed at the 1 on the point of the rack. The 8 is in the middle, with the 3 and the 12 in the back corners.

The Break

Every match starts with the break. The breaker places the cue ball anywhere in the kitchen and shoots into the rack, usually hard and straight at the point.

On the break only two things are fouls: missing the rack altogether, and a scratch, which means pocketing the cue ball. After that:

• Any ball drops, the 8 included: you keep shooting.
• Nothing drops: it's your opponent's turn.
• The 8 drops: it goes back on the foot spot, or as close behind it as it will fit. The break can't win or lose the match.
• You scratch: your opponent gets ball in hand anywhere on the table.

Whatever goes down, the table is still open after the break: nobody has a group yet.

Open Table and Groups

While the table is open you may hit any ball except the 8 first. The first time a player pockets a ball with a legal shot, the groups are settled: that ball's group is theirs, and their opponent gets the other. If several balls drop on that shot, the first one in decides.

The ball you hit first doesn't decide anything. Hit a solid, knock a stripe in with it, and you're stripes.

You broke and the 3 dropped, so you're still at the table, and the table is still open. The 11 is an easy pot in the bottom-right corner: sink it and you're stripes, your opponent is solids, and you keep shooting.

Once the groups are set they stay that way for the rest of the rack.

Your Turn and Fouls

You keep shooting for as long as you pocket a ball of your group with a legal shot. Pot one of your opponent's balls along with one of yours and you still carry on. Pot only theirs, or nothing, and your turn ends.

A shot is a foul when:

• Scratch: the cue ball drops in a pocket.
• No contact: the cue ball doesn't touch any ball.
• Wrong ball first: the first ball the cue ball touches isn't yours. On an open table that means the 8; once your group is cleared, anything but the 8.
• No cushion: after the cue ball hits a ball, nothing is pocketed and no ball touches a cushion.

A foul ends your turn and gives your opponent ball in hand: they can put the cue ball anywhere on the table before they shoot. Balls that dropped on the foul stay down.

You're solids and you want the 4 in the top-right corner, but the 12 is in the way. The aiming guide stops at the first ball the cue ball will touch, and here that's the 12. Shoot this and it's a foul.

The foul sends the 12 across to the right of the table. Your opponent, on stripes, has ball in hand: they drag the cue ball straight behind the 12 and pot it in the top-right corner.

With ball in hand the cue ball can go anywhere on the cloth that isn't on top of another ball. The only time it's held back is the break, when it has to start in the kitchen.

The 8-Ball

Once every ball of your group is down, the 8 is your target. Before you shoot at it, call a pocket by tapping it. Sink the 8 in the called pocket with a legal shot and you win.

You lose the match if you:

• sink the 8 before your group is cleared, even on the same shot as your last ball;
• sink it in a pocket you didn't call;
• sink it on a foul, a scratch included: the 8 goes down, but so does the cue ball.

Missing the 8, or fouling without sinking it, doesn't lose the match. It's an ordinary foul, and your opponent gets ball in hand.

Your solids are all down, and the 8 is a gentle cut into the top-right corner. Call that pocket, hit the 8 first, and it drops for the win.

Watch the cue ball on a straight-in 8. Hit this one with top spin and the cue ball follows the 8 into the pocket: the 8 is down in the called pocket, but it's a scratch, and you lose. Play the same shot with back spin and the cue ball stays out.

Aiming, Power and Spin

Aiming

Drag anywhere on the table and the cue points at your finger or pointer. For fine adjustments, tap the ‹ and › buttons to nudge the aim a fraction of a degree.

The aiming guide shows the ghost ball, which is where the cue ball will be when it meets the first ball, and two short lines from there: the path the object ball takes, and the direction the cue ball glances off in.

Power

Pull the power bar down to set the strength and let go to shoot. Changed your mind? Drag it back up to the top and nothing happens.

Spin

Tap the cue-ball button to choose where the cue strikes the cue ball:

• Top spin (above centre) makes the cue ball follow on after the hit.
• Back spin (below centre) makes it draw back towards you.
• Side spin (english, left or right) changes the angle it takes off a cushion.

The guide's cue-ball line shows where the cue ball glances off at contact. Top spin then bends its path forward, and back spin bends it back.

You're potting the 3 in the bottom side pocket. The guide's short cue-ball line points left. Hit it with back spin and the cue ball curves back up the table along the dashed line instead.

Ball in Hand and Calling the 8

With ball in hand, drag the cue ball itself to where you want it. When you're on the 8, tap a pocket to call it before you shoot.

Keyboard

• ← / → aim; hold Shift for bigger steps.
• ↑ / ↓ set the power.
• Space or Enter shoots.

Your Opponent's Turn

In a match against another player you see their cue move as they aim, live, so you can see what they're planning while you wait.

Strategy

Think One Ball Ahead

Potting the ball is half the shot; the other half is where the cue ball stops. Before you shoot, pick your next ball and use power and spin to leave the cue ball near it: follow to go forward, draw to come back, less power to stay close.

Pick the Easier Group

The table is open after the break, so look before you take your first pot. Go for the group with more balls near pockets and fewer clusters, not just the ball that's easiest right now.

Break Up Clusters Early

Balls touching each other or a cushion get harder to pot as the table empties. Split them while you still have other balls to fall back on, not when they're your last ones.

Make Ball in Hand Count

When your opponent fouls, don't just set the cue ball behind the nearest pot. Place it for a shot that also leaves you a good angle on your next ball.

Play Safe When There's No Pot

If nothing is on, you don't have to gamble. Hit one of your own balls, make sure a ball reaches a cushion so it isn't a foul, and leave the cue ball where your opponent has no easy shot.

Mind the Cue Ball on the 8

If the cue ball drops on the same shot as the 8, you lose. On a straight-in 8, use back spin or a softer stroke so the cue ball doesn't follow it in.