8-ball rules

8-ball is played with the cue ball and fifteen object balls: the solids 1 to 7, the stripes 9 to 15 and the black 8. One player takes the solids, the other the stripes, and whoever clears their group and then pots the 8 wins. CueMasters plays the WPA rules without called shots.

The goal

Pot all seven balls of your group, then the 8. Any ball of your group counts in any pocket, so you never call the ball or the pocket. You stay at the table for as long as you pot one of your balls on a legal shot.

The break

An 8-ball rack on the foot spot, the 8 in the middle

The break is played from behind the head string, the quarter of the table at the breaker's end. It is legal when a ball drops or at least four object balls reach a cushion. Otherwise it is a foul, and your opponent places the cue ball anywhere behind the head string.

An 8 potted on the break goes back on its spot and you play on. Balls potted on a foul break stay down and count for nobody. After the break the table is open, whatever went in.

Open table and groups

While the table is open you may hit any ball first except the 8: hitting the 8 first is a foul. The first ball you pot on a legal shot decides the groups. A solid makes you solids, a stripe makes you stripes.

Fouls

Each of these is a foul:

  • the cue ball drops into a pocket
  • a ball leaves the table (an object ball comes back to the foot spot)
  • the cue ball hits no ball
  • the first ball hit is not one of yours
  • no ball reaches a cushion after the contact
  • with the cue ball behind the head string, it hits a ball that is still there before crossing the line
  • the shot clock runs out

After a foul your opponent places the cue ball anywhere on the table. Balls you potted on the foul stay down.

The 8

You win when your group is cleared and you pot the 8 on a legal shot, the 8 being the first ball you hit. You lose if you pot the 8 before your group is cleared, if the cue ball drops on the shot that pots it, or if the 8 leaves the table.

8-ball at CueMasters tables

A table plays one rack or a race to 3, 5 or 7, the break passing from one player to the other. Its creator picks a shot clock of 15, 30, 60 or 120 seconds or none, and one against one or two against two, where partners take turns visit by visit. With a clock, ball in hand gives you 20 seconds to place the cue ball, and once a rack you can take 30 seconds more (E).