Pool Rules: 8-Ball, 9-Ball and 10-Ball Made Simple

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It’s the deciding rack of a league match. Your opponent clips the 8-ball, the cue ball rolls toward the corner and drops. Is that a loss, or just ball in hand? The answer depends on the rules you’re playing under, and that’s where most arguments at the pool table start. This page explains the pool rules of the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), the world standardized rules for 8-ball, 9-ball and 10-ball, in plain words: the break, fouls, ball in hand, the three-foul rule, the push out, etiquette, and a short look at snooker and carom.

The WPA rules quoted here took effect on September 15, 2025. Leagues and bars often play their own versions, so ask before the first break. For the big picture, start at our billiards hub.

Rules every pool game shares

• The lag: both players shoot a ball to the far cushion and back; closest to the head cushion chooses who breaks. In 9-ball and 10-ball the break then alternates.
• Called shots: in call-shot games you name the ball and the pocket when it isn’t obvious. Cushions and kisses don’t matter, only that the called ball goes in the called pocket.
• Ball in hand: after a standard foul, the incoming player may put the cue ball anywhere on the table. After some break fouls, it’s restricted to the area behind the head string (the “kitchen”).
• Equipment you may use: different cues during a match (break, jump and playing cues), your own chalk, up to two mechanical bridges, a glove, and powder “in a reasonable amount.”

The standard fouls

Under the WPA rules, all of these are fouls in 8-ball, 9-ball and 10-ball, and each one gives your opponent ball in hand:

• Scratch: the cue ball goes in a pocket or off the table.
• Wrong ball first: the cue ball must hit a legal ball first (your group in 8-ball, the lowest-numbered ball in 9- and 10-ball).
• No rail after contact: if nothing is pocketed, some ball (cue ball or object ball) must hit a cushion after the cue ball contacts an object ball.
• No foot on the floor: at least one foot must touch the floor when the tip hits the cue ball.
• Object ball off the table.
• Touched ball: touching or moving a ball with your hand, cue, chalk, clothing or hair. Accidental is a standard foul; intentional is unsportsmanlike conduct.
• Double hit and push shot: the tip hits the cue ball twice, or stays on it longer than a normal stroke.
• Balls still moving: shooting while any ball is moving or spinning.
• Playing out of turn and slow play (after a warning, a referee can put both players on a shot clock).

One more point for close matches: a foul must be called before the next shot starts, or it’s treated as if it never happened.

8-ball rules

• The rack: 15 balls in a triangle, the 8-ball in the middle (just below the apex ball), and one solid and one stripe on the two back corners.
• The break: from behind the head string, no call needed. If nothing drops, at least four balls must reach a rail; otherwise it’s an illegal break and the opponent can take the table, re-rack and break, or make you break again. Pocketing the 8 on a legal break isn’t a loss: the breaker can spot it and play on, or break again.
• Open table: after the break, you call a ball; legally pocketing it makes that group yours. While the table is open you may hit any ball first except the 8.
• You lose the rack if you pocket the 8 on a foul, pocket it before clearing your group, pocket it in a pocket you didn’t call, or knock it off the table.
• Safety: you may call “safety”; your turn ends after the shot even if a ball drops.

Note that the WPA’s 8-ball rules have no three-foul rule. Scratching while shooting the 8 is a loss only if the 8 goes in on that foul; otherwise it’s ball in hand. Many bar and league rules make any scratch on the 8 a loss, which answers the question at the top of this page: check your house rules.

9-ball rules

• The rack: nine balls in a diamond, the 1-ball at the front (the point facing the breaker) and the 9-ball in the middle, on the foot spot.
• The break: if nothing is pocketed, at least four balls must reach a rail (a foul if not), and under the WPA’s three-ball break rule, three balls must cross the head string or it’s an illegal break.
• Play: always hit the lowest-numbered ball first. Pocket any ball legally and you keep shooting; legally pocket the 9 on any shot (even on the break or in a combination) and you win the rack. No calling needed.
• The push out: on the shot right after the break, the shooter may announce a push out. The wrong-ball and rail rules are suspended for that shot, then the other player chooses who shoots next. It’s a way to escape a bad lie.
• Three fouls: three fouls in a row in the same rack without a legal shot loses the rack. The referee must warn a player who is on two fouls.

10-ball rules

10-ball is 9-ball with less luck. The ten balls are racked in a triangle, the 1-ball on the foot spot and the 10 in the middle. The break and push out work like 9-ball, but every shot is called and there is no “safety” call. If you pocket a ball but miss your called shot (and don’t foul), your opponent chooses who shoots next. The 10 wins only when it’s legally pocketed on a called shot as the last ball on the table; pocket it early and it gets spotted. Three consecutive fouls lose the rack, as in 9-ball.

Etiquette and sportsmanship

The WPA treats some behavior as unsportsmanlike conduct, which can cost a rack, a match or more: distracting your opponent, moving balls except by a shot, deliberately miscuing, practicing during a match, marking the table, delaying the game and using equipment the wrong way. Around the table, good manners are simple:

• Sit still and stay out of the shooter’s line when it isn’t your turn.
• Call your own fouls, ask before you touch a ball, and agree on rules before the break.
• Keep drinks and food off the rails, don’t sit on the table, and use your chalk on the tip, not the cloth.
• Watch the space behind you before you stroke. Being hit by a cue or ball is the most common cause of billiards injuries seen in US emergency rooms.

Equipment rules in short

The WPA equipment specs set a 9-foot table’s playing surface at 100 x 50 inches (8-foot: 92 x 46), balls at 2¼ inches and 5½ to 6 ounces, and cues at a minimum of 40 inches, a maximum of 25 ounces and a tip no wider than 14 mm. Regulation balls like the Aramith Crown Standard set (phenolic, about $129 on Amazon in October 2026) play like a good pool hall’s, and Master chalk (about $10) is the cheapest fix for miscues. More on our gear page.

League rules, snooker and carom

League rules: the APA and CSI’s leagues publish their own rule books, close to the WPA’s but different in details. Our leagues page explains how they work.

Snooker is played on a 12-foot table with 15 reds worth 1 point each and six colours (yellow 2, green 3, brown 4, blue 5, pink 6, black 7). You alternate a red and a colour until the reds are gone, then take the colours in order; the classic maximum break is 147. Carom billiards, governed by the Union Mondiale de Billard (UMB), uses three balls on a table without pockets; in its best-known game, three-cushion, the cue ball must touch three cushions before hitting the second object ball.

Next: training drills, league night and tournament day and pool for kids.

Pool rules FAQs

Is it a loss if you scratch on the 8-ball?

Under WPA rules, only if the 8-ball is pocketed on that same shot. If you scratch while shooting the 8 and it stays up, it’s a foul and your opponent gets ball in hand. Many leagues and bars make any scratch on the 8 a loss, so agree on rules first.

What is ball in hand?

After your opponent fouls, you may place the cue ball anywhere on the playing surface and keep adjusting it until you shoot. After some break fouls in 8-ball, it’s limited to behind the head string.

Do you have to call shots in 9-ball?

No. In WPA 9-ball, any ball pocketed legally counts, including the 9 on the break or in a combination. 10-ball and 8-ball are call-shot games.

Can you jump a ball in pool?

Yes, in WPA 8-ball, 9-ball and 10-ball. A legal jump shot is played by elevating the cue and driving the cue ball down into the cloth so it rebounds over the obstacle, and you may switch to a jump cue during a match. A scoop shot, where the tip hits the cloth and the ball at the same time, is treated like a miscue, and an intentional miscue is unsportsmanlike conduct. Knocking an object ball off the table is a foul. (In blackball, the British-style 8-ball, any jump over a ball is a foul.)