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GENERAL DESCRIPTION - 9-Ball is played with a cue ball and nine object balls numbered 1 through 9. 9-Ball is a rotation game, meaning the balls are shot in numerical order. The shooter must strike the lowest numbered ball on the table first. The game is over when the 9-ball is pocketed. A player retains his turn at the table as long as he strikes the lowest numbered ball first and legally pockets a ball. He need not pocket the lowest numbered ball to continue shooting. He may, for example, shoot the 1-ball into the 4-ball thus pocketing the 4. He will continue shooting but must, once again, strike the 1-ball first. If the shooter shoots the 1-ball into the 9-ball and the 9 is pocketed, the game is over.
1. LAGGING - Method used to start a match. Players simultaneously shoot a ball from behind the head-string, banking it off the foot rail and back to the head of the table. Striking the side rails or any pocket results in loss of the lag. The closest ball to the head rail wins. It is permissible to strike the head rail. If the lagged balls make contact with each other, lag over.
2. RACKING - Nine balls are used and are racked in a diamond shape. The 1-ball is at the front of the rack and on the foot spot. The 9-ball is in the center and the rest of the object balls can be placed in any numerical order. All balls should be frozen (touching) as tightly as possible. The breaking player may request and receive a re-rack.
Note 1: When using coin-operated tables, save some money by using all the balls in the event of a short game. Example: If the 3 and 9 are made on the break, the balls are re-racked (because a 9-on-the-break is a winner) using the 10 and 11- balls. The sequence in the next game is 1,2,4,5,6,7,8,10,11. The 11, in effect, is the 9-ball (last ball) in this game. Do not say the 10 replaces the 3; it is too confusing. Shoot the balls in numerical order.
Note 2: The breaker can demand that the lowest available nine balls be used each game.
3. BREAKING - Players must break from behind the head string. To be a legal break, the head ball must be struck first and at least four balls must be driven to the rails or a ball must be pocketed. The cue ball may not be shot into a rail before the rack. An attempt to break does not count unless the rack is broken as above. Otherwise, the balls are re-racked and re-broken by the same player. A game not legally broken, but resulting in a scratch or a foul, will be re-racked and broken by the opposite player. THE RACK MUST BE STRUCK BEFORE A FOUL CAN OCCUR. Breaking safe or soft is not allowed. The League Operator may make judgments and issue penalties to a team and players who are not breaking hard. Breaking just hard enough to comply with this rule is not a guarantee against penalties. Remember, break as hard as you can with control.
4. AFTER THE BREAK - Various circumstances can occur upon completion of the break. They are:
a. A foul on the break will result in ball-in-hand anywhere on the table for the breaker's opponent. Pocketed balls, if any, stay down (are not spotted), except the 9-ball.
b. No balls are pocketed and it is the other player's turn.
c. The 9-ball is made. This is a winner unless the player scratches, in which case the 9-ball (any other available high numbered ball is adequate) is spotted and the turn passes to the opponent.
d. One ball or a number of balls are made. It is still the breaker's turn and he shoots at the lowest numbered ball on the table.
e. Occasionally it occurs that a player mistakenly shoots the wrong ball. Although it is sportsmanlike for the sitting player to remind the shooting player he is about to foul by shooting the wrong ball, he is not required to do so. Once the shooter has hit the wrong ball, the foul has occurred whether the ball is pocketed or not. If the ball is pocketed, it is permissible, though not recommended, that the sitting player allow the shooting player to continue shooting until he feels inclined to call the foul. The shooting player can escape penalty by quietly realizing his error and returning to shoot the correct ball and striking it first on a shot prior to his opponent calling the foul. In other words, the sitting player must call the foul before the shooter has shot the correct ball.
5. COMBINATION SHOTS - Combination shots are legal and extremely common in 9-Ball. Just make sure to hit the lowest numbered ball on the table first.
6. BALLS ON THE FLOOR - Knocking the cue ball off the playing surface is covered under fouls. Object balls that get knocked off the playing surface will be immediately spotted on the foot spot. If the foot spot is taken, the ball will be placed on a line directly behind the foot spot as close to the foot spot as possible. If two balls are knocked on the floor, they are placed in numerical order with the lowest numbered ball closest to the foot spot. Spotted balls will be frozen to one another. Knocking an object ball on the floor is not a foul. It might occur that a player legally pockets a ball while simultaneously knocking some other ball(s) on the floor. In this situation, the ball(s) is spotted and the player continues shooting until he misses.
7. POCKETED BALLS - Balls must remain in a pocket to be legal. If a ball goes in a pocket but bounces back onto the playing surface, it is not considered pocketed.
8. SPOTTING BALLS - Other than the circumstances described in "Balls on Floor", the only ball that will ever be spotted will be the 9-ball when the shooter has pocketed the 9-ball and scratched or otherwise fouled. If the shooter makes the 9-ball on the break and fouls or scratches, the 9-ball and only the 9-ball is spotted. If the shooter is shooting at the object ball and plays it into the 9-ball and pockets the 9-ball, but scratches or otherwise fouls in the process, the 9-ball is spotted. The incoming player has ball-in-hand and will be shooting at the lowest numbered ball on the table.
Note 1: If a ball which has been hanging in a pocket for more than a few seconds suddenly falls in, it is to be placed back on the table where it was originally.
Note 2: It occasionally happens on tables with small pockets that two balls become jammed in a pocket and are leaning over the edge of the slate to some degree. They are off the playing surface and are pocketed. Drop them in and resume playing the game unless the pocketing ends the game.
9. FOULS - If any of the following fouls are committed, the penalty is ball-in-hand for the incoming player. Make certain you have ball-in-hand before you touch the cue ball by confirming with your opponent. Ball-in-hand means you are allowed to place the cue ball anywhere on the table and shoot the lowest numbered ball on the table. Even after having addressed the cue ball, a player may, if not satisfied with the placement, make further adjustments with the hand, cue stick or any other reasonable piece of equipment. A foul may be called only if the player fouls while actually stroking the cue ball, meaning a double hit of the cue ball (sometimes called double clutching). The ball-in-hand rule penalizes a player for an error. Without this rule, a player could benefit by accidentally or purposely scratching or fouling.
Only the player or the coach may officially call a foul, although anyone may suggest to the player or the coach that a foul should be called.
These are the only fouls resulting in ball-in-hand:
a. Anytime the cue ball goes in a pocket.
b. Failure to hit the correct ball first. (The correct ball is always the lowest numbered ball on the table.) The shooter has the advantage in these situations unless his opponent has asked an outside party to watch the hit. Protect yourself. If you think your opponent is attempting a shot that could result in a bad hit, get someone to watch the shot before he starts shooting. Teams involved in repeatedly calling bad hits without outside party verification may be subject to penalty points for disruptive un-sportsmanlike behavior.
c. Failure to hit a rail after contact. A sentence that should answer many questions is: "Any ball (including the cue ball) must go to a rail AFTER LEGAL contact." A pocketed ball counts as a rail.
d. The object ball is frozen to a rail and the player is contemplating playing a "safety." In order for the "frozen ball" rule to be in effect, the opponent must declare the ball frozen and the player should verify. Once it is agreed the ball is frozen the player must drive the object ball to another rail (of course, it could hit another ball, which in turn hits a rail) or drive the cue ball to a rail after it touches the object ball. If the latter method of safety is chosen the player should be sure to obviously strike the object ball first. If the cue ball strikes the rail first or appears to hit both the rail and ball simultaneously, it is a foul unless either the cue ball or object ball went to some other rail.
e. It is a foul to jump a cue ball over another ball by purposely miscuing it up in the air. Accidental miscuing is not a foul unless other rules in this section are violated.
f. Anytime the cue ball goes on the floor, or otherwise leaves the playing surface.
g. Receiving illegal aid (coaching from person(s) other than the coach) during your turn at the table.
h. Causing movement of the cue ball, even accidentally, is a foul. It is not a foul to accidentally move any other balls unless, while shooting, a player moves a ball and it in turn strikes the cue ball. Even dropping the chalk on the cue ball is a foul. Any balls moved accidentally during a shot must be replaced by the opponent after the shot is over and all balls have stopped rolling. If it occurs before the shot, it must be replaced before the shot is taken.
i. If, during the course of a shot, the cue ball does not touch anything.
j. Only the player may place the cue ball in a ball-in-hand situation.
k. Use caution when placing the cue ball on the table. The cue ball is always alive and if it, or the hand holding it, touches another ball, it is a cue ball foul and your opponent has ball-in-hand. Be especially careful when placing the cue ball in a tight spot.
11. SCORING - A player receives a point for every ball pocketed from 1 through 8 (except those pocketed when he scratches or otherwise fouls) and two points for pocketing the 9-ball.
Example 1: If a player pockets the 9-ball on the break and does not scratch, the game is over and he gets two points.
Example 2: If a player pockets the 9-ball and one other object ball on the break and does not scratch, he gets three points and the game is over.
Example 3: A player makes the 9-ball on the break as well as another object ball and scratches. The 9-ball is spotted (any other available high numbered ball is adequate). His opponent then takes ball-in-hand and legally runs all the balls off the table. He receives a point for each of the seven (remember one ball was already gone) object balls pocketed and two points for the 9-ball, or nine points total.
Example 4: Player A breaks and makes a ball, then runs all the balls but scratches (or fouls) when pocketing the 9-ball. The 9-ball is spotted and player B takes ball-in-hand and pockets the 9-ball. Player A gets eight points. Player B gets two points and breaks the next game.