Black Ball Rules

Of the many variations of billiards, blackball is one of the most common. The game is very popular in the United Kingdom, Australia and some smaller countries, and it is very similar to the American game eight-ball. In fact, the game got its name from the number eight ball, which is black.

  1. Equipment

    • The game is played on a rectangular table, which has six pockets along the outside into which players try to knock the balls. There are 15 object balls of two colors and a white ball called the "cue" ball. Object balls one through seven are one color, while balls nine through 15 are another color. As mentioned, the number eight ball is black. Players use pool sticks to knock the balls into the pockets in the sides of the table. According to World Pool Association rules, these are the only pieces of equipment permitted to play blackball, and no other tools may be used in the game.

    Start

    • The objective of the game is to pocket the object balls in any order and then pocket the black ball. Players may only use their sticks to strike the cue ball, which in turn strikes the other balls and knocks them into the pockets. To start the game, the players must position all 15 balls in a triangular manner inside of a rack, with the black ball in the middle, and hit the triangular formation with the cue ball. This play is called "the break," and it usually spreads the object balls over the table. When the first player sinks an object ball into one of the pockets, he must continue to try to sink the rest of the balls of that color until they are all gone from the table. If a player fails to sink a ball on the break, the other player can choose the color he will play, as long as he is able to knock a ball into a pocket.

    Playing

    • If a player successfully sinks one of his object balls into a pocket, he continues to make shots until he fails to do so. If he knocks the cue ball into a pocket, even if the same shot results in an object ball going into a pocket, he loses control of the cue ball, and it is the other player's turn. If a player pockets the eight ball before he has sunk all of his object balls, he loses the game.

      Certain fouls exist for which players can be penalized. For instance, if a player strikes the cue ball with anything other than the tip of the stick, or if a player takes a foot off of the ground while shooting, this can result in loss of a turn.

    How to Win

    • In blackball, rules establish that a winner is the first player to legally hit the black ball inside a pocket. "Legally" means after all seven of that player's object balls have been sunk. As mentioned, if a player pockets the black ball before this phase of the game, he loses the game.

      Once a player has pocketed all of his object balls, he must announce which pocket he is going to knock the eight ball into. If he successfully knocks the eight ball into that pocket, he wins the game. If he misses, play continues until someone successfully pockets the black ball.

      If a player sinks the black ball into a different pocket from the one he announced, he loses the entire game.