Billiards Ghost 9 Ball Rules

Practicing your billiards shots can be much more complicated than simply knocking the balls around the table. Even if you have no opponent, you can challenge your shooting skills by playing the ghost in your nine ball game. Ghost nine ball pits a player against himself for a true test of talent that can sharpen shooting skills.

  1. Setup

    • Rack balls one through nine in a diamond-shaped rack. The one ball should be the point of the diamond and rest on the foot spot, or the little white dot at one end of the board. The nine ball must be at the center of the diamond. Spread the remaining balls in random order to fill out the diamond.

      Take the cue ball in hand behind the head string, or the little white dot at the other end of the table. You can place the cue ball anywhere behind this dot or on the same line as the dot. Shoot the cue ball at the diamond to break up the balls. You must hit the one ball with the cue ball first for the break to be legal.

      In regulation pool, you must sink at least one ball on the break to keep your turn going. This should always be your goal when playing ghost pool as well.

    Playing

    • As with regular nine-ball billiards, you must contact the lowest-numbered ball on the table before hitting any other ball. The order that you sink the balls does not matter, so long as the lowest ball is the first ball you hit with the cue ball. However, you cannot pocket the nine ball before any other ball, or you have lost the game.

      For ghost nine ball, choose a number of balls you will work to sink ahead of time without penalizing yourself. For example, if you have a lower skill level, you will want to sink more balls at this early stage, without considering the game lost if you do not sink a ball.

    Beating the Ghost

    • Winning at ghost nine ball occurs after you have sunk all of the first-round balls; again, you determine this number ahead of time, and it will vary by player. Once you have sunk all of these balls, you must run out the board to win the game.

      Continue to play nine ball as usual, with the cue ball striking the lowest ball on the board before sinking any other balls. Remember to avoid sinking the nine ball, or you have lost the game. Once you decide you have started the run out phase of the game, you must legally sink a ball on all shots until you have cleared the board. If you are able to run out, you have won the game. If you perform an illegal shot (i.e. the cue ball not hitting the lowest ball first), if you fail to sink a ball on a shot or if you sink the nine ball before any other ball on the board, the ghost wins the game.