HOW TO PLAY 8 BALL … The “Official Rules” of Pool

Contents:

0:00 - Intro

0:15 - Official Rules of Pool

1:00 - 8-Ball Rules

4:50 - Double Hit Fouls

8:33 - Other Common Fouls

9:59 - Wrap Up



CORRECTIONS:

1:07 - I said "1 on the spot" (because the 1 was the top ball in that rack examples), but the top ball does not need to be the 1. Any stripe or solid is allowed; although, putting the 1 at the top is customary.

1:48 - The rack is illegal. One of the corner balls should be a solid.

Supporting Resources:

- previous "bar rules" video: https://youtu.be/x8sI73wlyoM

- Video Encyclopedia of Eight Ball (VEEB): https://drdavebilliards.com/videos/8-ball/

- rules resources page: https://billiards.colostate.edu/resources/rules/

- league rule differences: https://billiards.colostate.edu/resources/rules/rule-differences

- bar rules resource page: https://billiards.colostate.edu/resources/rules/bar-rules

- double hit detection and avoidance: https://billiards.colostate.edu/faq/foul/double-hit/



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You did an excellent job showing the rules. The rules you showed are the same as the BCA rules. So the only difference was on the rack. In BCA rules just need 8 in the middle and stripe and solid on the corners. Again, great job explaining and demonstrating!

I'm never going to convince anyone of double-hits based on cue-ball behavior in a friendly game. :c/

Good video but like others have said, bar rules stand, especially when the same people show up every week to play. They won't change the rules when they have been playing like that for years on end

Those double hits are my bread and butter.😄

If the Black is potted on the break along with a solid does the one who breaks win or is it a loss? also on the break if say two solids and one stripe are pocketed the break person has right of Choice?

Amazing how few people know the rules. With phones there’s no excuse. I played 3 guys for the first time last week showed them the “official rules” all 3 said “never heard of that” and didn’t want to play that way. Annoying.

A guy hits his own object. The object does not hit the bank but the cue ball does. According to the video, it’s a foul. But no foul was called. Why?

The one ball does not have to be at the top though , but that is still how I rack .

Thanks for doing this because I like to play it but bar rules are such an argument lol. Now I can play and see who is cheating. 👍👍👍

commenting for future reference with the boys, nbd

Is a double hit foul a real thing? Even during the slow motion playback, I never see the cue ball double hit.

This should be an obligatory watch before entering any place with a table. Thanks!

why 9:25 and 9:30 are safety shots? Aren't fouls as you explain in the early? 9:25 not driven in the cushion. 9:30 you hit your opponent ball and drop the ball and your opponent;s ball in the corner.

official rules:
if you pocket the 8 on break, you win this round.
your official rules suck! especially the double hit fouls. try convincing people they did a foul like this that they can't even see without a degree in ball physics. good luck.

So the cue ball does not count as a ball hitting the cushion? And what happens, when I don't pocket my intended ball, but another one of mine instead? Do I or my opponent continue the round?

I can see a reason to disallow double taps of the cue ball that are clearly intentional like to compensate for a miscue but these double hits just from proximity that are even hard to tell without special knowledge seems way too anal for me. Sorry Dave but you really need to justify this. You explain the technical details at length without any reasonable justification for the rule in these cases.

what happens if you get one of your balls in a pocket that wasn't called?

This video was a great educational pool tool. It cleared up a lot of confusing rules caused by inconsistent Bar Rules. Thank you, Dr. Dave. 🎱

I been playing pool for 20 years and I never knew about the cushion rule and no one ever pointed that out to me. I just learned something new.

what happens if you hit a ball off the table? (not the cue ball), where does it go?

It's a double hit because the tip of the cue made contact with the cue ball twice

Growing up in singapore as a teen 20 years ago, I was taught exactly these rules and everyone I played with adhered to these rules. Even strangers who would come to challenge our table. The only thing illegal at the pool houses was me. I was underaged and the staff would provide me a change of school uniform to some spare clothing they had prepared and pretended they didn't know my age. As for bars, nobody serious plays pool at bars here. The tables are horribly maintained and most people who go play have no experience playing pool.