Pool Rules

Official 8 Ball Pool Rules: the complete guide.

Pocket all seven of your group's balls — solids or stripes — then legally pocket the 8-ball in a called pocket to win. That is 8 ball pool in one sentence. The rest is detail: what counts as a legal break, when groups get assigned, how to handle fouls, and what happens at the table everyone argues about: the 8-ball shot. This guide covers all of it, with the official WPA, BCA, and APA rules clearly compared.

Reading time: 7 minutes Updated: April 2026 Level: Beginner — Intermediate

The equipment and the table

8 ball pool uses 16 balls — a white cue ball plus 15 numbered object balls — and one cue stick per player. The numbered balls split into two groups: solids 1 through 7 (also called "low balls" or "spots") in solid colors, and stripes 9 through 15 (also called "high balls") with a colored band. The black 8-ball belongs to neither group and is the final ball each player must pocket to win.

The standard table for league and home play is 8 feet long by 4 feet wide; tournament play uses a 9-foot table. Either way, the table has six pockets — four corner and two side — and a set of reference points marked on the cloth and rails that the rules refer to constantly.

Two reference points matter most for the rules: the foot spot, where the apex of the racked balls is centered, and the head string, the imaginary line two diamonds in from the head rail. The area behind the head string is called the kitchen — the cue ball must be placed there before the break and, in some rule sets, after a scratch on the break.

Starting the game

Before the first break, players decide who breaks. Two methods are standard. The lag for break is the official method: both players simultaneously shoot a ball from behind the head string toward the foot rail and back; whichever ball ends up closest to the head rail wins. In casual play, a coin toss replaces the lag. In league play, the player with the lower handicap or rating typically breaks first, with breaks alternating thereafter.

The non-breaking player racks the balls — 8-ball in the center, the apex on the foot spot, one solid and one stripe in the back corners. Tightness matters: a loose rack causes the balls to cluster after the break instead of spreading.

The break shot

The break is the only shot in 8 ball pool that is not a called shot. Whatever you pocket on the break stays pocketed, no announcement required. But the break itself has to be legal:

To execute a legal break, the breaker places the cue ball anywhere behind the head string, then must either:

• Pocket at least one numbered ball, or
• Drive at least four numbered balls to a rail.

If neither happens, the break is a foul. The incoming player can choose to either accept the table as it lies, or have the rack re-broken. If the cue ball is pocketed on the break (a scratch), the incoming player gets ball-in-hand behind the head string. Any object balls that jump off the table during the break stay off, and it's a foul giving the opponent ball-in-hand.

If the 8-ball goes in on the break

This is one of the most misunderstood scenarios in pool, so it bears repeating: pocketing the 8-ball on the break is not an automatic win or loss under WPA or BCA rules. The breaker has a choice: have the 8-ball respotted on the foot spot and continue shooting, or re-rack and break again. If the breaker also scratched, the incoming player has the same options but plays with ball-in-hand behind the head string. The "8-on-the-break is an automatic win" rule is a house rule, not an official one.

Open table and group selection

Immediately after the break, the table is open — neither player has been assigned a group yet. This stays true even if balls were pocketed on the break. The first player who legally pockets a ball after the break is then assigned that group. If you pocket a solid, you are solids for the rest of the game; if you pocket a stripe, you are stripes.

Two important consequences of the open table:

• During an open table, you can shoot a stripe into a solid (or vice versa) as a combination — the 8-ball is the only ball that is off-limits.
• You do not have to take the group of the first ball you pocket on the break. The break shot itself does not assign groups — only your second pocketed ball does.

Legal shots and called pockets

Once groups are assigned, every shot must meet the legal shot requirements:

1. The cue ball must hit one of your own object balls first (or the 8-ball, if it is your legal target).
2. After contact, either a ball must be pocketed, or any ball — including the cue ball — must contact a rail.

If neither condition is met, the shot is a foul.

Do you have to call your shots?

This depends on the ruleset. Under WPA and BCA tournament rules, you only need to call the 8-ball — every other shot is "ball in any pocket." Under most house rules and APA league play, you must call every shot, declaring both the ball and the pocket before shooting. Combinations and rail-first shots are typically legal as long as you eventually pocket the called ball in the called pocket; "slop" (a ball pocketed accidentally that wasn't called) doesn't count and is sometimes spotted, sometimes left.

The break is never a called shot, in any ruleset.

Pocketing the 8-ball

After you've cleared all seven of your group's balls from the table, the 8-ball is your legal target. The 8-ball shot must always be called: you announce both the ball and the pocket before shooting.

You lose the game immediately if you:

• Pocket the 8-ball in a pocket other than the one you called
• Pocket the 8-ball before clearing your own group
• Pocket the 8-ball on the same shot as your last group ball (under most rules)
• Knock the 8-ball off the table
• Pocket the cue ball and the 8-ball on the same shot

Combination shots involving the 8-ball are always illegal when shooting the 8 — you must hit the 8-ball first with the cue ball, no exceptions. A legal 8-ball shot also requires the cue ball or the 8-ball to contact a rail after the strike, unless the 8-ball is pocketed.

Fouls and penalties

The penalty for any foul is ball-in-hand — the incoming player can place the cue ball anywhere on the table before their shot. The exception is a scratch on the break, which restricts ball-in-hand to behind the head string in some rule sets.

The most common fouls are:

• Scratch. Cue ball pocketed or driven off the table.
• Wrong ball first. Hitting an opponent's ball or the 8-ball before one of your own (when it's not the open table).
• No rail contact. After contact with your object ball, no ball is pocketed and no ball touches a rail.
• No object ball hit. The cue ball fails to contact any object ball at all.
• Object ball jumped off. Driving any numbered ball off the table.
• Push shot or double hit. The cue stick contacts the cue ball more than once on a single stroke.
• Foot fouls. No part of either foot touching the floor when the cue tip strikes the cue ball.
• Marking the table. Placing chalk or any marker on the cloth as an aiming aid.

How to win 8 ball pool

You win in one of two ways:

1. Legally pocket the 8-ball in a called pocket after clearing all of your group's balls — the standard win.
2. Your opponent commits an automatic-loss foul involving the 8-ball: pocketing the 8-ball illegally, knocking it off the table, or scratching while pocketing the 8 (under APA rules, even scratching while shooting at the 8 ends the game).

Note that ball-in-hand fouls do not end the game on their own. You can foul ten times in a row and still win — every foul just gives your opponent ball-in-hand and a chance to clear their group. The game only ends when the 8-ball is legally pocketed or one of the automatic-loss conditions is triggered.

WPA, BCA and APA: the official rule differences

All three major rule sets agree on the basics — racking, the legal break, ball-in-hand penalties, the 8-ball-pocket-only-after-clearing-your-group rule. The differences are concentrated in two areas: the 8-ball scratch and the call-shot requirement.

Rule	WPA / BCA	APA League
Call every shot	No — only the 8-ball	Yes — ball and pocket on every shot
Slop counts	Yes (for non-8-ball shots)	No — uncalled balls don't count
Scratch on the 8-ball stays on table	Foul, ball-in-hand, game continues	Loss of game
Three consecutive fouls	Loss of game (BCA)	Not a loss; just keep playing
Ball-in-hand after break scratch	Behind head string	Behind head string
Ball-in-hand for other fouls	Anywhere on the table	Anywhere on the table

British 8-ball, also called blackball, is a separate game with its own rules — different ball colors (red and yellow instead of solids and stripes), different racking (8-ball on the spot rather than in the center), and different foul handling (often "two shots" to the opponent rather than ball-in-hand). If you're playing on an English-style table with red and yellow balls, the rules in this guide do not apply.

Frequently asked questions