Welcome to the equal offense pool rules on billiards forum. Equal offense billiard rules follow the same rules as 14.1 continuous pool rules except where noted below.
Equal Offense Billiard Rules
To understand equal offense pool rules you must be familiar with the 14.1 continuous billiard rules. It should be noted that since there is no head-to-head play, there are no safeties in equal offense pool rules. The object of the game in Equal offense pool rules is to score a higher number of total points than your opponent(s) in the specified, predetermined number of innings. Typically, equal offense billiard rules call for a 10 inning, 200 point maximum. In equal offense billiards, each player gets 10 turns alone at the table. An open break on a full rack begins each turn. A foul, a run of 20, or a miss causes the turn to come to an end.
Players shoot in an order which is determined by the scoring results of preceding innings. The equal offense billiard player with the highest score shall shoot first. If there is a tie in a score between two players, there is no order change from previous.
Any balls pocketed on the open break are re-spotted and play it started with ball in hand from the kitchen. If a player scratches on the break shot, there is no penalty incurred for his or her action. Although players are able to keep all points when they make a foul, the actual act of making the foul signifies the end of their turn. Any balls made on a foul are not counted.
The balls are racked just as they would be racked in a standard 15 ball triangle. Equal offense billiards can be played by any number of players from two on upward. Any legally pocketed ball gains the shooter one point. The opening break shot is take at the beginning of each player's inning. The shooting player has free break, meaning that there are no special rules about sending balls to cushions, and there are no penalties for scratched or jumped balls.
When shooting, players must designate an object ball, a pocket, and call the shot before executing. There is no requirement for indicating carom shots, combination shots, and cushions, all of which are legal. Any ball which is legally pocketed entitles the shooting player to continue his or her inning at the table. Players stay at the table until they miss a ball or until they attain the maximum total points per inning allowed, which is typically 20 points in championship equal offense billiard play. Any additional pocketed balls resulting from a shot are legal as long as they are called before the shot is executed.
If there is a tie between players for the high match score, those tied players shall partake in additional innings. The win goes to the first player to post a superior score to that of his or her opponent(s) in an equal number of innings. This is essentially a "sudden death" round.
Billiard players just learning to play equal offense pool may want to try making the following changes to the equal offense pool rules.
