8 ball Rules.....

EL Picos

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
At 8 ball what happens if we call safe and hit one of our balls and only pocket one ball from our opponent. Can our opponent ask us to continue playing at his discretion or is it up to him?
Thanks!
 
Canada and we want to play International rules.
Wish I could answer that. Blackball, Heyball, and now the Ultimate Pool guys seem to have their own individual rulesets.
I'd have to guess for the majority of call pocket, ball in hand 8 ball it would not be a foul.
IIRC, French rules do not allow pocketing the opposing balls.
Unless you are doing a sanctioned league thing, you could probably use the rule that suits your group.
 
Canada and we want to play International rules.
A link to those rules was posted in the Denver tournament thread. Better read the whole thing. They also have videos on YouTube explaining some of the more "interesting" rules. A safe that is a standard smart play at pool is loss of rack at that game.

Or do you mean the World Standardized Rules from the WPA?
 
Last edited:
Wish I could answer that. Blackball, Heyball, and now the Ultimate Pool guys seem to have their own individual rulesets.
I'd have to guess for the majority of call pocket, ball in hand 8 ball it would not be a foul.
IIRC, French rules do not allow pocketing the opposing balls.
Unless you are doing a sanctioned league thing, you could probably use the rule that suits your group.
I didnt know french canadians had their own set of rules. But i suppose it makes sense. I know that rule "not to pocket an opponents ball" is used in a lot of bar leagues/bar tournaments in ontario still. You can even lose a game by pocketing your called 8 and pocketing an opponents ball in those bars. Crazy.

El Picos, if you and friends want to use a standard set of rules, i would suggest picking one and have all the players read it and reference it when you have a question. Here is a link to the csi bcapl rules https://www.playcsipool.com/bcapl-rules.html you dont have to use these, just an example of a common standard. Pick a ruleset common for your area.

If you all agree to a ruleset and have the rules ready to check, it saves you time with arguning about it.
 
At 8 ball what happens if we call safe and hit one of our balls and only pocket one ball from our opponent. Can our opponent ask us to continue playing at his discretion or is it up to him?
Thanks!
In the above scenario it is going to be your opponents shot period with no option in most if not all rule sets.
 
I didnt know french canadians had their own set of rules. But i suppose it makes sense. I know that rule "not to pocket an opponents ball" is used in a lot of bar leagues/bar tournaments in ontario still. You can even lose a game by pocketing your called 8 and pocketing an opponents ball in those bars. Crazy.

El Picos, if you and friends want to use a standard set of rules, i would suggest picking one and have all the players read it and reference it when you have a question. Here is a link to the csi bcapl rules https://www.playcsipool.com/bcapl-rules.html you dont have to use these, just an example of a common standard. Pick a ruleset common for your area.

If you all agree to a ruleset and have the rules ready to check, it saves you time with arguning about it.
I checked under French 8 ball and there is no such distinction per the basic searches. Couple people, one from France and separately an American going to school in France both explained it was not legal to pocket an opposing ball with one of your own. Don't know the actual ruleset. I play a very loose American call pocket/ball in hand league version. No league involvement but enough people are familiar with it and should questions arise there is usually someone around that will confirm the technicalities.
 
IMG_1293.jpeg
 
Thank you all for your comments, what is happening is that we are starting a new 8 ball league additional to our 9 ball league and the vast majority of players have not played 8 for a very long time and since the regulations have changed a lot. Certainly we will come up with a version of the rules that is a bit our own, but we would also like to get closer to what exists internationally. Before asking here I had read the WPA rules and also those of Colorado edu, Dr. Dave I believe. After reading, there were a few small details that were not clear like the one I asked above about whether we could play a safety shot by pocketing one of our opponent's balls without pocketing one of ours at the same time, which for me, being able to pocket our opponent's balls while having an advantage, it seemed a little strange to me, but now I see that it's allowed. As I mentioned above, after a certain time we will come to a regulation that is a little personalized to us while keeping the bases close to the International bases and not everything that happens in bars and in the countryside. Thanks again for your help!
 
whether you call safe or not if you make a legal hit on one of your balls its a legal hit and if the other's ball goes in only and not one of yours he then shoots your inning is over. no foul. in any normal set of rules.

the only reason ever to call safe would be if you wanted to lose your turn or didnt want to accidentally make one of yours and lose your turn.
 
Last edited:
whether you call safe or not if you make a legal hit on one of your balls its a legal hit and if the other's ball goes in only and not one of yours he then shoots your inning is over. no foul. in any normal set of rules.
I think in Euro rules, pockets blocked by hanging opposition balls, cannot be legally cleared except by the opposition.
 
Last edited:
so you shoot at your ball and it kisses of another and pockets one of his balls by a pocket you get a penalty. ?
or his ball is by the pocket and you pocket both balls
or you try to squeeze your ball past his and his goes in?
 
whether you call safe or not if you make a legal hit on one of your balls its a legal hit and if the other's ball goes in only and not one of yours he then shoots your inning is over. no foul. in any normal set of rules.

the only reason ever to call safe would be if you wanted to lose your turn or didnt want to accidentally make one of yours and lose your turn.
That answers my question perfectly and we'll play it like that, Thanks!
 
Back
Top