Ball off the table

[jtompilot]

I was watching a 1p match today when an OB was knocked off the table but they didn't call a foul. The guy next to me said that even in straight pool that didn't use to be a foul. I said that as far as I know that's always been a foul. He said that in the 50's and 60's that wasn't a foul.

Does anyone know when any ball knocked off a table became a foul? I started thinking that in the old days with balls that might not have been so round that it wasn't a foul. Maybe only became a foul with the advent of modern balls. Does anyone know?

 

[sjm]

I've heard this before. I know that there were some 14.1 rules changes in 1972 so that's my guess as to when this rule was changed.

Only Bob Jewett would know for sure.

 

[Bob Jewett]

In the old days you could even knock a ball off the carom table and it wasn't a foul -- if you still scored it was a point and you continued with the recovered ball spotted.

In 1992 the BCA rule book allowed jumped balls at least at nine ball. In 1993 (the first WSR, more or less) the general rules of pocket billiards made a jumped ball a foul at all pocket billiard games.

One pocket is slower to adopt the general rules since there is no "official" competition in it. I think the current rules on onepocket.org are the current best rules to follow and they say:

6.5 Driving either the cue ball or an object ball off the table is a foul, whenever either comes to rest off the playing surface, or comes in contact with anything other than the table itself while airborne.​

although they warn that local rules may be different.

 

[3andstop]

We always played if you were playing cue ball fouls only, it wasn't a foul. If you are playing all ball fouls it was a foul.