Bar room rules. HaHa

D

DanielDeTinne

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
You know, I find it funny all the different rules people play the same game by. Now I have only been playing pool for about 10 months. Almost all of that has been league play. So I know league rules.
With this said. I have fallen in love with the game and want to play more and more and with different people. So in my quest I have started playing in different pool rooms and bars. As I do this I find myself playing mostly nonleague players. Each with their own tale on the rules of pool.
The first time I played a non league player I made a shot off of one of his balls. He got all mad. Telling me that I can't do that. Later that same game he missed his object ball. I ask ball in hand and he questions me again. Finally I ask what rules do you want to play by? He says the real 8 ball rules. So I had him tell me his idea of real 8 ball rules. The rest of the night was fun once I knew his idea of 8 ball rules.
Last night I meet another person at the bar. He saw my cue and asked me to play. This time I ask first what are the rules. I get the same answer. The real 8 ball rules. This time he added that he had been playing for 17 years and that he knew the rules. I ask about ball in hand and he tells me that ball in hand is a BS rule. Once again I ask him to lay down all the rules so I know how he wants to play. After that we have a great evening playing pool.
I just find it a little strange and funny that I keep finding people with different versions of the real rules. Still having fun and playing some great pool, just curious how others find this to be in their world of pool.
 
Put a copy of the BCA rules in your bag. That usually settles disputes unless they are drunk.

There are so many ways to play 8-ball, it's important to get the rules set before you play. You're doing it right.
 
This is part of the problem with pool

I have been playing pool for over 50 years. I have played a lot of different rules for 8 ball. From bangers to the elite players, the person whose rules you are playing with, are meant to give them an edge. I played in an 8 ball tournament last night where there was a big controversy over a ruling on a safety. Both were good players, and I am sure knew the answer but were trying to get an edge on the other guy. It was kind of fun to watch all the huffing and puffing, and looked kind of silly, actually. I think it distracted the guy I was playing and helped me win that game. This is what you have to look forward to, but its still a great game.
 
Yeah, bar rules are funny. I was playing against someone using his own set of bar rules and I rattled the 8 ball in the headstring end corner pocket. He intentionally scratched, thinking I was going to bank at the 8 and possibly follow it in for a game ending scratch. I just placed the cue ball on the table and tapped it about a foot forward into the side rail. He starts saying that is BS, I have to try to hit the 8. I asked him how it was BS as he had completely missed one of his shots earlier and didn't hit anything but a rail and that wasn't a scratch and just the very shot before mine he intentionally didn't try to get one of his balls in, he just fired it into a pocket for his scratch.

He honestly said "the rules change when you are on the 8 ball." I just laughed and walked away.
 
I've found that I had a different introduction to pool than most. I did a ton of reading about the game before I could actually play. (Hard to find a table a kid was allowed to play on)

I knew "bar" rules from my father, and knew "pro" rules from the books at the library.
I also grew up in a bad area where taking advantage of the rules like the poster above could easily result in a fight.

I just have alway viewed them as totally different games, and find each interesting. Seems like most want to look down upon people playing with different rules.
I look at "bar" rules 8 ball as different of a game as I do 1 pocket. Hell, isn't 1 hole just straight pool with different rules? You can look at banks the same way.

I do enjoy different rule sets differently, but I enjoy different games differently.
 
PaulieB said:
Yeah, bar rules are funny. I was playing against someone using his own set of bar rules and I rattled the 8 ball in the headstring end corner pocket. He intentionally scratched, thinking I was going to bank at the 8 and possibly follow it in for a game ending scratch. I just placed the cue ball on the table and tapped it about a foot forward into the side rail. He starts saying that is BS, I have to try to hit the 8. I asked him how it was BS as he had completely missed one of his shots earlier and didn't hit anything but a rail and that wasn't a scratch and just the very shot before mine he intentionally didn't try to get one of his balls in, he just fired it into a pocket for his scratch.

He honestly said "the rules change when you are on the 8 ball." I just laughed and walked away.
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In almost all sets of rules, it does "change" when you get on the 8 ball.

I've always found it funny how "bar" 8 ball rules usually expect more "honesty" and "integrity" than "pro" rules do. Seems the higher up the food chain you go the less you trust the spirit of the players.
 
I've played pretty standardized bar rules for over 20 years.

1. Call your shot, and your pocket, if you're going off the rail, or another ball, call it, if not loss of turn.
2. Table scratch, any foul - loss of turn, same as any missed shot.
3. Scratch - shoot from the kitchen
4. 8 ball goes clean.
Pretty simple, and from my experience the rules that 99% of non league players play by.

The only time anyone I know plays by league rules, is during league. After the matches we typically go back to the bar rules listed above.

I'll play with either set of rules, but as far as league rules being the "real rules", seems only players brought up in leagues believe that. I had never heard of ball in hand being part of 8-Ball outside of leagues.

*EDIT - and to be honest, ball in hand is kinda growing on me, especially in situations where the opponent scratches because all your balls are behind the head string. Also, like the little extra penalty to force you to make a good hit.
 
CantEverWin said:
I just have alway viewed them as totally different games, and find each interesting. Seems like most want to look down upon people playing with different rules.
I look at "bar" rules 8 ball as different of a game as I do 1 pocket. Hell, isn't 1 hole just straight pool with different rules? You can look at banks the same way.
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I don't really look down on anybody for different rules. I like the game no matter the rules. It is just interesting that they seem to change as I meet new players. I have been learning to ask for rules first and play by them. I am really just enjoying playing the different players. So really good, some not.
 
StonedCEO said:
I've played pretty standardized bar rules for over 20 years.

1. Call your shot, and your pocket, if you're going off the rail, or another ball, call it, if not loss of turn.
2. Table scratch, any foul - loss of turn, same as any missed shot.
3. Scratch - shoot from the kitchen
4. 8 ball goes clean.
Pretty simple, and from my experience the rules that 99% of non league players play by.

The only time anyone I know plays by league rules, is during league. After the matches we typically go back to the bar rules listed above.

I'll play with either set of rules, but as far as league rules being the "real rules", seems only players brought up in leagues believe that. I had never heard of ball in hand being part of 8-Ball outside of leagues.

*EDIT - and to be honest, ball in hand is kinda growing on me, especially in situations where the opponent scratches because all your balls are behind the head string. Also, like the little extra penalty to force you to make a good hit.
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Outside of any pool room that is how I have always played 8 ball. I got really into pool in county college and everybody played with these rules.

I don't like some of them but for the thread I believe it is necessary to establish the rules right away. It also helps if the bar or room has a "house" rules. At county everybody played the same rules and it was well known. Even if the guy running the table was a league guy he wouldn't change the rules.

As a result of the wide array of rules I prefer to bet 9 ball at the bar because it has very few rules.
 
DanielDeTinne said:
I don't really look down on anybody for different rules. I like the game no matter the rules. It is just interesting that they seem to change as I meet new players. I have been learning to ask for rules first and play by them. I am really just enjoying playing the different players. So really good, some not.
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That's cool. I wasn't saying anyone in this thread looks down upon others rules. I just meant when people are out playing they seem to.
 
StonedCEO said:
I've played pretty standardized bar rules for over 20 years.

1. Call your shot, and your pocket, if you're going off the rail, or another ball, call it, if not loss of turn.
2. Table scratch, any foul - loss of turn, same as any missed shot.
3. Scratch - shoot from the kitchen
4. 8 ball goes clean.
Pretty simple, and from my experience the rules that 99% of non league players play by.

The only time anyone I know plays by league rules, is during league. After the matches we typically go back to the bar rules listed above.

I'll play with either set of rules, but as far as league rules being the "real rules", seems only players brought up in leagues believe that. I had never heard of ball in hand being part of 8-Ball outside of leagues.

*EDIT - and to be honest, ball in hand is kinda growing on me, especially in situations where the opponent scratches because all your balls are behind the head string. Also, like the little extra penalty to force you to make a good hit.
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I think league people, or serious players in general consider rules the pro's play by to be "real rules." Of course many leagues have slightly different rules than most pro tourneys.

Ball in hand however is in just about every pro tourney. Most "bar rules" players usually seem shocked to find out that pro's don't play with "bar rules."
From my experiance the people who say they play by "real rules" (meaning bar rules) typically mean the way the pros play. Problem is very few of those people (almost none) would know who efren, Shane, earl, archer, Dennis, or Alex are if they were to all enter their bar as a group together.

It's not really a knock against anyone. People don't know what they don't know. Just what they hear.
 
I love to watch Earl play. The things that come out of his mouth. Shane and Efren are just amazing. I like to watch matches on YouTube. I would love to meet any of them in a bar or pool room and maybe play a game or two. I would be destroyed but it would be very cool.
 
I get the rules straight before I play in a strange bar and when at my home bar if a new face challenges I ask them how would you like to play. Most of the time it's call everything and 8 must go clean, but I will play what ever you like. House rules change bar to bar.
 
You will have this problem with 8 ball above all other games. It's one of many, many reasons I don't play it and haven't very much since I walked into a commercial pool room in the fall of 1973. And, yes, ball in hand anywhere is a bs rule.
 
It is funny how everybody has their own take on the "real rules". When friends and I are playing, we always play league rules. But, if somebody else comes in the room to get on the table, we always make sure which "rules" they want to play by.
I was playing a guy a few weeks back and his "thing" was, if he couldn't hit the 8 ball, he had to hit at least three rails with the cue ball. If he did, then, it wasn't a foul. Never heard of that one before. IDK, everybody learns different, I guess...
Either way, I just like playing the game. Regardless of the "rules" we play by...
 
I'm pretty new to pool (2 years) but I find myself playing with bangers who have played for 30+ years.

I think a lot of the confusion is because the official rules have changed over time too. Watch the Reyes-Jarvis 8-ball match (great match BTW) from the early 90s. It's a different game...and has some of the same rules that my banger-friends insist are "THE RULES."

Well, those might have been the official rules 30 years ago, but not today.
 
StonedCEO said:
I've played pretty standardized bar rules for over 20 years.

1. Call your shot, and your pocket, if you're going off the rail, or another ball, call it, if not loss of turn.
2. Table scratch, any foul - loss of turn, same as any missed shot.
3. Scratch - shoot from the kitchen
4. 8 ball goes clean.
Pretty simple, and from my experience the rules that 99% of non league players play by.

The only time anyone I know plays by league rules, is during league. After the matches we typically go back to the bar rules listed above.

I'll play with either set of rules, but as far as league rules being the "real rules", seems only players brought up in leagues believe that. I had never heard of ball in hand being part of 8-Ball outside of leagues.

*EDIT - and to be honest, ball in hand is kinda growing on me, especially in situations where the opponent scratches because all your balls are behind the head string. Also, like the little extra penalty to force you to make a good hit.
Click to expand...

Hmmm... I've played pool for around 5 years now and the way I learned the "rules" of 8 ball is pretty funny. There are several things you need to know about my part of the world before I start:
- In the area I live in, possibly even wider, you'll only find people playing 8-ball, all other pool games are completely unknown.
- The equipment is pretty much old, worn out, low quality junk, chalk missing etc., but the vast majority of places are far more than playable. You easily get used to that.
- There are no leagues, at least you won't see anyone playing in them, maybe only in some special pool clubs which are God knows where.
- You can find many players here, but even the best one I saw isn't capable of running out, at least not on a regular basis. I guess the players are not of the same quality like in the US, but you can always partially blame the conditions and equipment fo that.
- There's no such thing as "table time" here. There are only coin op tables.
- Finally, people usually don't play pool for money. There may be some exceptions, but I never encountered them. The only thing losers sometimes have to do is pay for a new game with their money or buy their opponents beer.

The first rules we played by I learned from a friend who got some other guys and me into pool. The four of us soon started playing regularly. Those rules allowed hitting any ball except the 8 directly with no penalty. Scratch goeas on spot, you can hit anything below the headstring. No requirement to hit the rail, no shot calling, no calling whatsoever. Every move was basically allowed, only hitting the 8 directly before getting your other balls in was a loss. Those were the beginner rules we used while learning the basics.

Once we had some initial experience and basic skills, someone taught us, I have no idea who it was, the "real" rules. Of course, those rules have nothing to do with actual WSR or BCA ruleset, they are even way different from APA. However, those are the real rules in the whole region. As far as I know, most players (from beginners to top class) use small variants of this ruleset all around the country, and at least in the neighboring countries. The region I'm talking about roughly consists of parts of south-eastern, central and eastern Europe (ex-Yugoslav and other surrounding countries). As I said, there can be small differences, but these are the most widespread rules for 8-ball in this part of Europe:

- racking: 8 ball goes on footspot, other balls in stripe-solid-stripe-solid order
- break from the kitchen
- you get the suit that went in first, if it's too hard to determine, you look in the ball container or however you call that thing on the side of the table
- if you don't make anything, the opponent can shoot and is free to hit anything except the 8 directly (which is a loss)
- making the 8 on the break, and only the 8, is a win, otherwise a loss
- hitting your opponent's suit of balls directly means loss of turn, and they can pocket the ball you hit if they wish
- no requirement to hit the balls, rails etc., but if you don't pocket anything, you lose your turn
- jumping allowed
- scratch or CB off the table means you place the CB on the headspot and you lose your turn; the opponent can only shoot the balls below the center of the table, otherwise loses turn (we don't abuse this rule, I don't know if some players do)
- no shot calling of any kind
- as long as you make at least one of your balls per shot, you keep shooting, no matter how many of your opponent's balls you pocketed accidentally
- 8 pocketed too early, in a wrong pocket, hit directly with CB, or off the table is a loss
- other balls driven off the table are placed at the rail behind the headspot
- you need to pocket the 8 only where you dropped your last ball
- once on the 8, if you fail to touch it 3 times in a row you lose
- at any time during the match, if 8 accidentally ends up too close to a neutral pocket, where it would be too risky for both sides to launch it out, the players can agree to place it at the rail either behind headspot or footspot, usually at the position where the incoming player will get the more difficult shot at his last pocket if he's on the 8

I don't know if I left out any rule, but I hope you get the point.
 
Oh, I forgot that there is no penalty for scratching intentionally, but we don't abuse that one either...
 
Push&Pool said:
Hmmm... I've played pool for around 5 years now and the way I learned the "rules" of 8 ball is pretty funny. There are several things you need to know about my part of the world before I start:
- In the area I live in, possibly even wider, you'll only find people playing 8-ball, all other pool games are completely unknown.
- The equipment is pretty much old, worn out, low quality junk, chalk missing etc., but the vast majority of places are far more than playable. You easily get used to that.
- There are no leagues, at least you won't see anyone playing in them, maybe only in some special pool clubs which are God knows where.
- You can find many players here, but even the best one I saw isn't capable of running out, at least not on a regular basis. I guess the players are not of the same quality like in the US, but you can always partially blame the conditions and equipment fo that.
- There's no such thing as "table time" here. There are only coin op tables.
- Finally, people usually don't play pool for money. There may be some exceptions, but I never encountered them. The only thing losers sometimes have to do is pay for a new game with their money or buy their opponents beer.

The first rules we played by I learned from a friend who got some other guys and me into pool. The four of us soon started playing regularly. Those rules allowed hitting any ball except the 8 directly with no penalty. Scratch goeas on spot, you can hit anything below the headstring. No requirement to hit the rail, no shot calling, no calling whatsoever. Every move was basically allowed, only hitting the 8 directly before getting your other balls in was a loss. Those were the beginner rules we used while learning the basics.

Once we had some initial experience and basic skills, someone taught us, I have no idea who it was, the "real" rules. Of course, those rules have nothing to do with actual WSR or BCA ruleset, they are even way different from APA. However, those are the real rules in the whole region. As far as I know, most players (from beginners to top class) use small variants of this ruleset all around the country, and at least in the neighboring countries. The region I'm talking about roughly consists of parts of south-eastern, central and eastern Europe (ex-Yugoslav and other surrounding countries). As I said, there can be small differences, but these are the most widespread rules for 8-ball in this part of Europe:

- racking: 8 ball goes on footspot, other balls in stripe-solid-stripe-solid order
- break from the kitchen
- you get the suit that went in first, if it's too hard to determine, you look in the ball container or however you call that thing on the side of the table
- if you don't make anything, the opponent can shoot and is free to hit anything except the 8 directly (which is a loss)
- making the 8 on the break, and only the 8, is a win, otherwise a loss
- hitting your opponent's suit of balls directly means loss of turn, and they can pocket the ball you hit if they wish
- no requirement to hit the balls, rails etc., but if you don't pocket anything, you lose your turn
- jumping allowed
- scratch or CB off the table means you place the CB on the headspot and you lose your turn; the opponent can only shoot the balls below the center of the table, otherwise loses turn (we don't abuse this rule, I don't know if some players do)
- no shot calling of any kind
- as long as you make at least one of your balls per shot, you keep shooting, no matter how many of your opponent's balls you pocketed accidentally
- 8 pocketed too early, in a wrong pocket, hit directly with CB, or off the table is a loss
- other balls driven off the table are placed at the rail behind the headspot
- you need to pocket the 8 only where you dropped your last ball
- once on the 8, if you fail to touch it 3 times in a row you lose
- at any time during the match, if 8 accidentally ends up too close to a neutral pocket, where it would be too risky for both sides to launch it out, the players can agree to place it at the rail either behind headspot or footspot, usually at the position where the incoming player will get the more difficult shot at his last pocket if he's on the 8

I don't know if I left out any rule, but I hope you get the point.
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Think it would be fun to try playing like that. Different game, different skill set.
I hate to sound like "that guy" but being in a rough area does fix some things. Intentionally scratching because someone's balls are behind the string may not be a foul, but if you may get the crap beat out of you in the parking lot for doing it, then it keeps people "honest." Am I not talking about gambling. Just putting quarters up.

I don't really play in those bars any more, but they have their place. Sometimes the "rules" of the game include the "rules" of the soceity you're in.
In a lot of bars in rough areas your not supposed to play safe at all. That would be "chicken shit pool," or other names I won't list. Sure the game "rules" don't say you can't play safe, but they don't also say you can't beat the crap out of a guy, and try to shove his face in the side pocket. No one ever asked for a rule book...
 
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