Cue Tip Fouls?!?

[ajohnson13]

I run a small weekly bar tourney (8-ball modified BCA rules, race to 2 on the winner's side and 1 game on the loser's side) and last night the following situation arose:

Player A was lining up for his shot and accidentally bumped the cue ball with the mid part of his shaft. Player B called a foul, and player A argued it was not a foul because he did not hit the cue ball with the tip of his cue. I was called in to make a decision. I did not see the shot in question, so I got accounts from both sides and I called a foul because the cue ball had been moved.

I run my tournament with "cue ball fouls only" to say that if Player A had accidentally bumped an object ball, Player B would have the option to move it back or leave it where it ended up, but a foul would not be called.

Player A threw a fit, conceded the rest of the game, and ended up losing the race. After the tournament was over, he came up to me and argued that "all bar tournaments" use the 'cue tip fouls only" rule, meaning that he would have to strike the cue ball with the tip of his cue, and not make a legal hit for it to be a foul. His reasoning was because there is no dedicated referee to watch each and every shot. I personally have never heard of such a rule. Does one exist?

 

[Cuebuddy]

IMO you ruled correctly. There are all ball fouls and cue ball fouls, if I remember right and you do something and move the cue ball accidentally it is a foul.

 

[DelaWho???]

Sound like you ran into a poor sport and a sore loser.
The cue ball is always live. Touch it prior to shooting it and it's a foul.
I have played in tournaments and league play where if a player has BIH is holding the cueball in his hand and the same hand (not the ball) touches another ball it is a foul because you are holding the live CB.

I was playing a weekly last Friday, my opponent is down on the shot, stands up and calls foul and hands me the CB. Confused I asked him what happened (I couldn't see from where I was standing) and he told me he touched the CB. That my friend is integrity. The player you had to deal with had none.

 

[JayBaltimore]

IMO you ruled correctly. There are all ball fouls and cue ball fouls, if I remember right and you do something and move the cue ball accidentally it is a foul.

on the money, who gives a flying pig what other bar tourney's do, it is your tourney, and your rules in place, your always going to have someone crying in small tourneys!!!

 

[TheBook]

If it is cueball foul then you made the right call.

This can get a little touchy though if the player had BIH and claimed that he was adjusting the CB.

 

[poolboy17]

I run a small weekly bar tourney (8-ball modified BCA rules, race to 2 on the winner's side and 1 game on the loser's side) and last night the following situation arose:

Player A was lining up for his shot and accidentally bumped the cue ball with the mid part of his shaft. Player B called a foul, and player A argued it was not a foul because he did not hit the cue ball with the tip of his cue. I was called in to make a decision. I did not see the shot in question, so I got accounts from both sides and I called a foul because the cue ball had been moved.

I run my tournament with "cue ball fouls only" to say that if Player A had accidentally bumped an object ball, Player B would have the option to move it back or leave it where it ended up, but a foul would not be called.

Player A threw a fit, conceded the rest of the game, and ended up losing the race. After the tournament was over, he came up to me and argued that "all bar tournaments" use the 'cue tip fouls only" rule, meaning that he would have to strike the cue ball with the tip of his cue, and not make a legal hit for it to be a foul. His reasoning was because there is no dedicated referee to watch each and every shot. I personally have never heard of such a rule. Does one exist?

You absolutely made the right call. The player obviously had a misunderstanding of the rules because accidental movement of the cueball is a foul under every rule system i can think of regardless if a referee is there or not.

The ONLY exception here I can see would be if the shooter had ball in hand and was merely adjusting the ball with his cue.