How to Play One Pocket – with the Semi-Official Rules

dr_dave

dr_dave

Instructional Author
Gold Member
Silver Member
FYI, I just posted a new video that uses excerpts from the Video Encyclopedia of One-Pocket (VEOP) to discuss and demonstrate the generally-accepted rules and strategy of the wonderful game of one-pocket. Check it out:


Contents:
0:00 - Intro
0:25 - Game Basics
2:30 - Rules
3:58 - Fouls
6:58 - Ball Spotting
8:58 - 3-Foul Rule
9:45 - End-Game Strategy
14:11 - Wrap Up

As always, I look forward to your feedback, comments, questions, complaints, and requests.

Enjoy!
 
dr_dave said:
FYI, I just posted a new video that uses excerpts from the Video Encyclopedia of One-Pocket (VEOP) to discuss and demonstrate the generally-accepted rules and strategy of the wonderful game of one-pocket. Check it out:


Contents:
0:00 - Intro
0:25 - Game Basics
2:30 - Rules
3:58 - Fouls
6:58 - Ball Spotting
8:58 - 3-Foul Rule
9:45 - End-Game Strategy
14:11 - Wrap Up

As always, I look forward to your feedback, comments, questions, complaints, and requests.

Enjoy!
Click to expand...
will watch this later. why is it “semi-official”?
 
You can lag or flip, and making a ball on the break is not always a re-rack, depending on gambling or tournament and the venue.
 
u12armresl said:
You can lag or flip, and making a ball on the break is not always a re-rack, depending on gambling or tournament and the venue.
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Agreed. There are many one-pocket rule variations, and there are no "official" WPA one-pocket rules. We did our best to present the set of rules are are "generally used" or "most common" or "recommended." Hopefully, the WPA (and therefore the BCA) publishes a set of official one-pocket rules in the future.
 
dr_dave said:
Agreed. There are many one-pocket rule variations, and there are no "official" WPA one-pocket rules. We did our best to present the set of rules are are "generally used" or "most common" or "recommended." Hopefully, the WPA (and therefore the BCA) publishes a set of official one-pocket rules in the future.
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I think we need to give kudos to steve booth the creator of
onepocket.org
most rules are based on the rules in their version of the rules
edit
just so he sees this
@1pocket
 
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dr_dave said:
Agreed. There are many one-pocket rule variations, and there are no "official" WPA one-pocket rules. We did our best to present the set of rules are are "generally used" or "most common" or "recommended." Hopefully, the WPA (and therefore the BCA) publishes a set of official one-pocket rules in the future.
Click to expand...
The OnePocket.org rules are the official rules if you ask nearly any tournament director, or when players have a dispute and they look up the rules that is usually where they go for their answer. They are the go-to rules, whether you consider them "official" or not. And that is because they were written with care by and for One Pocket players with input from some of the most recognized names in One Pocket (such as Grady Mathews, who besides being a player, promoted about 20 major One Pocket tournaments).

BTW the onepocket.org rules had to be written, specifically because the BCA rules were totally inadequate. The BCA was literally "late to the game" of One Pocket, and they only recently have begun to show more respect for the game.

If you google One Pocket rules, you will find the onepocket.org rules right on top. You might also discover a few knock offs, sometimes clearly either verbatim our rules or sometimes with tweaks of language. There used to even be one labeled "BCA" -- but it had nothing to do with Billiard Congress of America, and at one time it appeared to be an exact copy of onepocket.org rules. That is pretty ironic I think.

The onepocket.org rules brought One Pocket rules into the 21th C basically, and whether you like every detail or not in them, they are bound to be the bridge between the 60's BCA rules, and whatever future rules that might someday be considered "Official". The reason is, the onepocket.org rules genuinely reflect the way the game is actually played. I cant' see One Pocket players being too keen on some outside "officials" deciding that their game needs to be played some different way because either the BCA or WPA (neither of which has shown much interest or respect in the game) decides it should be.

Anyway, for the last very nearly 20 years, the onepocket.org rules have indeed been as "official" as One Pocket rules get. Take a look, if you are not already familiar with them.

Official One Pocket Rules

www.onepocket.org www.onepocket.org
 
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dr_dave said:
FYI, I just posted a new video that uses excerpts from the Video Encyclopedia of One-Pocket (VEOP) to discuss and demonstrate the generally-accepted rules and strategy of the wonderful game of one-pocket. Check it out:


Contents:
0:00 - Intro
0:25 - Game Basics
2:30 - Rules
3:58 - Fouls
6:58 - Ball Spotting
8:58 - 3-Foul Rule
9:45 - End-Game Strategy
14:11 - Wrap Up

As always, I look forward to your feedback, comments, questions, complaints, and requests.

Enjoy!
Click to expand...
Nice job Dave -- I just watched the whole video. I would like to point out, that many of the rules you illustrated in this video (such as your whole section on when to spot balls for example) were not in the BCA rules for One Pocket at all -- they only appeared as "official" rules starting in 2004 with the first version of our onepocket.org rules. Our 2004 rules quickly became the generally accepted written rules partly because they were so much more complete than all the earlier rules, include the BCA version. You're welcome ;)
 
1pocket said:
The OnePocket.org rules are the official rules if you ask nearly any tournament director, or when players have a dispute and they look up the rules that is usually where they go for their answer. They are the go-to rules, whether you consider them "official" or not. And that is because they were written with care by and for One Pocket players with input from some of the most recognized names in One Pocket (such as Grady Mathews, who besides being a player, promoted about 20 major One Pocket tournaments).

BTW the onepocket.org rules had to be written, specifically because the BCA rules were totally inadequate. The BCA was literally "late to the game" of One Pocket, and they only recently have begun to show more respect for the game.

If you google One Pocket rules, you will find the onepocket.org rules right on top. You might also discover a few knock offs, sometimes clearly either verbatim our rules or sometimes with tweaks of language. There used to even be one labeled "BCA" -- but it had nothing to do with Billiard Congress of America, and at one time it appeared to be an exact copy of onepocket.org rules. That is pretty ironic I think.

The onepocket.org rules brought One Pocket rules into the 20th C basically, and whether you like every detail or not in them, they are bound to be the bridge between the 60's BCA rules, and whatever future rules that might someday be considered "Official". The reason is, the onepocket.org rules genuinely reflect the way the game is actually played. I cant' see One Pocket players being too keen on some outside "officials" deciding that their game needs to be played some different way because either the BCA or WPA (neither of which has shown much interest or respect in the game) decides it should be.

Anyway, for the last very nearly 20 years, the onepocket.org rules have indeed been as "official" as One Pocket rules get. Take a look, if you are not already familiar with them.

Official One Pocket Rules

www.onepocket.org www.onepocket.org
Click to expand...

Thanks for the post. I should have mentioned onepocket.org in the video. I am not active in the one-pocket scene, but I am very aware of your website, and I have many links to your site and rules on my websites. I agree that your rules are as “official” as one-pocket rules can get to this point. Hopefully, the WPA will someday decide to embrace them and add them to their ruleset to make them truly “official.”
 
dr_dave said:
Thanks for the post. I should have mentioned onepocket.org in the video. I am not active in the one-pocket scene, but I am very aware of your website, and I have many links to your site and rules on my websites. I agree that your rules are as “official” as one-pocket rules can get to this point. Hopefully, the WPA will someday decide to embrace them and add them to their ruleset to make them truly “official.”
Click to expand...
What would be scary would be if the some WPA committee that was poorly represented in experience with how One Pocket is actually played came out with rules that did not well reflect how real One Pocket players like to play the game, and how experienced One Pocket TD's like to see the game played, but rather based on some idealized vision that is distant from the reality on the ground :oops:

Those two things are not exactly the same btw (players and TD's) -- mainly because the TD's have practicalities of officiating their events, and they have more time constraints. That's why you often see different rule bullets posted for different tournaments, whereas players matching up tend to want to play by the traditional rules. That is why in our rules there are some "optional rules" -- those optional rules are there to make it easy to reference in case that is how either players or TD officials want to see things -- they can still find a rule to reference.
 
dr_dave said:
FYI, I just posted a new video that uses excerpts from the Video Encyclopedia of One-Pocket (VEOP) to discuss and demonstrate the generally-accepted rules and strategy of the wonderful game of one-pocket. Check it out:


Contents:
0:00 - Intro
0:25 - Game Basics
2:30 - Rules
3:58 - Fouls
6:58 - Ball Spotting
8:58 - 3-Foul Rule
9:45 - End-Game Strategy
14:11 - Wrap Up

As always, I look forward to your feedback, comments, questions, complaints, and requests.

Enjoy!
Click to expand...
The only aspect of the game that millennials can’t grasp is you have to engage your brain. Seems to be a hurdle for them since you have to set Facebook, TikTok, X and the rest of social media aside. If I appear cynical about it, I am.
 
Brookeland Bill said:
The only aspect of the game that millennials can’t grasp is you have to engage your brain. Seems to be a hurdle for them since you have to set Facebook, TikTok, X and the rest of social media aside. If I appear cynical about it, I am.
Click to expand...

One must also have patience to play one-pocket well.
 
1pocket said:
What would be scary would be if the some WPA committee that was poorly represented in experience with how One Pocket is actually played came out with rules that did not well reflect how real One Pocket players like to play the game, and how experienced One Pocket TD's like to see the game played, but rather based on some idealized vision that is distant from the reality on the ground :oops:
Click to expand...
a lot of people on here made a stink about the derbys mild bastardization of 1p this year. I agree it would be a shame to see something like that become “official”.

1pocket said:
Those two things are not exactly the same btw (players and TD's) -- mainly because the TD's have practicalities of officiating their events, and they have more time constraints. That's why you often see different rule bullets posted for different tournaments, whereas players matching up tend to want to play by the traditional rules. That is why in our rules there are some "optional rules" -- those optional rules are there to make it easy to reference in case that is how either players or TD officials want to see things -- they can still find a rule to reference.
Click to expand...
i can only think of a couple muddy areas.

-rerack on the break if you make a ball. Aside from whether to implement the rule or not, ive seen some confusion on whether its a rerack if you make a ball in your opponents pocket, or whether you scratch while making a ball.

“2.3.2 Modern re-rack option: When playing “rack your own”, players may agree, or a tournament director may stipulate, that in the event the breaker scores a ball in their own pocket on the break, the breaker is to re-rack and break again, rather than scoring the ball and continuing their inning.”

the rule doesnt specify that the ball must be pocketed legally to constitute a rerack, so my thoughts are a ball and a scratch means rerack. It doesnt say anything about making one in your opponents hole but you still hear people get confused about it.

-negative scores cancel out. i am actually a fan of this rule and try to adopt it when i play, but my understanding is that most one pocket players prefer the spot’em game.

-3 foul rule. I absolutely love 3 foul in 9 ball but prefer not to use it when i play one pocket. It seems like tourneys are more likely to adopt this rule while matchups are not.

-cue ball fouls only. i prefer all ball fouls to erase any doubt about what happened. this rule seems more situational and doesnt seem to be consistent across the board.

-* grady rules. not a fan. at all. However i can see why a TD might want to implement it.

@dr_dave these are the only things i would suggest to include, since knowledge is power. perhaps in a future video.
 
soyale said:
a lot of people on here made a stink about the derbys mild bastardization of 1p this year. I agree it would be a shame to see something like that become “official”.


i can only think of a couple muddy areas.

-rerack on the break if you make a ball. Aside from whether to implement the rule or not, ive seen some confusion on whether its a rerack if you make a ball in your opponents pocket, or whether you scratch while making a ball.

“2.3.2 Modern re-rack option: When playing “rack your own”, players may agree, or a tournament director may stipulate, that in the event the breaker scores a ball in their own pocket on the break, the breaker is to re-rack and break again, rather than scoring the ball and continuing their inning.”

the rule doesnt specify that the ball must be pocketed legally to constitute a rerack, so my thoughts are a ball and a scratch means rerack. It doesnt say anything about making one in your opponents hole but you still hear people get confused about it.

-negative scores cancel out. i am actually a fan of this rule and try to adopt it when i play, but my understanding is that most one pocket players prefer the spot’em game.

-3 foul rule. I absolutely love 3 foul in 9 ball but prefer not to use it when i play one pocket. It seems like tourneys are more likely to adopt this rule while matchups are not.

-cue ball fouls only. i prefer all ball fouls to erase any doubt about what happened. this rule seems more situational and doesnt seem to be consistent across the board.

-* grady rules. not a fan. at all. However i can see why a TD might want to implement it.

@dr_dave these are the only things i would suggest to include, since knowledge is power. perhaps in a future video.
Click to expand...

Good list. I don’t plan to do a follow-up video, but this is even more justification for “official rules” that are complete, clear, and as consistent as possible with rules of other well-established pool games, with no “options” or “alternatives” listed. Tournaments or gamblers might not always follow all the “official rules” exactly, but at least it will be clear what the “official rules” are when there is any uncertainty or debate.
 
dr_dave said:
FYI, I just posted a new video that uses excerpts from the Video Encyclopedia of One-Pocket (VEOP) to discuss and demonstrate the generally-accepted rules and strategy of the wonderful game of one-pocket. Check it out:


Contents:
0:00 - Intro
0:25 - Game Basics
2:30 - Rules
3:58 - Fouls
6:58 - Ball Spotting
8:58 - 3-Foul Rule
9:45 - End-Game Strategy
14:11 - Wrap Up

As always, I look forward to your feedback, comments, questions, complaints, and requests.

Enjoy!
Click to expand...
Thanks Dave! You always provide the highest quality information.
 
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