IBA pool question

Mole Eye

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I noticed that on a foul, the player coming to the table broke up a cluster of his balls, did not pocket a ball, and kept shooting. No ball in hand, but is that the rule, two shots if your opponent fouls? Any other rules we Americans would not be familiar with?
 
I noticed that on a foul, the player coming to the table broke up a cluster of his balls, did not pocket a ball, and kept shooting. No ball in hand, but is that the rule, two shots if your opponent fouls? Any other rules we Americans would not be familiar with?
What is "IBA"? Have no clue what you're referring to.
 
You mean "IPA" 8ball? Can't really see a player shooting twice after opponent fouls.
 
Found their site. Apparently, after a foul the incoming player gets ball-in-hand plus a "free visit" aka another shot.
 
Yes you get 1 free shot. You can either take it from where the cueball stops
or pickup the cueball and place it anywhere in the kitchen and shoot in any
direction.

You do have to either pocket a ball or hit a rail after contact. The free shot is
always the first shot after the foul. In some other rule sets the free shot "carries"
which means that you do not have to take the free shot first.

There are plenty of other rule differences. For instance if you are completely
hooked you declare a "total snooker" and then you do not have to hit a rail
after contacting your ball. You cannot play a tactical or intentional foul, you
have to make an effort to make a legal shot or else you lose the game. The
8-ball does not have be called (slop counts). You can pot your last ball(s)
along with the 8-ball and win the game.

Regards, Dave
 
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My apologies, I should have typed IPA. Thanks for the replies. I am certainly enjoying the video stream.
 
I have a question regarding English 8 ball/blackball in general. what is the general census of the English players(and other countries who play that style of 8 ball)? I know in the states a lot of people hate bar tables but the APA seems to have no problems holding huge payout events using those tables.

But it seems those countries over there have embraced them and it shows with how many people I've seen show up to those evnts for both governing bodies of English 8 ball/blackball. Or do the people who mainly play 9 ball/10 ball/straight pool on the 9 foot or bigger tables look down on these small tables aswell?
 
We have a lot less space here than you do as we're a tiny little country, so in many places a 7ft (or even occasionally 6ft) English table is the only option.

There are definitely some snooker players that look down on anyone that plays on 9ft US pool tables and equally there are some pool players who play on 9 footers that look down on 7ft English tables.

However they are all very different games. 8-Ball on an English table is arguably more challenging than 8-Ball on a 9 foot US table due to the pocket style/tightness, however they aren't directly comparable due to the different rule sets and tactics.

What we don't really have here are 7ft US style tables, if a bar/pub has space for a 7ft table then 99% of the time it will be an English pool table, with the other 1% probably being a bar billiards table :-)

So in answer to your question, yes some people do, but the key difference is that a US bar table is simply a small US pool table, an English pool table requires far more accuracy and is more like a mini snooker table than a US pool table.

As you have have mentioned, for whatever reason, English pool (Blackball) in particular is becoming increasingly popular as US pool declines in popularity over here (in the UK), not sure why, I think the IPA have just marketed their tour better!
 
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