New WPA Official Rules of Pool … Learn About All the Changes

[Badpenguin]

I was the chair. Dr. Dave was one of the North American (BCA) selections and the EPBF head referee (Roman Mirakhmedov) was also on the committee. There was a total of about 10 others from five continents. The others had occasional inputs but were less active in the discussions. Roman brought the viewpoint of a ref who has spent a lot of time in the trenches. Roman also handled the final edit and fixed a bunch of problems with the master Word document.

Thanks for all of the hard work you guys do. I would say thanks for doing all of the nitty gritty work, but wouldn't want to be calling anyone a nit

 

[Badpenguin]

I was told it was WPA rules. When it happened to her, it was a WPA referee who called her out on it at a Predator event.

That was just ridiculous. The rule should be abolished, and if it is a rule required by the host country, we shouldn't have events in that country.

 

[dr_dave]

Hey Doc thanks for all the great work you do in helping the Pool world, your content is always excellent! Under the rules is it a foul if a player bridging over a strip makes contact with the strip and the cue ball at the same time, does that constitute moving two balls?

If you make contact with any ball (except the tip with the CB) at any time, it is a foul.

 

[dr_dave]

Will the lady pros be allowed to show ankle skin if they wear shoes with no socks or short socks? I am reminded of when Chezka Centero from Philippines was penalized by WPA because her ankle skin was showing. To me, that is a really unusual rule and should be abolished.

There is a dress code in the WPA Regulations, but individual events might have additional requirements. The dress code was not changed.

 

[dr_dave]

From "Billiards: The Official Rules and Records Book, 2021/2022 Edition" published by the Billiards Congress of America:



I interpret that to mean: there is an infinitely thin line drawn from the ceiling down through the center of the ball and through the table to the floor, and wherever that line passes through the cloth is the position of the ball.

I do not see "base of the ball" mentioned anywhere in the rule book, rather I see things like, "taking the cue ball in hand behind the head string". From that I infer "the position of the cue ball must be behind the head string", and the position of a ball is determined as above. It would be nice if there was a direct connection to the "position" defined in 8.13 by rewording the rule to "taking the cue ball in hand so its position is behind the head string."

The position of the ball is the position of the center of the ball, which is the same as the resting point (vertically beneath the center). The definitions apply to the entire Rules document.

 

[dr_dave]

Now if only someone can convince the APA to discard the “take what you make” 8-ball break rule…..

Disclaimer: I no longer play in the APA.

There is a long list of “rules” in the APA that go against the official rules of pool. Many of them are “sub optimal.”

 

[Rocket354]

BCAPL does not require any particular scoring system for any game, including 8-Ball. Each league may select whatever system they wish. A "standard" CSI format is available, but its use is not required. By rule, in CSI 8-ball, illegally pocketed balls are scored in favor of the player with that group. So the losing player in any weird situation would be scored per the particular system used.

Any idea how these WPA changes will filter down to CSI and therefore BCAPL?

I'm most curious about the all-ball fouls rule.

 

[JPB2]

Any idea how these WPA changes will filter down to CSI and therefore BCAPL?

I'm most curious about the all-ball fouls rule.

I would be shocked if CSI/BCAPL went to all ball fouls. They knew the difference between all ball and cue ball only when they went with cue ball only.

 

[Badpenguin]

There is a dress code in the WPA Regulations, but individual events might have additional requirements. The dress code was not changed.

If it is WPA "sanctioned", the WPA rules should apply, without exceptions or additions. I wish they would quit using the word sanction, to me it is synonymous with punish.

 

[soyale]

forgive me for not reading the thread but is there a written down list of changes?

 

[kling&allen]

I’m thankful that the WPA has people like Bob and Dr. Dave working on this.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

forgive me for not reading the thread but is there a written down list of changes?

You could have watched the video in the very first post, no reading required...

 

[sjm]

Great video.

All ball fouls for low level players, though, is way over the top. It will make the game less fun for those who are new to BCA league play. Ultimately, it offers one more good reason to use something other than BCA rules at amateur levels of play.

 

[dr_dave]

forgive me for not reading the thread but is there a written down list of changes?

Here’s the concise list of changes. The video discusses and demonstrates each.

 

[dr_dave]

Great video.

Thanks, Stu.

All ball fouls for low level players, though, is way over the top. It will make the game less fun for those who are new to BCA league play. Ultimately, it offers one more good reason to use something other than BCA rules at amateur levels of play.

This doesn’t seem to be much of a problem except in the US. Maybe it is time for Americans to learn how to play the game properly. You should not be touching balls you are not supposed to touch. If you start getting penalized for it, you will probably start doing it much less frequently.

Regardless, the American pool leagle systems seem intent on having their own rules anyway. The list of league rule differences is quite long.

 

[sjm]

Thanks, Stu.



This doesn’t seem to be much of a problem except in the US. Maybe it is time for Americans to learn how to play the game properly. You should not be touching balls you are not supposed to touch. If you start getting penalized for it, you will probably start doing it much less frequently.

Regardless, the American pool leagle systems seem intent on having their own rules anyway. The list of league rule differences is quite long.

Needless to say, I approve of using "all ball fouls" at any really serious level of competition, but keeping the game fun must be the priority at all lower levels of play, and I do not think it makes any difference at all whether lower-level players learn to play pool "properly."

 

[7stud]

This doesn’t seem to be much of a problem except in the US. Maybe it is time for Americans to learn how to play the game properly.

Besides the beginner problem, there is the cheater problem: if you call double hits on yourself or your arm hair touching a ball when bridging over the ball (I tend to feel that regularly) is your opponent going to do the same thing? In my experience, the answer is "no". I've played people in tournaments where cue ball only fouls was in effect, and they clearly double hit the cue ball, and from their immediate reaction I knew that they knew they double hit the cue ball, but they quickly recomposed themselves and walked to the next shot as if nothing untoward happened. Under the new all ball fouls rule for all games at all times, those players are never going to call their shirt touching a ball or their arm hair touching a ball.

Personally, I think the ball should have to move for it to be a foul: if your shirt or arm hair barely touches a ball what's the harm to the game? For the layout of the balls, a light touch cannot be distinguished from no touch, so nothing is different.

I guess I need to start shaving my left arm.

 

[dr_dave]

Needless to say, I approve of using "all ball fouls" at any really serious level of competition, but keeping the game fun must be the priority at all lower levels of play, and I do not think it makes any difference at all whether lower-level players learn to play pool "properly."

They still need to play “properly” under the rules of the specific league. I actually agree that amateur leagues like the APA should have as few fouls and rules as possible to keep the game more fun and with less chances for disagreements. That’s probably partly why the APA is already so successful (along with excellent marketing). In addition to all the other things they already allow, maybe the APA should also start allowing double hits, scoop jump shots, cue-lift shots, creative mechanical-bridge shots, kneeling-on-the-table shots, etc! Just let them play and have fun.

 

[skogstokig]

Besides the beginner problem, there is the cheater problem: if you call double hits on yourself or your arm hair touching a ball when bridging over the ball (I tend to feel that regularly) is your opponent going to do the same thing? In my experience, the answer is "no". I've played people in tournaments where the cue ball only fouls was in effect, and they clearly double hit the cue ball, and from their immediate reaction I knew that they knew they double hit the ball, but they quickly recomposed themselves and walked to the next shot as if nothing untoward happened. Under the new all ball fouls rule for all games at all times, those players are never going to call their shirt touching a ball or their arm hair touching a ball.

Personally, I think the ball should have to move for it to be a foul: if your shirt are arm hair barely touches a ball what's the harm to the game? For the layout of the balls, a light touch cannot be distinguished from no touch, so nothing is different.

we self referee our opponents here in yurop. opponent saying hair or shirt touched is uncommon. there are dishonest people and hence there are occasional arguments, even for obvious hand/arm/cue touch fouls, but it's not something that i feel delay tournaments or consider a big problem. i think both systems have their merit. especially in one pocket i don't mind the cb fouls only. the most logical system is all ball fouls.

 

[7stud]

we self referee our opponents here in yurop.

A new Dark Ages is upon us.