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

[Bob Jewett]

i have not read thru the whole thread so if this was already addressed i apologize just lead me to the post
in the one pocket rules it says this (bolded part by me)
10.3 SELECTING POCKETS AND THE BREAK SHOT The breaker of each rack will choose a pocket, and the opponent gets the other foot pocket. If the breaker does not explicitly indicate a pocket, they are assigned the foot pocket opposite to the side of the cue ball placement for the break. The cue ball begins in hand above the head string. There are no special requirements for the break shot.
......................................................
if there are no special requirements does that mean you do not have to hit a rail or make a ball?

You don't have to get a ball to a cushion but of course that's a foul, as it is on all shots, and you would owe a ball. The word you overlooked is "special". That word means you don't have to do anything special, like get two object balls to the cushion, which is not required on any shot at one pocket.

Also, since you are not required to make the cue ball touch a cushion after contact with an object ball on any normal shot, that is also not required on the break shot. If it was required on the break shot, it would be a special requirement on the break. That means that if you want, you can kick to the side of the rack and it is not a foul as long as you satisfy all of the requirements of a shot.

 

[Bob Jewett]

Yes it's a loss, that has already been established.

Go into hypothetical mode, say someone is playing a match in a WPA sanctioned league.

What is the score?

It depends on the rules of the league. It is only leagues that give anything other than one point for a win at eight ball. Different leagues score differently.

 

[Fore Rail]

It depends on the rules of the league. It is only leagues that give anything other than one point for a win at eight ball. Different leagues score differently.

10 point scoring system.

 

[Bob Jewett]

10 point scoring system.

The WPA has nothing to do with any 10-point scoring system. The WPA does not sanction any league system. If it did, hypothetically, sanction a league, the operators of that league would be completely free to establish any scoring system they pleased. If it were my league, hypothetically, I would score it as mentioned above by how many balls remain on the table when the eight is pocketed. That seems like the easiest as you don't have to remember how the balls got off the table.

 

[bbb]

You don't have to get a ball to a cushion but of course that's a foul, as it is on all shots, and you would owe a ball. The word you overlooked is "special". That word means you don't have to do anything special, like get two object balls to the cushion, which is not required on any shot at one pocket.

Also, since you are not required to make the cue ball touch a cushion after contact with an object ball on any normal shot, that is also not required on the break shot. If it was required on the break shot, it would be a special requirement on the break. That means that if you want, you can kick to the side of the rack and it is not a foul as long as you satisfy all of the requirements of a shot.

good explanation bob
to me the way it is worded "no special requirement"
i inferred meant anything was legal since nothing special was required
it was misleading and i doubt i am the only one...maybe so
thanks for the clarification

 

[skogstokig]

i have not read thru the whole thread so if this was already addressed i apologize just lead me to the post
in the one pocket rules it says this (bolded part by me)
10.3 SELECTING POCKETS AND THE BREAK SHOT The breaker of each rack will choose a pocket, and the opponent gets the other foot pocket. If the breaker does not explicitly indicate a pocket, they are assigned the foot pocket opposite to the side of the cue ball placement for the break. The cue ball begins in hand above the head string. There are no special requirements for the break shot.
......................................................
if there are no special requirements does that mean you do not have to hit a rail or make a ball?

what bob said, it's a shot rather than a break, and it's highly disadvantageous to not use this shot to put the cb along opponents long rail (and move balls obviously).

i regularly play a guy (~650) who uses a 14.1 style opening in 1p. that's about as defensive as it gets, and a bad idea too. it sometimes leaves a dead ball

 

[hang-the-9]

Yes it's a loss, that has already been established.

Go into hypothetical mode, say someone is playing a match in a WPA sanctioned league.

What is the score?

That would depend on the scoring rules. WPA doesn't sanction leagues as far as I know, but leagues are free to use the rules.

 

[hang-the-9]

The WPA has nothing to do with any 10-point scoring system. The WPA does not sanction any league system. If it did, hypothetically, sanction a league, the operators of that league would be completely free to establish any scoring system they pleased. If it were my league, hypothetically, I would score it as mentioned above by how many balls remain on the table when the eight is pocketed. That seems like the easiest as you don't have to remember how the balls got off the table.

That is how USAPL did it. I have broken and ran a table, and the opponent got points because I made both suites of balls on the break. I break, run out, opponent sits and gets 2 points LOL

 

[Bob Jewett]

That is how USAPL did it. I have broken and ran a table, and the opponent got points because I made both suites of balls on the break. I break, run out, opponent sits and gets 2 points LOL

So, a worst-case scenario is he needs two points to win the match and you break and make two of each group. Do you lose immediately, or could you run out and tie somehow?

 

[Fore Rail]

So, a worst-case scenario is he needs two points to win the match and you break and make two of each group. Do you lose immediately, or could you run out and tie somehow?

In a team tournament if a player only needs two balls & they are made in your scenario the match would be over.

A match is considered over when a team can no longer mathematically win.

 

[skogstokig]

I've seen men with big "man boobs" and gigantic beer guts that present just as much (or more) of a problem.

Personally, I think players who are fit deserve the slight advantages that come with being fit, like having better endurance and being less prone to touch balls you are not supposed to touch out of carelessness with your body parts.

what's the rule in english 8-ball? many of them are quite hefty, and the table is tiny

 

[TheRooster]

I'm glad to see these changes. Thanks to those involved!

 

[TheRooster]

For the one pocket, I wrote a WSR-style set of rules a couple of years ago for a Billiards Digest column. The WSR rules for one pocket are shorter than the onepocket.org rules because they start with all of the general rules and definitions that are used for all other games. Recently Predator asked the WPA refs to handle the one pocket and bank pool demo events in Las Vegas, so I put together a set of bank pool rules, which are a lot like the rules for one pocket. They were then easy enough to add to the final draft. I suppose those two games are the most likely to have errors.

I gave the onepocket.org rules a re-read, and read the WPA rules. Here are some interesting differences I noticed:

1. No mention of re-rack option for balls pocketed on the break. Some form of this is pretty much always used these days in my experience matching up. Pretty sure DCC uses it, too.
2. I didn't see any mention of jump cues, which are generally not allowed in one pocket. That could seriously change the strategy of "doubling up" an opponent on the head rail.
3. It seems that the WPA rules don't allow the possibility of pocketing an opponents ball while jumping the cue ball off the table for the pocketed ball to be re-spotted. This is sometimes attempted when following the ball in is more difficult. Are there any reasons in particular for this difference? I personally like having this option.
4. Seems like "base of the ball" rules are in effect instead of "full ball" rules for ball in hand behind the head string. This applies to all games, but it's not clear to me what the WPA rules are for behind the line play. I'd like for "on or below the head string" in 6.10 and "crosses the head string" in 6.11 to be defined more clearly. I assume the base of the cue ball is the relevant point in both cases.

Speaking of..

I have not checked the written rules yet (only watched the video), but since Dave and Bob are on the committee, one vocabulary term that always bothered me is "base of the ball". If it's still there, it should be changed to "center of the ball", imo. The reason is, I've seen some players argue with me that the approx 1/4" wide "patch" that is touching the cloth counts, rather than the exact center only.

Maybe "the lowest point of the cue ball" is a more precise way to phrase this. "Center" is pretty good, but it has an overloaded use for tip placement, which might get confusing. Downside of "lowest" is we have to agree which way up is.

 

[TheRooster]

what's the rule in english 8-ball? many of them are quite hefty, and the table is tiny

I'm not experienced with English 8-ball, but I found these rules, which state:

K. Standard Fouls
5 Accidentally striking the Cue Ball with any part of the cue
6 Accidentally striking an Object Ball with any part of the cue.
21 Players’ body or clothing touching any ball.

So, yes.

 

[straightline]

One pocket needs streamlining. De-wrasslin. Straight pool became an offensive game in spite of the catastrophic potential of an error - no small thanks to the -18 penalty.

 

[Bob Jewett]

I gave the onepocket.org rules a re-read, and read the WPA rules. Here are some interesting differences I noticed:

1. ...

The notion of in/out of the kitchen is the standard way it it defined in all other pool games.

Launching the ball off the table has been removed, as you noted. This is being used in more tournaments and I think is the right way to do it there. Private matches are up to the players.

Whether jump cues are allowed is up to the event organizer. I think they shouldn't be a part of either 14.1 or one pocket.

Rerack came in when most events moved to "rack your own". Pocketing a ball from your own rack seemed suspect, so the rerack came in. For major events, it is assumed referees will be racking. The event organizer could still specify a rerack. Note that some implementations of that rule seem to not cover some cases so an organizer who uses a rerack rule needs to figure out a clear, complete written rule. The traditional rule is no rerack -- the breaker continues if he makes a ball in his pocket.

 

[TheRooster]

Launching the ball off the table has been removed, as you noted. This is being used in more tournaments and I think is the right way to do it there.

Just out of curiosity, for what reasons do you think it’s the right way to do it?

Whether jump cues are allowed is up to the event organizer. I think they shouldn't be a part of either 14.1 or one pocket.

Would you please point me to where this is stated?

Rerack came in when most events moved to "rack your own". Pocketing a ball from your own rack seemed suspect, so the rerack came in. For major events, it is assumed referees will be racking. The event organizer could still specify a rerack.

I’m probably biased because rerack was introduced before I started playing 1p. I think there’s a good argument for rerack even with a referee racking.

Note that some implementations of that rule seem to not cover some cases so an organizer who uses a rerack rule needs to figure out a clear, complete written rule.

Yeah there are a lot of variations, many incomplete. I like to keep it simple with something like: if at least one ball is pocketed in any pocket, rerack.