Semantics and a simple little rule...

Surly

This is it.
Silver Member
Please settle a disagreement my husband and I are having.

According to this rule, how many balls should go to the rail?

"Any ball (including the cue ball) must go to a rail after legal contact."
 
Any ball means ONE single ball. It could be the cue ball, it could be the object ball, or it could be a ball that was struck by the cue ball or object ball ( or struck by a ball struck by the cue ball or object ball, etc, etc).

It simply means a ball has to hit a rail after the contact between the cueball and the object ball. This way you cannot just tap the cue ball into the object ball softly, and try to play a safetey, etc.

Another note, you can't hit the cue off a rail first and count it. A ball must contact the rail AFTER the collision of the two balls.

Hope it helps.
 
and, of course, if a ball is pocketed, it doesn't matter whether or not a ball went to the rail.
 
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