What constitutes when a ball is shoot able behind the line in one pocket?

CrossSideLarry

Cross Side Larry
Silver Member
A new player in my circle of playing opponents is adamant that unless more than half of the ball in question, is ahead of the kitchen line, then said ball is not shoot able.

I have played that in order for said ball to be shoot able, only any part of the
belly or better part thereof, need to be ahead of the kitchen line.

Can someone please clarify which is correct?

Thank you,

Cross-Side-Larry

"Learn from the best, and out perform the rest"
 
I play like he new guy does. If more than 50% of the ball is behind the line, then it's in the kitchen. Same thing when placing the cueball at the line for breaks.
 
This question is on the forums a few times.

The OFFICIAL rule is that the base of the ball is where it is. Therefore if more than half the ball is behind the line, it's behind the line even if some of it overhangs the line. From the way I read your post, you are wrong and he is correct, at least 50% of the ball has to be over the line (which is when the base of the ball is on the line or past it).

However several people has said they always played 1P where the whole ball has to be over or behind the line. That to me is a "custom" rule same as any rule you'd see in a bar (not a foul if you hit 3 rails even if you don't touch a ball, rubbing a rail on the way to a pocket is a "bank" so does not count, etc...)

I don't agree with that at all, and a simple analogy can be given to anyone that argues with you if you say the base of the ball is where it is. If the position of the ball is based on the WHOLE ball, then if you hang up a ball in a pocket with some of it in the air over the hole, that ball would be counted as IN under those rules.
 
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just a guess, but in any other game I've played where a ball is required to be beyond a line it's always take from the point where the ball is actually touching the table. That point must be past the line. so i agree with the "half ball" opinion
 
I play full ball has to be over the line in one pocket, it just creates much less arguments.
 
I play full ball has to be over the line in one pocket, it just creates much less arguments.

Not really as it's tougher to see where the full ball actually is on the line instead of the base. You can SEE the contact point of the ball on the cloth. You are only estimating if you use the edge.

If the rule is base of ball in every game, why be different for 1P?
 
Some play the base of the ball........some play the whole ball. All depends on what's decided before hand or "house" rules.
 
The base of the object ball may be on the line or over but the base of the cue ball must be behind the line. That's the World Standardized Rules in summary. Onepocket.org defers to the WSR's when it's not covered in their rules.

It's best to draw a line to designate the kitchen when covering the table. Also a line from the foot spot to the foot rail middle diamond is great for spotting balls.
 
At the super billiards expo recently, they had this exact argument.

The players at first thought base of the ball. Some argued against that like
"what are you crazy? Everyone knows it's the whole ball."

Someone ran and asked Allen Hopkins (I think) and he decreed "Whole ball".
Then they were all "see? Told you!"

Personally I think base of the ball makes sense.
It's what WPA and BCA go by.
It's easier to where the ball touches the table, when it's very close to the line.
Whereas it's much harder to see where some microscopic sliver of the ball is hanging
over the edge of the invisible line.
 
At the super billiards expo recently, they had this exact argument.

The players at first thought base of the ball. Some argued against that like
"what are you crazy? Everyone knows it's the whole ball."

Someone ran and asked Allen Hopkins (I think) and he decreed "Whole ball".
Then they were all "see? Told you!"...
Lordy. Then when you have cue ball in hand I guess it must be placed entirely behind the line. Close to the line with part of the cue ball overhanging is no good. I can hardly wait to catch a "whole ball" person with a cue ball placement foul.

It's too bad that so many US promoters make up rules as they go along.
 
When does a ball count as made into a pocket?
Does it count when its hanging over the slate by near half a ball?
I draw a foot string and a head string on my table so its easy to see.
I go with the contact point of the ball in question.
 
It's base of the ball in every game. Always has been. If part of the ball is hanging over the edge of the pocket, is it in there? Of course not. When the base of the ball crosses the threshold of the pocket, it is in the pocket. The same thing applies when a ball moves into the kitchen.
 
Seems like to me the least arguments would be any piece of the ball on the line play it in the kitchen.

Half seems rather ambiguous and I can see a lot of disagreements there.
 
As long as I've been around the game barring an actual written rule to the contrary it's always been the base of the ball.
 
I'm not sure what the kitchen has to do with a pocket, but if a sliver of a ball was on the slate and the rest in the pocket and it somehow didn't fall, I would say it was on the table. If two balls wedge in the pocket below the slate, those balls are not in yet.
 
I find it amazing how many poolplayers, even good ones, don't know the correct rules and/or make things up as they go along.
 
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