Ten-ball
Nine-ball with the luck taken out: everything is called.
Ten-ball is the rotation game serious players reach for. The structure is nine-ball's, with one ball added and one rule changed: every shot must be called, so nothing slops in.
The object of the game
Ten-ball is played with the balls 1 through 10. As in nine-ball you must contact the lowest-numbered ball first, and the rack is won by pocketing the money ball — here the 10.
The difference is that the 10 must be called, and so must every other shot. A 10 that falls unintentionally does not win the rack; it is spotted and play continues.
The rack and the break
Rack ten balls in a triangle, the 1 at the apex on the foot spot and the 10 in the centre of the rack. Because a triangle of ten packs more tightly than a nine-ball diamond, the break is generally less productive — which is part of the point.
The breaker must hit the 1 first. Balls pocketed on the break count and the breaker continues, but a 10 made on the break is spotted rather than winning the rack.
Call shot changes everything
In ten-ball you nominate the ball and the pocket on every shot. Balls that fall anywhere other than where you called are spotted back onto the table, and your turn ends.
That single change removes most of the luck that makes nine-ball volatile. It is why ten-ball has largely replaced nine-ball in high-level competition, and why it rewards position play so heavily: you cannot rely on a lucky drop to rescue a poor leave.
Why the break matters less
In nine-ball a strong break can decide the rack before the opponent takes a shot. Ten-ball deliberately blunts that. The tighter triangle makes balls harder to spread, the 10 on the break is spotted rather than winning, and a called-shot game gives no credit for whatever happens to drop.
The effect is that ten-ball racks are won at the table rather than off the break. Matches are decided by who runs out more reliably and who plays the better safety, which is precisely why the game was adopted for serious competition.
It also makes the game slower to watch and harder to win from behind — the trade the format accepts in exchange for measuring skill more honestly.
Fouls
The foul list matches nine-ball: wrong first contact, scratch, no rail after contact, ball off the table. The penalty is ball in hand.
The consequence is heavier here. Because you cannot pocket your way out of trouble on a fluke, conceding ball in hand to a competent opponent frequently ends the rack.
How League Night scores it
Ten-ball is scored by racks with a default race to 7, matching nine-ball. Rack counting, break and run, and table run all behave identically; only the rules at the table differ.
If your league plays call-shot ten-ball but scores it casually, the match history stays accurate — the pad records what happened, not whether a shot was called.
Other games
Eight-ball·Nine-ball·Straight pool (14.1 continuous)·One-pocket·Bank pool·K-Ball