Nine-ball

The object of the game

Nine-ball uses only the balls 1 through 9. The rack is won by legally pocketing the 9. You do not have to clear the table to get there: if the 9 falls off a legal combination on your first shot, the rack is yours.

That one rule gives nine-ball its character. Every rack can end early, so a player who is behind on the table is rarely out of the game.

The rack and the break

Rack the nine balls in a diamond with the 1 on the foot spot at the apex and the 9 in the centre. The rest go anywhere.

The breaker must strike the 1 first. Many rulesets allow a push out immediately after the break: the player at the table may play any shot without hitting the lowest ball, after which the opponent chooses who shoots next. That exists so a break leaving nothing playable does not simply hand over the rack.

How a turn works

The cue ball must contact the lowest-numbered ball on the table first, every shot, without exception. What happens after that contact is unrestricted: any ball that falls stays down and counts, whether or not you meant it.

That is the key difference from ten-ball. Nine-ball is not a call-shot game in most rulesets, so a ball pocketed by accident still counts — a source of both comebacks and arguments.

Pattern play

Because the order is fixed, nine-ball is a game of patterns rather than choices. Before you shoot the 1 you should already know how you intend to reach the 2, the 3 and ideally the 4 — the run is planned backwards from the 9.

Where eight-ball lets you pick the easiest ball on the table, nine-ball dictates the next one. A player who leaves themselves straight on every ball will still lose the rack if the cue ball ends up on the wrong side of the table for the ball after that.

This is also why the two-way shot is common: a shot attempted with enough thought about the leave that missing it still puts your opponent in trouble.

Fouls

Failing to hit the lowest ball first is the defining foul. So are scratching, driving no ball to a rail after contact, and knocking a ball off the table. The penalty is ball in hand anywhere on the table.

If the 9 is pocketed on a foul it is spotted back on the foot spot, and play continues with the incoming player holding ball in hand.

How League Night scores it

Nine-ball is scored by racks, defaulting to a race to 7. Rotation games run longer races than eight-ball because individual racks are shorter and more volatile, so a longer race is a better measure of who actually played better.

As in eight-ball, the pad records break and run and table run alongside the rack count. In nine-ball a break and run is a real achievement rather than a formality, which is exactly why it is worth tracking.

Other games

Eight-ball·Ten-ball·Straight pool (14.1 continuous)·One-pocket·Bank pool·K-Ball