Bank pool
No straight-ins. Every ball has to come off a rail.
In bank pool every scoring shot must be banked — the object ball has to strike at least one rail before it drops, and it has to be called. It strips the game down to one skill and tests it repeatedly.
The object of the game
Bank pool is played to a set number of balls, and every one of them must be banked. A ball that goes in without contacting a rail first does not count and is spotted, however cleanly it was struck.
That restriction removes the entire category of shot most players are best at. What is left is a game about angles, speed and knowing how a particular table’s cushions behave.
Calling the shot
Bank pool is call shot: you nominate the ball and the pocket. Kisses, caroms and lucky rebounds do not count, and a ball that falls somewhere other than called is spotted.
Because the calling requirement is strict and banks are unreliable by nature, defensive play matters. Leaving your opponent without a bankable ball is often better than attempting a low-percentage bank of your own.
How the table behaves
A bank’s angle depends on the cushions, the cloth, and how hard the ball is struck — a firm bank rebounds shorter than a soft one off the same spot. Players who bank well know the specific table they are on, which is why the game rewards a regular room.
This is also why bank pool travels poorly: a player who is deadly on their home table can be ordinary on an unfamiliar one.
Cross-side, cross-corner and the short bank
Most banks fall into a few recognisable families. The cross-side sends the object ball off a long rail into the opposite side pocket; the cross-corner crosses the table into the far corner; the short bank goes off the end rail into a corner on the same end.
Experienced bank players think in terms of these patterns rather than calculating each angle from scratch, which is why the game looks fast in the hands of someone who plays it regularly and slow in the hands of someone who does not.
The cue ball complicates all of them. Sidespin transfers to the object ball on contact and shifts the rebound, so the same visual angle banks differently depending on how the cue ball was struck.
Fouls
A foul or a scratch costs you a ball, spotted back onto the table, in the same way as one-pocket. With short games, that penalty is heavy enough to make a reckless bank a genuinely bad decision.
There is no safety button in bank pool as League Night scores it — the practical equivalent is simply a miss that leaves nothing, and it is recorded as the turn ending.
How League Night scores it
Bank pool is the one format League Night treats as a race of games rather than a single game. Each game runs to 5 balls by default, and a match is best of five — three games wins it.
Within a game the pad adds one bank at a time, and a foul or scratch subtracts one, reflecting the spotted ball. Only Foul and Scratch appear as secondary buttons here; the rack-game events do not apply.
Other games
Eight-ball·Nine-ball·Ten-ball·Straight pool (14.1 continuous)·One-pocket·K-Ball