Straight pool (14.1 continuous)
Every ball is a point, and the rack never really ends.
Straight pool is the classic points game. Any ball in any called pocket scores one point, and when only one ball is left the other fourteen are re-racked so a run can continue indefinitely.
The object of the game
Straight pool, properly 14.1 continuous, is a race to a point total rather than a race of racks. Every ball you legally pocket is worth one point, and you keep shooting until you miss or foul.
It is the purest measure of sustained accuracy in pool. A run is limited only by your own control of the cue ball, which is why the record high runs are measured in hundreds of consecutive balls.
The 14.1 mechanic
Fourteen of the fifteen balls are racked at the start. When you have pocketed fourteen, the fifteenth stays where it lies and the other fourteen are re-racked with the apex position left empty. That remaining ball is your break ball.
The whole art is in getting shape on that break ball so the cue ball can crack the new rack open and leave you a shot. That is the "continuous" in the name: a good player treats the re-rack as a shot in the run rather than the end of one.
Calling shots and playing safe
Every shot is called: the ball and the pocket. Anything that falls elsewhere is spotted and your inning ends. Because any ball is available, the calling requirement is what turns straight pool into a planning game rather than a shooting one.
Safety play is a normal part of the game, not a last resort. A safety ends your inning with no penalty, and at a high level a straight pool match can open with several exchanged safeties before either player commits to a run.
Fouls and the three-foul rule
A standard foul costs one point. The opening break has its own requirement — the breaker must drive two object balls plus the cue ball to a rail — and failing it costs two points.
Three consecutive fouls by the same player, without an intervening legal shot, cost a further fifteen points and require a re-break. It is the harshest penalty in common pool play, and it exists to stop a player from simply refusing to engage.
How League Night scores it
Straight pool is scored by points rather than racks, with a default target of 100 — the traditional match length. The scoring pad adds one point per ball, with shortcuts for 5, 14 and 15 so a long run or a cleared rack can be entered in one tap.
Fouls subtract here, unlike the rack games: a standard foul or a scratch is −1 and a break foul is −2, applied to the score directly. The pad also tracks innings, balls per inning and your high run, and follows the three-consecutive-foul rule: standard fouls and scratches count toward it, a break foul does not, and after the third the pad prompts the re-rack with the fouling player to break.