8-ball pool rules: a complete guide
8-ball is played with fifteen numbered object balls and the cue ball. One player shoots the solids (1 to 7), the other shoots the stripes (9 to 15). You have to clear your whole group before you are allowed to shoot at the 8-ball. Sink the 8 legally and you win the rack.
The rules below follow the World Pool Association Rules of Play (the version effective 15 September 2025), which is the standard used in most competitive play. Casual house rules vary, and that is fine. When people argue about pool at a bar, this is usually the document that settles it.
How do you rack the balls?
Rack all fifteen balls in a tight triangle with the apex ball on the foot spot. The 8-ball goes in the center, directly behind the apex. One ball from each group sits on the two bottom corners. Everything else is mixed in with no set pattern.
How does the break work?
The breaker starts with the cue ball in hand behind the head string. You do not have to call a ball or hit any particular ball first. The break counts as legal if one of two things happens:
- you pocket at least one object ball, or
- you drive at least four object balls to one or more rails.
If neither happens, it is an illegal break, and the incoming player picks one of three things: take the table as it sits, re-rack and break the new rack themselves, or re-rack and make the original breaker break again.
The 8-ball on the break is a special case. If you pocket it on an otherwise legal break, you do not lose. You either spot the 8 and keep the table, or re-break. If you pocket the 8 while also fouling on the break (a scratch, for example), your opponent re-spots the 8 and either plays from behind the head string or asks for a re-break.
What is an open table?
Right after the break, nobody owns a group yet. This is called an open table. While the table is open you may hit any object ball first except the 8.
Groups get decided by what you pocket. You call a ball, and if you legally pocket it, that group becomes yours and your opponent takes the other. If you miss your called ball, the table stays open and your turn ends. So the break itself does not assign solids or stripes. The first clean called pot after the break does.
What counts as a foul?
When you foul, your turn ends and your opponent gets ball in hand: they can pick up the cue ball and place it anywhere on the table before their shot. That is a big advantage, which is why fouls decide a lot of games. The common fouls are:
- scratching (pocketing the cue ball) or knocking it off the table,
- hitting the wrong group first once groups are assigned,
- failing to drive any ball to a rail after the cue ball makes contact,
- not having a foot on the floor when you shoot,
- touching a ball with anything other than a legal tip strike,
- a double hit or a push shot,
- shooting out of turn, or while balls are still moving.
One exception to the ball-in-hand penalty: a foul on the break gives the incoming player the cue ball behind the head string, not anywhere on the table.
How do you win the rack?
You stay at the table as long as you keep legally pocketing balls from your group. Clear all seven, then pocket the 8-ball in the pocket you called. That wins it.
How can you lose on the 8-ball?
The 8-ball is where most games are thrown away. You lose the rack if you:
- pocket the 8 before your group is cleared,
- pocket the 8 and foul on the same shot (for example, scratch),
- pocket the 8 in a pocket you did not call, or
- knock the 8 off the table.
None of these apply on the break shot, where potting the 8 is handled separately.
RealPool follows the rules above, with a few deliberate simplifications:
- It is not a call-shot game. You never name the pocket, and once your group is clear the 8 counts in any pocket.
- There is no safety declaration. A missed or defensive shot simply ends your turn.
- If the 8 drops on the break, RealPool re-racks, rather than giving the breaker the WPA spot-or-re-break choice.
- Push shots and double hits are not called. The engine does not model how long the cue tip stays on the ball, so it cannot detect those two contact fouls.
- After an illegal break you get two of those three choices, not three: take the table as it sits, or re-rack and have the original breaker break again. RealPool does not offer the option to re-rack and break the new rack yourself.
Everything else matches the rules above: solids and stripes get assigned on the first clean pot, the legal-break test is the pot-or-four-to-a-rail rule, a foul hands your opponent ball in hand (behind the head string after a break foul), and the same shots that lose you the rack here lose it in RealPool.
Common questions
Do you have to call your shots?
In WPA rules, yes. Every shot except the break has to be called, including the pocket. Most casual games drop this and play "anything goes" except on the 8. RealPool plays the casual way.
Is it a loss if you scratch on the 8-ball?
Yes. Pocketing the 8 and fouling on the same shot, including a scratch, loses the rack. Scratching without pocketing the 8 is just a normal foul: your opponent gets ball in hand.
Who breaks the next rack?
The winner of the lag decides who breaks first. After that, breaks alternate (or follow whatever format the match uses). If a rack ends in a stalemate, the original breaker of that rack breaks again.
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