# How is eight-ball played, and what do the billiards words mean? Eight-ball in **7 rules**, the **4 things** that decide a shot, **36 terms** one line each, **27 names** of games in the family, and **45 players** worth knowing. Play it free in a browser at https://poolgame.aplusz.app/en/ - full-size table, phone or PC, offline after the first load, nothing installed. ## The rules, short These are the rules this game enforces: WPA eight-ball. They are not the full WPA rule book - for the governing text see . 1. Break from behind the head string. Eight on the break re-racks. 2. The table is open until the first called pot — that pot sets your group. 3. Call your shot: the ball and the pocket. Slop does not count. 4. Pot one of yours and carry on. Miss and the table passes. 5. Fouls: potting the cue ball, hitting nothing, hitting the wrong ball first, or no ball reaching a cushion after contact. The penalty is ball in hand, anywhere. 6. Clear your group, then the eight — in the pocket you called. 7. The eight potted early, fouled, or dropped in the wrong pocket loses the frame. ## The four things that decide a shot **Where the tip meets the ball.** High runs on, low comes back, the sides bend it off the cushions. Past the ring is a miscue. **How thin you cut it.** The thinner the cut, the less of your pace the object ball takes — and the more the cue ball keeps. **Banks and kicks.** In equals out — until you put side on it, and then it does not. The diamonds on the rails are there to count with. **And the fourth: pace** The same aim at a different speed sends the cue ball somewhere else after contact. Choosing pace is choosing your next shot. That is the whole of position play, and it is the one thing a video of a game cannot teach you — you have to hit them. Hit some. ## Pool, billiards, snooker, carom - what is what | Name | What it is | |---------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | **Pool** | the American game on a six-pocket table — the one here | | **Pocket billiards** | pool's formal name, still used by federations | | **Billiards** | the whole family: pocket games, carom games, snooker | | **Eight-ball** | seven solids, seven stripes and the black — the world's most played pool game | | **8-ball** | the same game, written the short way | | **Blackball** | the British and world eight-ball code, reds and yellows | | **English pool** | blackball on a smaller table with smaller balls | | **Nine-ball** | balls 1 to 9, lowest ball first, the 9 wins it | | **Ten-ball** | nine-ball's stricter cousin: everything called | | **Straight pool** | 14.1 continuous — any ball, called, counted to a target score | | **One-pocket** | every ball into one chosen pocket; the chess of the game | | **Bank pool** | every ball banked off a cushion first | | **Rotation** | the lowest ball first, scoring by number | | **Snooker** | the 22-ball English game on a 12-foot table | | **Carom billiards** | no pockets: score by striking both object balls | | **Three-cushion** | carom with three cushions before the second ball | | **Russian pyramid** | a wide table, tight pockets, near-white balls | | **Kaisa** | the Finnish pyramid game | | **Bumper pool** | the small table with obstacles | | **Cutthroat** | three players, three groups, last group standing | | **Killer** | a lives game, a shot each | | **Billar / Biljart / Biliardo** | Spanish, Dutch and Italian for the same family | | **Billard** | the French and German spelling | | **Бильярд** | the Russian name | | **撞球 / 台球** | the Chinese names for pool | | **ビリヤード** | the Japanese name | | **Sinuca** | Brazilian snooker-style pool | ## Every term, one line each | Term | What it means | |----------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------| | **Break** | the opening shot into the rack | | **Rack** | the triangle of balls at the start, and the frame that holds them | | **Cue ball** | the white one — the only ball you are allowed to hit with the cue | | **Object ball** | the ball you are trying to pot | | **Pot / pocket** | to put a ball in a pocket | | **Cut** | to strike the object ball off-centre so it leaves at an angle | | **Full ball** | a straight hit, no cut | | **Half-ball** | a cut of about thirty degrees — the most useful reference angle | | **Thin** | a cut of sixty degrees or more; the object ball takes very little pace | | **Throw** | the object ball pushed off its true line by friction on a cut | | **Screw / draw** | low on the cue ball: it comes back after contact | | **Follow / top** | high on the cue ball: it runs on through | | **Stun** | a cue ball sliding, not rolling, at contact — it stops dead on a full hit | | **Side / English** | left or right of centre: the cue ball bends off the cushions | | **Miscue** | the tip slipping off the ball — struck too far from centre | | **Position / shape** | leaving the cue ball where the next shot is easy | | **Safety** | a shot played to leave your opponent nothing | | **Snooker** | to leave the cue ball with no direct line to a legal ball | | **Bank** | the object ball played off a cushion into a pocket | | **Kick** | the cue ball off a cushion first, then the object ball | | **Combination** | one ball onto another, and that one in | | **Carom** | the cue ball glancing off one ball into another | | **Jaws** | the two cushion ends either side of a pocket mouth | | **Rattle** | a ball bouncing in the jaws and staying up | | **Scratch** | potting the cue ball — a foul | | **Foul** | a shot against the rules; the other player gets ball in hand | | **Ball in hand** | the cue ball may be placed anywhere before the next shot | | **Slop** | a ball potted that was not called; it does not count here | | **Head string** | the line across the table the break is taken from behind | | **Diamonds** | the markers on the rails, used to aim banks and kicks | | **Nap / cloth** | the baize the balls run on | | **Chalk** | the cube on the tip, so it grips when you strike off-centre | | **Run out** | to clear your group and the eight in one visit | | **Break and run** | a frame won from the break without the opponent playing | | **Frame / rack** | one complete game | | **Push out** | nine-ball's optional second shot after the break | ## The players, and what each is known for Editorial order. This is **not a ranking**, and `games` is what each is known for, not everything they played. | Player | From | Known in | Method they are known for | |---------------------------------|----------------------|---------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | **Efren Manalang Reyes** | Philippines | nine-ball, rotation, one-pocket | Kicks and escapes nothing else sees — multi-cushion routes played as safeties, not gambles. Called The Magician. | | **William Joseph Mosconi** | United States | straight pool | Position first, pace last: 526 balls without a miss, a record still standing. Pattern play as a craft. | | **Rudolf Walter Wanderone Jr.** | United States | straight pool, money games | The hustler's table presence — talk, tempo and pressure as weapons. Played as Minnesota Fats. | | **Earl Strickland** | United States | nine-ball | The break as an opening weapon: raw pace, then a hard-running pattern. Three World Nine-ball titles. | | **Shane Van Boening** | United States | nine-ball, ten-ball | Break control and a metronomic stroke; wins by removing variance rather than chasing it. | | **Francisco Bustamante** | Philippines | nine-ball | The power stroke — long draw and deep screw at pace, with a break feared across the tour. | | **Jeanette Lee** | United States | nine-ball | Aggressive, attack-first patterns and a relentless public game. Known as The Black Widow. | | **Allison Fisher** | England | snooker, nine-ball | Snooker discipline carried into pool: safety, cue-ball control, and a dead-still head. | | **Ronnie O'Sullivan** | England | snooker | Speed and fluency — the fastest maximum on record, played ambidextrously when the angle asks. | | **Stephen Gordon Hendry** | Scotland | snooker | Attacking break-building that redefined the modern game; seven world titles. | | **Steve Davis** | England | snooker | Percentage play and safety as a complete strategy; six world titles in the eighties. | | **Joe Davis** | England | snooker | Built the modern break-building method and held the world title from 1927 to 1946. | | **Alexander Gordon Higgins** | Northern Ireland | snooker | Instinct over pattern — shot-making at speed that pulled a public to the game. | | **Judd Trump** | England | snooker | Long potting and risk taken on purpose, with century counts to carry it. | | **John Higgins** | Scotland | snooker | Cue-ball control and safety exchanges won on depth rather than pace. | | **Mark Selby** | England | snooker | Attrition: tactical frames stretched until the other player breaks. | | **Raymond Ceulemans** | Belgium | three-cushion carom | Over a hundred world titles; systems and diamond arithmetic turned into routine. | | **Torbjörn Blomdahl** | Sweden | three-cushion carom | Pace and spin used to open angles others treat as closed. | | **Dick Jaspers** | Netherlands | three-cushion carom | Precision systems play with the highest averages of the modern era. | | **Frédéric Caudron** | Belgium | three-cushion carom | Extreme spin and invented routes; the most creative cue ball in carom. | | **Mika Immonen** | Finland | nine-ball, ten-ball | Cold match temperament — The Iceman — and a strong rotation break. | | **Johnny Archer** | United States | nine-ball | Stroke purity and a safety game that quietly wins long sets. | | **Alex Pagulayan** | Canada / Philippines | nine-ball, one-pocket | Table awareness and speed; one-pocket traps built several balls ahead. | | **Darren Appleton** | England | ten-ball, eight-ball | English eight-ball discipline applied to American pool: safety first, pot second. | | **Jayson Shaw** | Scotland | nine-ball, straight pool | Fast, high-run straight pool and a heavy break. | | **Fedor Gorst** | Russia | nine-ball, ten-ball | Modern all-round rotation play; youngest World Nine-ball champion at the time. | | **Joshua Filler** | Germany | nine-ball, ten-ball | Aggressive shot selection at pace, with a break built for control. | | **Albin Ouschan** | Austria | nine-ball | Patient rotation patterns and repeatable break positions. | | **Niels Feijen** | Netherlands | nine-ball, straight pool | The Terminator — long matches won on consistency and safety. | | **Dennis Orcollo** | Philippines | rotation, ten-ball | Grinding match play and one of the strongest long-set records in the game. | | **José Parica** | Philippines | nine-ball | Brought Filipino rotation technique to the American tour; deep position play. | | **Nick Varner** | United States | nine-ball, one-pocket | Safety and one-pocket strategy; a long career at the top of both. | | **Steve Mizerak** | United States | straight pool | Four straight-pool world titles and the game's most public face in its era. | | **Luther Lassiter** | United States | nine-ball | Six world titles; the measured, unhurried stroke of the money game. | | **Irving Crane** | United States | straight pool | Mechanical accuracy and pattern discipline across six world titles. | | **Kelly Fisher** | England | nine-ball, ten-ball | Snooker-trained safety and a very straight cue action. | | **Karen Corr** | Northern Ireland | snooker, nine-ball | The Irish Invader — precision potting carried from snooker to pool. | | **Siming Chen** | China | nine-ball, ten-ball | Modern women's rotation play: break control and clean patterns. | | **Ko Pin-yi** | Chinese Taipei | nine-ball, ten-ball | Technical break work and a cue-ball game built on spin control. | | **Ralf Souquet** | Germany | nine-ball, eight-ball | The Kaiser — routine, ritual and a repeatable stroke over decades. | | **Thorsten Hohmann** | Germany | straight pool, nine-ball | High-run straight pool and methodical pattern selection. | | **Mike Sigel** | United States | straight pool, nine-ball | Captain Hook — safety play turned into an attacking idea. | | **Buddy Hall** | United States | nine-ball | The Rifleman — long potting with an unusually quiet stroke. | | **Cisero Murphy** | United States | straight pool | The only player to win the world title on his first appearance; broke the colour bar in the game. | | **Jimmy White** | England | snooker | The Whirlwind — attacking, fast-flowing frames across four decades. | ## What this game does **A full-size table** 2.54 by 1.27 metres of slate and cloth, drawn to the diamond. Six pockets cut the way a real table is cut — the sides a little wider than the corners. **Simulated, not animated** Every ball carries its own speed and spin and the table is stepped 480 times a second in metres and seconds. Nothing is on rails. **Real cushions** Rubber that gives and grips: pace is eaten, side-spin is thrown, and the angle out is not simply the angle in once you put spin on it. **Real pocket jaws** A ball at pace can clip a jaw, rattle and stay up. The jaws are dead rubber, so a ball off one dies and drops. **Throw on a cut** A thin cut at pace moves the object ball off the line you drew, the way friction between two balls really does move it. **Screw, follow and side** Strike low and the cue ball comes back, high and it runs on, left or right and it bends off the cushions. Past the miscue ring and you miscue. **An aim line that tells the truth** It shows where you are pointing. It does not promise where the ball ends up — that part is yours. **Hair-fine aiming** Arrow keys, the mouse wheel or Shift for a hundredth of a degree. On a phone, a dedicated aim meter spanning three degrees. **WPA eight-ball** Call your shot, ball in hand on a foul, slop does not count, the eight last and in the pocket you called. **Play on your own** Solo is a free table with no clock, ever. Re-rack, scatter the balls, place any ball by hand, practise one shot all night. **Play a bot** Beginner to Master, running on your own device. No wait for an opponent and no connection needed. **Play online** A real player at the other end, and every frame moves your rank. **Two on one screen** Pass the device and play a frame the old way. **Learn & Drill** Lessons a shot at a time, drills that score you, and a Show me how that plays the shot for you when you are stuck. **Ranking** A top thirty built from online frames. **Made for a phone** Landscape, two-handed: your right finger aims on the cloth, your left thumb slides the power meter and lets go to shoot. **Full screen** The table and nothing else, on a computer or a phone. **Your own kit** Six tables, twelve cues and a set of chalk cubes. The first of each is free. **Nothing to install** It opens in a browser and runs offline against the bot once it has loaded. **No advertising** None anywhere, and no tracking of you around the web. ## The questions people actually ask ### Is it free to play? Yes. Solo practice and the lessons are open all day and all night, and nothing is installed. For the first 72 hours every feature is open; after that matches run on two free hours a day, or a plan opens everything again. ### What rules does it play? WPA eight-ball. You call your shot, slop does not count, a foul gives ball in hand anywhere, and the eight only after your group is cleared and only in the pocket you called. ### Can I play without an internet connection? Yes, against the bot. Once the page has loaded it runs on your own device, so there is no wait for an opponent and no connection needed. ### Does it work on a phone? Yes, in landscape. Your right finger aims on the cloth and your left thumb slides the power meter and lets go to shoot — a dedicated aim meter gives you a hundredth of a degree. ### Is the physics real? The table is stepped 480 times a second in metres and seconds. Cushions give and grip, cuts throw the object ball, screw and follow behave as they do on cloth, and the pocket jaws are real rubber — a ball at pace can rattle one and stay up. ### Do I need an account? Only to carry your open days, your rank and your kit between devices, and to take a plan. An email address and a six-digit code, nothing else. --- HTML: https://poolgame.aplusz.app/en/about.html JSON: https://poolgame.aplusz.app/v1/search?q= Tool: https://poolgame.aplusz.app/mcp Source: the game's own written copy, rendered from data/*.json Licence: https://poolgame.aplusz.app/license.xml Cite as: Ultra Pool Billiards, retrieved 2026-10-31, https://poolgame.aplusz.app/en/about.html