The English-originating version of eight-ball pool, also known as English pool, English eight-ball, blackball, or simply reds and yellows, is a pool game played with sixteen balls (a cue ball and fifteen usually unnumbered object balls ) on a small pool table with six pockets . It originated in the United Kingdom and is played in the Commonwealth countries such as Australia and South Africa. In the UK and Ireland it is usually called simply "pool".
The English version of eight-ball has two main sets of playing rules used in professional play; those of the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), known as "blackball rules", and the code of the World Eightball Pool Federation (WEPF), known as "international rules".
American-style eight-ball arose around 1900, derived from basic pyramid pool. [1] In 1925, the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company began offering ball sets specifically for the game using unnumbered yellow and red balls (in contrast to the numbered solids and stripes found in most pool ball sets), a black eight ball , and the white cue ball. These were introduced to make it easier for spectators to identify the two sets in early professional games held in casinos, and became known as "casino-style" sets. [2] In the years following World War II, playing eight-ball on small coin-operated pool tables became a common pub game in American bars, a pastime which spread to Britain by the early 1960s. In the years following, the British game diverged from the American in equipment (including the use of casino-style balls, which had died out in the US) and rules. [3]
The game uses unnumbered, solid-coloured object balls, typically red and yellow, with one black ball. The black ball typically bears a number "8", though numberless variants are not unknown. They are usually 2 inches (51 mm) or 2+1⁄16 inches (52 mm) in diameter – the latter being the same size as the balls used in snooker and English billiards – often with a slightly smaller cue ball, e.g. 1+7⁄8 inches (47.6 mm) for a 2-inch set, a convention originally created for the ball return mechanisms in coin-operated tables.
British pool tables come in 6 × 3 foot (1.8 × 0.9 m) or 7 × 3.5 ft (2.12 × 1.06 m) varieties, [4] with 7 feet being the regulation size for league play. The table has pockets just larger than the balls and rounded, as in the game of snooker, whereas the international-style (or "American-style") table has pockets significantly wider, with pointed knuckles .
Tournament rules may require the presence of more than one type of rest (mechanical bridge), as in snooker.
There are currently two competing standards bodies that have issued standardised rules.
The English Pool Association (EPA) uses the rules of the World Eightball Pool Federation (WEPF). Since 2022 the EPA and WEPF have adopted a ruleset known as "International Rules", which are used in all events organised by the Ultimate Pool Group. Prior to 2022 these organisations used a different set of rules known as "World Rules". [5]
The English Blackball Pool Federation (EBPF) uses the rules of the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) under the game name "Blackball" to better distinguish it from the American-style game (for which the WPA also promulgates the world-standardised rules). [6] Since 2013 these rules are used in all events organised by the International Professional Pool Association (IPPA).
Despite various differences between the competing rulesets, the basic objectives and rules of the game are mostly the same.
The balls are racked with the black (the 8 ball) on the foot spot (or "black spot"), in contrast with US-style eight-ball, nine-ball and most other pool games, in which the apex ball is placed on the foot spot.
One player begins the game with a "break shot", which involves shooting the cue ball from the baulk area towards the object balls and "splitting the pack".
The aim of the game is to pot all the balls of a certain colour (either reds or yellows), followed by the black eight-ball. The winner is usually the player who legally pots the black first, although it is possible to win the game by the opponent committing a sufficiently serious foul, such as potting the black eight-ball and the cue ball in the same shot.
A foul can be committed in numerous ways, such as potting the cue ball, potting the black eight-ball before the last colour in the set, hitting the wrong colour ball first or touching any ball with anything apart from the tip of the cue. After a foul, there is a penalty awarded to the other player. This penalty varies by ruleset, but could be winning the frame, gaining an extra shot or visit, being able to hit any ball on the table, or being able to move the cue ball to another location.
In 1976, the British Association of Pool Table Operators (BAPTO) published a standardised set of pool rules for use in their national events. With some minor changes, these rules were adopted by the newly formed UK Pool Federation (UKPF) in 1992 and known as "Federation rules". These rules were used until the UKPF adopted Blackball rules in 2004.
In these rules, for a fair break the player must pocket a ball or cause at least 2 balls to hit a cushion. Later versions of this rule were amended to state that at least 2 balls must pass the halfway line of the table if a ball is not potted. The breaker must nominate which colour they choose following the break shot. The standard penalty for a foul is 2 visits to the table for the incoming player, and a "free shot", whereby any ball can be played or potted on the first shot of the visit, with the exception of the black if it is not "on". The player awarded the penalty also has the option of moving the cue ball anywhere in the "D". Deliberate fouls result in loss of frame, and jump shots and push shots are illegal. There is no requirement to hit a cushion with each shot, meaning "rolling up" to a ball is a legal shot. Provided a player pots at least one of their own colours, it is legal to pot any number of their opponent's colour in the same shot.
In 1978, the English Pool Association (EPA) published a standardised set of pool rules which they used in their county pool structure through the 1980s and 1990s. These rules were used until 1998, when the EPA adopted World rules in line with the WEPF.
In these rules, for a fair break the player must pocket a ball or cause at least 2 balls to hit a cushion. The first legally potted ball decides the colours. The standard penalty for a foul is 2 visits to the table for the incoming player, and a "free shot" on the first shot. The incoming player also has the option of moving the cue ball anywhere in the baulk area. Deliberate fouls result in loss of frame, and jump shots and push shots are illegal. There is no requirement to hit a cushion with each shot. Potting an opponent's ball is a foul except in the case of a "free shot".
Despite no longer being played at the professional level, these rules are still in use in some amateur leagues, and are referred to as "Old EPA rules" to distinguish them from later versions.
In 1998, the EPA adopted "World Rules", as published by the World Eightball Pool Federation (WEPF). These rules were used at all levels in EPA and WEPF tournaments until 2022, when both organisations adopted "International Rules".
In these rules, for a fair break the player must pocket a ball or cause at least 4 object balls to hit a cushion. If the breaker pots a ball on the break from one group, they must nominate a colour. If they nominate a colour which was potted on the break, then that group become theirs, while if the group chosen did not have any balls potted on the break, the table remains open until a ball is legally potted. The standard penalty for a foul is 2 visits to the table for the incoming player. There is no "free shot" rule. The cue ball cannot be moved, unless the incoming player has been left in a foul snooker, in which case they may nominate a free ball or move the cue ball to baulk. Unlike most other rulesets, deliberate fouls do not result in loss of frame, and are treated as a standard foul. Jump shots are illegal. Push shots are allowed provided no double contact or sustained push can be seen clearly by the referee. There is a requirement to either pot a ball or hit a cushion after first contact on each shot, meaning it is illegal to "roll up" to a ball. Potting an opponent's ball is a foul.
Despite no longer being played at the professional level, these rules remain popular as amateur league rules in the UK, Ireland, Australia, some other Commonwealth countries, and a few European nations.
In 2004, the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) sanctioned a variant of eight-ball pool called "blackball". The UKPF adopted these rules, and renamed themselves the European Blackball Association (EBA). These rules are now used at all levels in WPA tournaments and by the professional International Pool Association.
In these rules, for a fair break the player must pocket a ball or cause at least 2 balls to cross the halfway point of the table. The first legally potted ball decides the colours. The standard penalty for a foul is 1 "free shot" for the incoming player, followed by one visit to the table. The incoming player also has the option of moving the cue ball anywhere in the baulk area following a foul. Deliberate fouls result in loss of frame, and jump shots and push shots are illegal. There is a requirement to either pot a ball or hit a cushion after first contact on each shot. Provided a player pots at least one of their own colours, it is legal to pot any number of their opponent's colour in the same shot. [7]
In 2022, the EPA and the WEPF adopted the "International Rules" which are now used at all levels in EPA and WEPF tournaments, and by the Ultimate Pool Group.
In these rules, for a fair break the player must score 3 points, where a point is scored for each ball pocketed and for each ball which passes the halfway point of the table. The first legally potted ball decides the colours. The standard penalty for a foul is 1 visit to the table for the incoming player. There is no "free shot" rule, but the cue ball can be moved anywhere on the table following a foul. Deliberate fouls result in loss of frame, and jump shots and push shots are illegal. There is a requirement to either pot a ball or hit a cushion after first contact on each shot. Provided a player pots at least one of their own colours, it is legal to pot any number of their opponent's colour in the same shot, but this will result in loss of turn.
The World Eightball Pool Federation has held a World Championships since 1993, and the World Pool-Billiard Association since 2006.
The following is a list of WEPF world eightball champions, sanctioned by the WEPF (World Eightball Pool Federation).
The following is a list of WPA world blackball champions, sanctioned by the WPA (World Pool-Billiard Association).
The following is a list of IPA world blackball champions, sanctioned by the IPA (International Professional Pool Association) [34]
Date | Location | Winner | Nationality | Runner-up | Nationality |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2022 | Bradford, England | Liam Dunster | ![]() | Gareth Hibbott | ![]() |
Harriet Haynes | ![]() | Deb Burchell | ![]() | ||
2020 | Jon McAllister | ![]() | Aaron Davies | ![]() | |
Amy Beauchamp [35] | ![]() | Emma Cunningham | ![]() | ||
2019 | Marc Farnsworth | ![]() | Tom Cousins | ![]() | |
Emma Cunningham [36] | ![]() | Kerry Griffiths | ![]() | ||
2018 | Ben Davies | ![]() | Simon Ward | ![]() | |
Michelle Roonay [37] | ![]() | Collette Henriksen | ![]() | ||
2017 | Craig Marsh | ![]() | Simon Fitzsimmons | ![]() | |
Collette Henriksen [38] | ![]() | Leanne Evans | ![]() | ||
2016 [39] [40] | Gareth Hibbott | ![]() | Craig Marsh | ![]() | |
Deb Burchell (2) | ![]() | Shona Lucas | ![]() | ||
2015 [41] | Jack Whelan | ![]() | Jason Twist | ![]() | |
Deb Burchell | ![]() | Shona Lucas | ![]() | ||
2014 [42] | Gareth Potts | ![]() | Clint I'Anson | ![]() |
The following is a list of PPPO world eightball champions, sanctioned by the PPPO (Professional Pool Players Organisation).
Date | Location | Winner | Nationality | Runner-up | Nationality |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005 [43] | Bridlington, England | Ben Davies | ![]() | Derek Murphy | ![]() |
2004 [44] | Andy Lucas (2) | ![]() | Rob Hill | ![]() | |
2003 [45] | Rob Hill | ![]() | Antz Morrison | ![]() | |
2002 [46] | Lerwick, Scotland | Steve Sanders | ![]() | Andy Lucas | ![]() |
2001 | Morecambe, England | Ross McInnes (4) | ![]() | Rob Chambers | ![]() |
2000 | Bridlington, England | Ross McInnes (3) | ![]() | Steve Sanders | ![]() |
1999 | Morecambe, England | Andy Lucas | ![]() | Ronan McCarthy | ![]() |
1998 | Ross McInnes (2) | ![]() | Steve Sanders | ![]() | |
1997 | Kevin Treanor | ![]() | Ronan McCarthy | ![]() | |
1996 | Ross McInnes | ![]() | Mark White | ![]() | |
1985 | London, England | Jim Rempe | ![]() | Joe Barbara | ![]() |
Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as cushions. Cue sports are also collectively referred to as billiards, though this term has more specific connotations in some varieties of English.
Eight-ball is a discipline of pool played on a billiard table with six pockets, cue sticks, and sixteen billiard balls. The object balls include seven solid-colored balls numbered 1 through 7, seven striped balls numbered 9 through 15, and the black 8 ball. After the balls are scattered with a break shot, a player is assigned either the group of solid or striped balls once they have legally pocketed a ball from that group. The object of the game is to legally pocket the 8-ball in a "called" pocket, which can only be done after all of the balls from a player's assigned group have been cleared from the table.
Nine-ball is a discipline of the cue sport pool. The game's origins are traceable to the 1920s in the United States. It is played on a rectangular billiard table with pockets at each of the four corners and in the middle of each long side. Using a cue stick, players must strike the white cue ball to pocket nine colored billiard balls, hitting them in ascending numerical order. An individual game is won by the player pocketing the 9-ball. Matches are usually played as a race to a set number of racks, with the player who reaches the set number winning the match.
English billiards, called simply billiards in the United Kingdom and in many former British colonies, is a cue sport that combines the aspects of carom billiards and pool. Two cue balls and a red object ball are used. Each player or team uses a different cue ball. It is played on a billiards table with the same dimensions as one used for snooker and points are scored for cannons and pocketing the balls.
Straight pool, which is also called 14.1 continuous and 14.1 rack, is a cue sport in which two competing players attempt to pocket as many object balls as possible without playing a foul. The game was the primary version of pool played in professional competition until it was superseded by faster-playing games like nine-ball and eight-ball in the 1980s.
Golf billiards is a pocket billiards game usually played for money. Unlike the majority of such games, it allows more than two people to play without compromises or rule changes. The game borrows from the outdoor game of golf, which is historically related to the cue sports. It is usually played on 10-foot or 12-foot snooker tables as their size and structure are more appropriate. In 2006 the Billiard Congress of America commented it was more popular than snooker in the United States.
Russian pyramid, also known as Russian billiards, is a form of billiards played on a large billiard table with narrow pockets. It is played across Russia and several former Soviet/Eastern Bloc countries. In the West, the game is known as pyramid billiards, or simply pyramid.
A billiard table or billiards table is a bounded table on which cue sports are played. In the modern era, all billiards tables provide a flat surface usually made of quarried slate, that is covered with cloth, and surrounded by vulcanized rubber cushions, with the whole thing elevated above the floor. More specific terms are used for specific sports, such as snooker table and pool table, and different-sized billiard balls are used on these table types. An obsolete term is billiard board, used in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Pool is the name given to a series of cue sports played on a billiard table. The table has six pockets along the rails, into which balls are shot. Of the many different pool games, the most popular include: eight-ball, blackball, nine-ball, ten-ball, seven-ball, straight pool, one-pocket, and bank pool. Eight-ball is the most frequently played discipline of pool, and it is often thought of as synonymous with "pool".
Four-ball billiards or four-ball carom is a carom billiards game, played on a pocketless table with four billiard balls, usually two red and two white, one of the latter with a spot to distinguish it. Each player is assigned one of the white balls as a cue ball. A point is scored when a shooter's cue ball caroms on any two other balls in the same shot. Two points are scored when the shooter caroms on each of the three object balls in a single shot. A carom on only one ball results in no points, and ends the shooter's inning.
Lynette Horsburgh is a Scottish-English semi-professional, world champion pool and national champion snooker player, as well as an international-class player of English billiards. In sport, she represents Scotland. Outside sport, she is a professional Web content producer and journalist at BBC News Online.
Ten-ball is a rotation pool game similar to nine-ball, but using ten balls instead of nine, and with the 10 ball instead of the 9 as the "money ball"
The following is a glossary of traditional English-language terms used in the three overarching cue sports disciplines: carom billiards referring to the various carom games played on a billiard table without pockets; pool, which denotes a host of games played on a table with six pockets; and snooker, played on a large pocket table, and which has a sport culture unto itself distinct from pool. There are also games such as English billiards that include aspects of multiple disciplines.
Honolulu, also known as banks, kisses, and combinations or indirect, is a pocket billiards game. Players must pocket all shots in an indirect fashion to reach a set number of points. The game shares some similarities with other cue sports, played on tables and with balls used for pool, but differs with foul points being awarded for regular direct shots.
Five-pin billiards or simply five-pins or 5-pins, is today usually a carom billiards form of cue sport, though sometimes still played on a pocket table. In addition to the customary three balls of most carom games, it makes use of a set of five upright pins (skittles) arranged in a "+" pattern at the center of the table. The game is popular especially in Italy and Argentina, but also in some other parts of Latin America and Europe, with international, televised professional tournaments. It is sometimes referred to as Italian five-pins or Italian billiards, or as simply italiana. A variant of the game, goriziana or nine-pins, adds additional skittles to the formation. A related pocket game, with larger pins, is played in Scandinavia and is referred to in English as Danish pin billiards, with a Swedish variant that has some rules more similar to the Italian game.
The World Eightball Pool Federation (WEPF) is an international pool governing body overseeing international tournaments and rankings in the British-originating variant of eight-ball pool played with red and yellow unnumbered balls instead of the stripes and solids numbered balls. WEPF competes for authority and membership with the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), which oversees its own tournaments and slightly different rules under the name blackball. WEPF events are held principally in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations.
Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a baize-covered snooker table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white cue ball, 15 red balls worth one point each, and six balls of different colours: yellow, green (3), brown (4), blue (5), pink (6), black (7). A player wins a frame of snooker by scoring more points than the opponent(s), using the cue ball to pot the red and coloured object balls. A player wins a match when they have achieved the best-of score from a pre-determined number of frames. The number of frames is always odd so as to prevent a tie or a draw.
Carom billiards and pool are two types of cue sports or billiards-family games, which as a general class are played with a stick called a cue which is used to strike billiard balls, moving them around a cloth-covered billiard table bounded by rubber cushions attached to the confining rails of the table.
Gareth David Potts is an English pool player, nicknamed "the Golden Boy". He is a two-time amateur and four-time professional world champion in British-style eightball/blackball, a co-champion in that discipline's pairs (doubles) event, and a three-time champion of a leading Chinese eight-ball competition.
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