Three-ball (or "3-ball", colloquially) is a folk game of pool played with any three standard pool object ball s and cue ball . The game is frequently gambled upon. The goal is to pocket ( pot ) the three object balls in as few shots as possible. [1] [2] [3] The game involves a somewhat more significant amount of luck than either nine-ball or eight-ball, because of the disproportionate value of pocketing balls on the break shot and increased difficulty of doing so.
There are no widespread official or standardized rules for three-ball, though local tournaments promulgate rulesets that have some sway over area player populations even outside the context of the tournaments. Below are listed the most common, widely accepted rules.
The game is played on any pool table. A single round usually consists of three [3] or five [2] game s per player, with each player's individual game scores added to calculate their final score for the round, and a match may consist of several multi-game rounds, back-to-back or spread out over a period of time. [2] In a gambling context, three-ball is typically played in multiple games (each played out until someone wins the betting pool, then after new antes are placed, play begins again), sometimes for many hours, with players able to enter and leave as suits their finances and risk-aversion.
The object of the game is to sink all of the object balls in as few strokes as possible, with point s being added to the player's score for each stroke and for specific fouls. [1] [2] [3] Unlike in eight-ball and nine-ball which are alternating turn-based games, the player at turn remains at turn until all object balls are pocketed, [1] [2] [3] or the player concedes or reaches the maximum point limit (see below). All strokes count as one point each, whether they pocketed no balls, one ball, or more than one ball. [1] [2] [3] Foul s incur additional penalty points (see below).
There is a predetermined cut-off score of a certain number of points, after which the player must turn the table over to the next player (or conclude the game/round if the player was the last in the lineup). [2]
Once a player's inning is over, the next player starts over with a fresh rack. [1] [2] [3] After all players have finished, the player with the lowest score is declared to be the winner. [1] [2] [3] In a tournament context, the winner of the event may be the player with the lowest total score over many rounds of play (strict scoring), or the highest number of won rounds (loose scoring). In case of a tie, a playoff round is played between the tied players (and repeated if another tie results). [1] [3]
Three object balls (conventionally the 1, 2 and 3 balls [2] [3] [4] ) are racked either in a triangle with the apex ball on the foot spot , [1] [2] [3] [4] or in a straight line, again with the lead ball on the foot spot, and the other balls behind it, lined up toward the center of the foot rail . No particular arrangement is necessary, as there is no specific order in which the balls must be pocketed, nor do any of them have specific point values. [3] As in other games, the player at turn may demand a re-rack if not satisfied with the correct formation or position of the racked balls. Racking may be done with a standard wooden or plastic rack, or (in informal play) by hand.
The players' turn order is decided at random at the beginning of the game or match, as in other several-player pool games. The cue ball is placed anywhere behind the head string ("in the kitchen ") [3] and a hard break is typically performed. The break is the first stroke of a player's game, and thus counts toward their score. [1] [2] [3] Any balls pocketed on the break are considered to be legally pocketed and the player now only has to sink the remaining balls.
Fouls consist of pocketing the cue ball or knocking the cue ball off the table (a scratch ); a double hit on the cue ball with the cue stick; push shot s; and moving a ball with a hand, the butt of the cue, or other illegal motion. [1] [5] Every foul of any kind costs the player an additional one-point penalty. [1] [2] [3] A shot in which the player pocketed one or more object balls but also fouled still incurs a penalty. [1] [2] [3]
Shots after a scratch must be taken from on or behind the head string and must go forward across/from the head string rather than be taken ball-in-hand anywhere on the table. [3]
Object balls knocked off the table are spotted on the foot spot, [3] and do not count as fouls.
Kisses , caroms , kicks , banks , combination s and non-scoop-under jump shot s are legal. [1] [5] The game is not typically played with called shots . [3]
The game can be played as a team game in two ways. First, players can be divided into even teams, with each player on each team shooting a full game per round, and the scores within each team being combined to yield the final score. [3] Secondly, the game can be played in scotch doubles format, with players alternating shots, and each team only playing a single game per round, as if there were only two players.
The modern game of three-ball appears to have originated from an earlier game of the same name, played as a rotation game with the 1 through 3 balls, and the same rules as nine-ball, but with the 3 taking the place of the 9. [5] Its evolution over the last few decades into a turn-based game with rules more akin to those of straight pool can be traced back to 1984, in the Chicago suburbs, where J. C. Lee came up with three-ball as a quick and fun way practice pool. He soon realized that several players, with varied billiard skill, could be involved in one turn-based game. The "one tie, all tie" rule, with re-ante betting rounds became an instant catalyst for the popularity of the game. [6]
Some players use repetitive playing of solo three-ball as a form of practice. This form of practice is often used as a drill to hone position play with the final balls of a rack in eight-ball and nine-ball. An eight-ball practice variant is to use two solids or two stripes and the 8 ball, and shoot the 8 ball last, while practice for nine-ball will often use the 7, 8, and 9 balls shot in order.
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.
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.
One-pocket is a pool game. Only one pocket for each player is used in this game, unlike other games played on a pool table where any pocket can be used to score object balls. The object of the game is to score points. A point is made when a player pockets any object ball into their designated pocket. The winner is the first to score an agreed-upon number of points.
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.
Cutthroat or cut-throat, also sometimes referred to as three-man-screw, is a typically three-player or team pocket billiards game, played on a pool table, with a full standard set of pool balls ; the game cannot be played with three or more players with an unnumbered reds-and-yellows ball set, as used in blackball. Each player is commonly assigned a set of five consecutively numbered object balls, though the number of balls will vary by number of players. The object of the game is to be the last player with at least one ball of their group remaining on the table.
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.
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".
Bank pool is a pool game that has as its most fundamental requirement that all scoring shots in the game must be made by banking a called ball off a cushion and into a called pocket.
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.
Rotation, sometimes called rotation pool, 15-ball rotation, or 61, is a pool game, played with a pocketed billiards table, cue ball, and triangular rack of fifteen billiard balls, in which the lowest-numbered object ball on the table must be always struck by the cue ball first, to attempt to pocket numbered balls for points.
Chicago is a "money ball" pool gambling game.
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.
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.
Baseball pocket billiards or baseball pool is a pocket billiards (pool) that is loosely based on the game of baseball. The game is played on a standard pool table and suitable for multiple players. In baseball pocket billiards, many of the game's features are named after baseball terms, such as the 9 ball being named the "pitcher", the table's foot spot is "home plate", and each team or player is afforded "nine innings" to score as many "runs" as possible.
Bottle pool, also known as bottle-billiards and bottle pocket billiards, is a hybrid billiards game combining aspects of both carom billiards and pocket billiards. Played on a standard pool table, the game uses just two object balls, a cue ball, and a 6+3⁄4 inches (170 mm) tall, narrow-necked bottle called a shake bottle or tally bottle, traditionally made from leather, that is placed on the table and used as a target for caroms. Those unfamiliar with the game sometimes mistakenly use its name as a synonym for the very different game of kelly pool. Bottle pool has been described as combining "elements of billiards, straight pool and chess under a set of rules that lavishly rewards strategic shot making and punishes mistakes with Sisyphean point reversals."
Cribbage, sometimes called cribbage pool, fifteen points and pair pool, is a two-player pool game that, like its namesake card game, has a scoring system which awards points for pairing groups of balls that total 15. Played on a standard pool table, participants who pocket a ball of a particular number are required to immediately pocket the companion ball that tallies to 15 when added to the prior ball's number. Each pair so pocketed counts as a cribbage; there are seven such pairs, and the 15 ball counts as an eighth by itself after all of the others have been pocketed. The first player to score five cribbages wins the game.
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.
Fifteen-ball pool, also known as sixty-one pool, is a pocket billiards game developed in America in the nineteenth century from pyramid pool. Created by members of the Bassford's Billiard & Chess Rooms in Manhattan during the late 1830s or 1840s, it is the ancestor to many American pool games.
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| Carom billiards | ||
| Snooker | ||
| Other games | ||
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| Major international tournaments |
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| Other events | ||
| Governing bodies | ||
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 Cue sportsportal The rules of games in italics are standardized by international sanctioning bodies. | ||