You’ve just scratched, now what? Special sets designed to be more easily discernible on television substitute pink for the dark purple of the 4 and 12 and light tan for the darker maroon of the 7 and 15 balls, and these alternative-color sets are now also available to consumers. Modern: For a sleek, stylish look, many opt for charcoal, light grey, or academy blue felt, which all go well with white, grey, black, and silver surroundings. Each ball will have a number adorned on it as well. But Snooker is played on a different (although similar) table from the pool, and the balls are different as well. Tables are usually 7-foot (2.1 m) long, and feature pockets with rounded cushion openings, like snooker tables. A single ball is placed on the foot spot; if more than one ball is to be spotted, they are placed on the long string in ascending numerical order, beginning on the foot spot and advancing toward the foot rail. When balls on or near the foot spot or long string interfere with the spotting of balls, the balls to be spotted are placed on the extension of the long string «in front» of the foot spot (between the foot spot and the center spot), as near as possible to the foot spot and in the same numerical order as if they were spotted «behind» the foot spot (lowest numbered ball closest to the foot spot).

The rules of blackball differ from standard eight-ball in numerous ways, including the handling of fouls, which may give the opponent two shots, racking (the 8 ball, not the apex ball, goes on the spot), selection of which group of balls will be shot by which player, handling of frozen balls and snookers, and many other details. In any case, the Tournament Director must be called upon to restore the positions of the disturbed balls as soon as possible, but not during the shot. 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. It remains open until one player legally pockets any called ball other than the 8 after the break. In most leagues, it is the breaker’s opponent who racks the balls, but in some, players break their own racks.

We have mentioned that you will need nine to 15 pool balls, along with the white cue ball. The order of the balls should be random, with the exceptions of the 8-ball, which must be placed in the center of the rack (i.e., the middle of the third row), and the two back corner balls, one of which must be a stripe and the other a solid. In order to win the game, what is billiards the player first designates which pocket the 8 ball will be pocketed into and then successfully pockets the 8 ball into that pocket. WPA professional competition generally employs regulation tables, while the amateur league championships of various leagues, including BCAPL, VNEA, and APA, use the seven-foot tables in order to fit more of them into the hosting venue. The most common wood playing surface available in pool tables is MDF or Medium-Density Fiberboard. Smaller 6-foot (1.8 m) tables are sometimes used in places where a larger table would be too large.

Balls pocketed on the break, or as the result of a foul while the table is still open, are not used to assign the suits. Nevertheless, the rules for eight-ball may be the most inconsistent of any billiard game, as there are several competing sets of «official» rules. By 1925, the game was popular enough for the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company to introduce purpose-made ball sets with seven red, seven yellow, one black ball, and the cue ball, which allowed spectators to more easily see which suit each ball belonged to. Why is it that we call something that has absolutely nothing to do with water a Pool Game? If the breaker fails to make a successful break-usually defined as at least four balls hitting cushions or an object ball being pocketed-then the opponent can opt either to play from the current position or to call for a re-rack and either re-break or have the original breaker repeat the break. If the 8 ball is pocketed on the break, then the breaker can choose either to re-spot the 8 ball and play from the current position or to re-rack and re-break; but if the cue ball is also pocketed on the break (colloquially referred to as a «scratch») then the opponent is the one who has the choice: either to re-spot the 8 ball and shoot with ball-in-hand behind the head string, accepting the current position, or to re-break or have the breaker re-break.