Q&A for How to Play 8 Ball Pool

You lose and the game is over.

There are other house rules you can play to either make the game easier or harder.

Your opponent then has ball in hand and can place the cue ball anywhere on the table.

No; you can't use a combination shot to sink the 8 ball, only the cue ball.

If you are playing an official game, you must call the ball and shot for that shot to be legal.

Different positions can be used to accurately aim the cue stick. But the main point is to keep the stick steady and hit the cue ball in the center to get a strong shot. Make sure to chalk the end of the cue stick beforehand.

Basically, nothing changes, except you have done a favor for your opponent. If your object ball goes in, you continue to shoot. If your object ball does not go in, your opponent shoots. The ball from the other group remains in the pocket and is not returned to the table.

It is replaced on the table at or closest to the spot where you set the rack. There usually is a marked dot on the table.

If you pocket the cue ball, your opponent will get the ball. It will be called a scratch. It means it's the other player's turn.

Only if the object ball that first makes contact is your own. Say for instance you are stripes. You can make a shot from the cue -> 12 -> 5 -> 13 into a pocket. The 12 and 13 are both striped and the 5 is solid. You can make this shot because the cue ball first hits the 12, a striped ball.

You lose the game. You are to call the object ball (8 ball) and the pocket, but not foul by potting the cue ball!

For backspin (which makes the ball accelerate backward), strike the cue ball at the very bottom, but make sure the the tip of your cue stays level or the ball will hop. For topspin (which makes the ball move foward), strike it at the very top and be sure to follow through.

Technically, if your first contact after striking the cue ball is the 8 ball, it is a foul (ball in hand). For more casual games, though, most people don't follow this rule.

In most games of 8 ball pool, if you hit your opponent's ball first, it is considered a foul.

You can play an object ball off of the 8 ball. You cannot hit the 8 ball with the cue, but if your object ball goes in after hitting the 8 ball, it is a legal shot and you continue shooting.

Anywhere behind the dot from which you break in the beginning of the game.

If you made contact with your opponent's ball first, yes. You must make contact with one of your balls first or it is considered a scratch. If only the 8 ball remains and you make first contact with one of your opponent's balls, it is technically a scratch and a loss.

Yes, otherwise it would be an illegal shot and would not count. You can, however, use the cue ball to bounce one ball into another one.

No! It then becomes your turn and you shoot the cue ball from where it stopped.

The ball is usually spotted back onto the table, on the dot or mark closest to the side of the table that the ball was originally sitting on prior to being hit off the table.

Yes you can, but you must make first contact with one of your balls. The 8-ball can be used as for a combo shot; however, it cannot be hit by the cue ball unless it is still an open table.

Assuming you did not hit the 8 ball in, then scratching this way is the same as a standard cue-in-pocket scratch. If you did hit the 8 ball in a pocket while still having object balls on the table, you lose.

It will end your turn, but nothing will happen. It's just like not striking a ball into a pocket.

Yes. You can not call your shot if you do not know what you are shooting. Thus, Open Table.

Depends on the game you are playing, called shot or called pocket. If you are calling pocket, you only need to call which ball goes into which pocket; as long as you hit one of your balls first and yours goes in the correct pocket, rails don't matter. With called shot, you need to be specific about banking.

Pocketing the cue ball, knocking the cue ball off the table, or not hitting any ball or hitting your opponent's ball first are all fouls.

After you sink all your balls, you have to pocket the 8 ball. If you score that as well, then you win.

If you pocket the 8 ball on the break, you win, unless you scratch at the same time. If you scratch and sink the 8 ball on the break, your opponent wins.

Your opponent gets the opportunity to place the cue ball wherever he wants on the table and pot all the balls of his group.

Bank shots refer to any shot where a rail is used to help pocket an object ball. Some bank shots are hitting the object ball to a cushion first or using the cushion first and then hitting an object ball. The forward roll of the ball always makes the ball move forward of the geometric line.