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Nine-ball Pool is a form of pool that is played with nine object balls on a table that has six pockets. It is a fast-paced game which is exciting to both play and watch. The game originated in the United States and has spread to several other countries.

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The nine object balls used are numbered 1 through 9. The objective of the game is to pocket the 9-ball. The major rule in the game is that the player can directly strike only the lowest numbered ball on the table, failing which results in a foul. The player who pockets the 9-ball legally is the winner of the rack. The other object balls do not carry any points. A player can pocket eight object balls and still lose if the opponent pockets just the 9-ball.

At the start of each rack, the objects balls are arranged in a diamond shape with 1-ball in the front and the 9-ball in the middle, the eight at the back (unlike the incorrect imnage above). A coin toss decides which player breaks the first frame, and thereafter players alternate to break the subsequent frames. The player who wins a predetermined number of frames first wins the match.

Currently nine-ball is the only major form of pool played at professional tournaments, and it receives a lot of TV coverage.

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Similar Sports

• Pocket Billiards — also known as Pool, it is the name for a range of cue sports played on a table with six pockets along the rails, into which the main aim is to hit balls into the pockets.
• Eight-Ball — Played with 15 balls, seven colored, seven striped and a black eight-ball. The objective is to pocket all balls of one type and the black eight-ball. It is the most popular type of pool played at a recreational level.
• Kelly Pool — type of pocket billiard game played on a standard pool table, with fifteen numbered markers which player select from.
• Snooker — played on a table with six pockets. It is played using a cue and 22 snooker balls: one white cue ball, 15 red balls and six balls of different colors. Points are awarded for using the cue ball to pot the red and colored balls.
• Straight pool — a type of pocket billiards game in which a player is required to call which object ball they are going to pocket and to which pocket.
• See Cue Sports (Billiards)

Related Pages

• Complete list of sports
• The Encyclopedia of Sports