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Nine-ball
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Nine-ball
Nine-ball (sometimes written 9-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 (or rack) 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.
The game is currently governed by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), with multiple regional tours. The most prestigious nine-ball tournaments are the WPA World Nine-ball Championship and the U.S. Open Nine-ball Championships. Notable 9-Ball players in the game include Luther Lassiter, Buddy Hall, Efren Reyes, Earl Strickland and Shane Van Boening. The game is often associated with hustling and gambling, with tournaments often having a "buy-in" amount to become a participant. The sport has featured in popular culture, notably in the 1961 film The Hustler and its 1986 sequel The Color of Money.
Nine-ball has been played with varied rules, with games such as ten-ball, seven-ball and three-ball being derived from the game. While usually a singles sport, the game can be played in doubles, with players completing alternate shots. Examples of tournaments featuring doubles include the World Cup of Pool, World Team Championship and the [[Mosconi Cup]
The game was established in America by 1920, although its exact origins are unknown. Nine-ball is played with the same equipment as eight-ball and other pool games.
The game of nine-ball is played on a billiard table with six pockets. The cue ball, which is usually a solid shade of white (but may be spotted in some tournaments), is struck to hit the nine object balls, which are numbered 1 through 9, each a distinct color, with the 9 ball typically having a yellow stripe on a white base. The aim of the game is to hit the lowest numbered ball on the table (often referred to as the ball on) and pocket balls in succession to eventually pocket the nine-ball. As long as the lowest numbered ball on the table is contacted first by the cueball, and any one or more of the object balls are pocketed in any of the pockets with no foul being committed, a player's inning continues. When the table passes to another player, they must play from where the balls were last positioned, except if the prior inning ended in a foul. In that case, the incoming player takes ball in hand, anywhere on the table. The winner is the player who legally pockets the nine-ball, the game's money ball, regardless of how many balls have been pocketed beforehand. This can happen earlier than the nine-ball being the sole remaining object ball on the table if it is pocketed via a combination or other indirect method.
Each rack begins with the object balls placed in a rack and one player playing a break. The object balls are placed in a diamond-shaped configuration, with the 1 ball positioned at the front, and the 9 ball placed in the center on the foot spot, although some tournaments may rack with the 1 ball on the foot spot. The rack used to position the balls, typically wooden or plastic, may be either triangle-shaped, as is used for eight-ball and other pool games, or a specific diamond-shaped rack that holds only nine balls may be used. A template that lies on the table during the break has also come into use.
The break consists of hitting the 1 ball, with the attempt to pocket any ball. If the 9 ball is successfully potted, the player automatically wins the rack. This is sometimes known as a golden break. Additional rules in some tournaments exist, such as a number of balls having to reach the head string, and players can be chosen to break alternately or whoever won the preceding rack. The break is often the most crucial shot in nine-ball, as it is possible to win a rack without the opponent having taken a single shot. This is often called a break and run, or running the rack. Earl Strickland holds the record for break and runs, after he successfully ran 11 consecutive racks in a tournament in 1996. The first break of a match is sometimes decided by a flip of a coin, but often by playing a lag, with both players playing a cue ball down the table, the closest to the top rail winning the initial break.
After the break, if no fouls were committed, the shooter has the option to continue the rack as usual, or to play a push out. The rules on a push out are different to those of a regular shot, as the shot does not need to hit a rail or ball. After the push out, the opposing player has the option to play the shot that has been left, or to force their opponent to play on from that location. In early versions of nine-ball the push out could be called at any time during the game, but is now only for the shot after the break.
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Nine-ball
Nine-ball (sometimes written 9-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 (or rack) 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.
The game is currently governed by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), with multiple regional tours. The most prestigious nine-ball tournaments are the WPA World Nine-ball Championship and the U.S. Open Nine-ball Championships. Notable 9-Ball players in the game include Luther Lassiter, Buddy Hall, Efren Reyes, Earl Strickland and Shane Van Boening. The game is often associated with hustling and gambling, with tournaments often having a "buy-in" amount to become a participant. The sport has featured in popular culture, notably in the 1961 film The Hustler and its 1986 sequel The Color of Money.
Nine-ball has been played with varied rules, with games such as ten-ball, seven-ball and three-ball being derived from the game. While usually a singles sport, the game can be played in doubles, with players completing alternate shots. Examples of tournaments featuring doubles include the World Cup of Pool, World Team Championship and the [[Mosconi Cup]
The game was established in America by 1920, although its exact origins are unknown. Nine-ball is played with the same equipment as eight-ball and other pool games.
The game of nine-ball is played on a billiard table with six pockets. The cue ball, which is usually a solid shade of white (but may be spotted in some tournaments), is struck to hit the nine object balls, which are numbered 1 through 9, each a distinct color, with the 9 ball typically having a yellow stripe on a white base. The aim of the game is to hit the lowest numbered ball on the table (often referred to as the ball on) and pocket balls in succession to eventually pocket the nine-ball. As long as the lowest numbered ball on the table is contacted first by the cueball, and any one or more of the object balls are pocketed in any of the pockets with no foul being committed, a player's inning continues. When the table passes to another player, they must play from where the balls were last positioned, except if the prior inning ended in a foul. In that case, the incoming player takes ball in hand, anywhere on the table. The winner is the player who legally pockets the nine-ball, the game's money ball, regardless of how many balls have been pocketed beforehand. This can happen earlier than the nine-ball being the sole remaining object ball on the table if it is pocketed via a combination or other indirect method.
Each rack begins with the object balls placed in a rack and one player playing a break. The object balls are placed in a diamond-shaped configuration, with the 1 ball positioned at the front, and the 9 ball placed in the center on the foot spot, although some tournaments may rack with the 1 ball on the foot spot. The rack used to position the balls, typically wooden or plastic, may be either triangle-shaped, as is used for eight-ball and other pool games, or a specific diamond-shaped rack that holds only nine balls may be used. A template that lies on the table during the break has also come into use.
The break consists of hitting the 1 ball, with the attempt to pocket any ball. If the 9 ball is successfully potted, the player automatically wins the rack. This is sometimes known as a golden break. Additional rules in some tournaments exist, such as a number of balls having to reach the head string, and players can be chosen to break alternately or whoever won the preceding rack. The break is often the most crucial shot in nine-ball, as it is possible to win a rack without the opponent having taken a single shot. This is often called a break and run, or running the rack. Earl Strickland holds the record for break and runs, after he successfully ran 11 consecutive racks in a tournament in 1996. The first break of a match is sometimes decided by a flip of a coin, but often by playing a lag, with both players playing a cue ball down the table, the closest to the top rail winning the initial break.
After the break, if no fouls were committed, the shooter has the option to continue the rack as usual, or to play a push out. The rules on a push out are different to those of a regular shot, as the shot does not need to hit a rail or ball. After the push out, the opposing player has the option to play the shot that has been left, or to force their opponent to play on from that location. In early versions of nine-ball the push out could be called at any time during the game, but is now only for the shot after the break.
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