Eight-ball rules.

This page follows Section 4 of the WPA Rules of Play, effective 15 September 2025, which builds on the general rules. If you play in a league, check its rulebook too: the APA, CSI and VNEA versions handle the break, the 8 and some fouls differently, as summarized at the end of this page and in detail on our league and bar rules page.

Equipment and the rack

Eight-ball uses the cue ball and fifteen numbered object balls. One player's group is the 1 through 7 and the other's is the 9 through 15. Under rule 4.2, the balls are racked tightly in a triangle with the apex ball on the foot spot and the 8 directly behind the apex ball. The two back corners hold one ball from each group, and the rest are placed in no particular order.

The CSI rules (2-2) describe the 8's position as the middle of the third row, and also require the two back corners to come from different groups.

Objective

Pocket every ball in your group, then legally pocket the 8. Every shot except the break is called.

The break

The lag winner decides who breaks first (rule 4.1). The break is played with the cue ball in hand behind the head string. You do not call anything, and the cue ball does not have to hit any particular ball first (rule 4.3).

• Legal break. You must pocket a ball or drive at least four object balls to one or more rails.
• Illegal break. If neither happens, the incoming player chooses: accept the table as it lies, re-rack and break, or re-rack and make the original breaker break again.
• Pocketing a ball. If you pocket a ball on a legal break and do not foul, you keep shooting, and the table stays open whatever went in.
• 8 on a legal break. This is not a foul and not a win. You choose whether to have the 8 spotted and play the table as it lies, or to break again.
• 8 on a break foul. Your opponent chooses whether to have the 8 spotted and shoot with cue ball in hand behind the head string, or to have the balls re-broken.
• Object ball off the table. A foul. Those balls stay out of play, except the 8, which is spotted. Your opponent may accept the table or take cue ball in hand behind the head string.
• Any other break foul. Your opponent may accept the table or take cue ball in hand behind the head string. Rule 4.3 has no separate clause for a scratch on the break, so read literally, a break scratch falls under this rule.

Wikipedia's eight-ball article describes the same four-ball standard for a successful break.

The open table and choosing groups

Until the groups are decided, the table is open (rule 4.4). On an open table you call a ball before each shot, and legally pocketing the called ball makes that ball's group yours. If you do not legally pocket the called ball, the table stays open and your opponent comes to the table.

On an open table you may hit any object ball first except the 8. Hitting the 8 first is a foul, unless one group has already been entirely pocketed; in that case you can claim that group and play the 8.

Play after the groups are set

• Call every shot. Each called ball must be from your group until the group is gone, then you call the 8 (rule 4.6). The general calling rules apply: name the ball and pocket unless obvious, and call banks and combinations when there could be doubt.
• Hit your own group first. In eight-ball, the wrong-ball-first foul means the first ball the cue ball touches must belong to your group, except while the table is open (rule 4.9).
• Safeties. You may call a safety, and any object ball you pocket on it stays down (rule 4.6).
• Spotting. The 8 is the only ball that is ever spotted, and only when it is pocketed or driven off the table on the break (rule 4.7).

Fouls and penalties

After a standard foul in eight-ball, your opponent gets cue ball in hand anywhere on the table (rule 4.9). The standard fouls are defined in the rules overview.

Eight-ball under WPA rules has no three-consecutive-fouls penalty: rule 4.9 leaves rule 3.13 out of its list, and rule 3.13 itself names eight-ball as a game that does not use it.

Winning and losing on the 8

You win the rack by legally pocketing the 8 in the pocket you called after clearing your group. Under rule 4.8, you lose the rack if you:

1. Pocket the 8 and foul on the same shot.
2. Pocket the 8 before your group is cleared.
3. Pocket the 8 in a pocket you did not call.
4. Drive the 8 off the table.

None of these apply on the break. Rule 4.8 does not make it a loss to scratch or foul while shooting at the 8 if the 8 does not go in; that is a standard foul, and your opponent gets ball in hand. Wikipedia reports that WPA rules require naming the pocket for the 8 and that amateur leagues have increasingly adopted this, but it gives no citation for the trend, so we could not confirm it.

Stalemate

If the referee declares a stalemate under the general rule, the player who broke that rack breaks again (rule 4.11).

Where league rules differ

The most common eight-ball disputes come from situations where the major rulebooks disagree:

For ball in hand after break fouls, calling rules, and the rest of the differences, see league and bar rules.