This page summarizes the general sections of the WPA Rules of Play, effective 15 September 2025. Rule numbers refer to that edition. One point matters before anything else: the individual fouls listed in the general rules apply to a game only when that game's own section lists them. So the details below are the shared toolkit, and the game pages say which tools each game uses.
The lag: who breaks first
Under rule 1.2, each player sends a ball down to the foot cushion, and the player whose ball comes back to rest closer to the head cushion wins the lag and decides who breaks first. A lag is bad if the ball crosses the long string, touches the foot cushion more or fewer than one time, is pocketed or leaves the table, touches a side cushion, or ends up in the corner pocket past the nose of the head cushion. The lag is replayed if both are bad, if the referee cannot tell which ball is closer, or if one player struck their ball after the other ball had already reached the foot cushion.
Rule 1.3 says that in games scored by the rack, such as nine-ball, the break then alternates between players. The older WPA/BCA general rules had instead left the break order for later racks to tournament officials, who could choose winner breaks, loser breaks or alternating breaks in advance.
What a shot is, and what makes it legal
A shot begins when the tip contacts the cue ball on a forward stroke, and ends once every ball has stopped rolling and spinning (rule 2.19). A shot is legal when the shooter commits no foul during it. A shot that sends the cue ball into a pocket is a scratch (rule 2.17).
Cue ball in hand
With cue ball in hand (rule 1.6), you may place the cue ball anywhere on the playing surface and keep adjusting it until you shoot. You may use any part of the cue to move it, tip included, as long as you do not use a forward stroke. Some games, and most break shots, restrict placement to the area behind the head string, often called the kitchen.
Two related rules apply when ball in hand is limited to the kitchen:
- Bad placement (3.10). Shooting with the cue ball on or below the head string is a foul. If you are not sure the placement is correct, you can ask the referee to check.
- Bad play from the kitchen (3.11). The first ball the cue ball contacts must not also be behind the head string, unless the cue ball crosses the head string first. Doing this deliberately is also unsportsmanlike conduct.
If every legal object ball is behind the head string when you have the cue ball in hand there, you may ask for the legal ball closest to the head string to be spotted. A ball sitting on the head string counts as playable.
The standard fouls
Section 3 lists the standard fouls. Which ones apply, and the penalty, depend on the game.
| Rule | Foul | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | Scratch or cue ball off the table | Normally gives the next player ball in hand. In straight pool and one-pocket that ball in hand is limited to the kitchen. |
| 3.2 | Wrong ball first | The cue ball must first contact a legal object ball. If it meets a legal and an illegal ball at nearly the same instant, the legal ball is treated as hit first. |
| 3.3 | No rail after contact | When nothing is pocketed, the cue ball must hit an object ball and then some ball must reach a rail. If it is unclear whether rail or ball was hit first, the ruling goes in favor of the ball. |
| 3.4 | No foot on the floor | At least one foot must be touching the floor when the tip contacts the cue ball. |
| 3.5 | Ball driven off the table | A foul. Whether the ball is spotted depends on the game. |
| 3.6 | Touched ball | Touching or moving an object ball, or the cue ball when it is not in hand. Accidental contact is a standard foul; deliberate contact is unsportsmanlike conduct. |
| 3.7 | Double hit | The tip striking the cue ball twice, or still being on the cue ball when it reaches a nearby object ball. A very slight graze is presumed not to break the rule. |
| 3.8 | Push shot | Keeping the tip on the cue ball longer than a normal stroke would. |
| 3.9 | Balls still moving | Shooting while any ball is still rolling or spinning. |
| 3.12 | Playing out of turn | Doing so by accident is a standard foul. |
| 3.14 | Slow play | A referee can warn a slow player, then put both players on a shot clock. Running out of time is a standard foul. |
| 3.15 | Ball rack template | A template that has been removed from the playing surface interfering with play, for example a ball touching it while it lies on a rail. |
Frozen balls
If the cue ball starts out touching an object ball, you may shoot toward or partly into that ball as long as it is a legal target, and it counts as hit if the shot moves it. The cue ball is treated as not touching any ball unless the referee or your opponent declares that it is, and you need that declaration before you shoot. Unless the game says otherwise, playing away from a frozen ball does not count as hitting it. Likewise, a ball frozen to a rail at the start of a shot only counts as driven to that rail if it leaves the rail and comes back (definition 2.7), and balls are treated as not frozen unless someone declares them frozen.
One foul per inning (older rules)
The older WPA/BCA general rules stated that only one foul is charged per inning: when several penalties applied, only the most severe was enforced. That same older edition made it a foul to measure gaps using a ball, the triangle or a similar object, and allowed the cue to be used for this only while held in the hand.
Three consecutive fouls
Rule 3.13 makes three fouls in a row by the same player, with no legal shot between them, a serious foul. In games scored by the rack, such as nine-ball, all three fouls have to happen in the same rack. A player on two fouls must be warned when coming to the table; without the warning, a third foul counts only as a second. The rule itself notes that some games do not use it, and eight-ball is one of them. The penalty for the third foul is set by each game's section: loss of the rack in nine-ball, ten-ball, one-pocket and bank pool, and a points penalty in straight pool.
Calling shots and safeties
In call-shot games (rule 1.7), you name the ball and the pocket unless both are obvious, and you may call only one ball per shot. You do not have to call cushions, kisses, caroms or combinations, but the referee must be satisfied that the shot you played was the one you meant, so call banks and combinations whenever there could be doubt.
In call-shot games you may also declare a safety to the referee or your opponent before shooting (definition 2.16). Play passes to your opponent when the shot ends. Ten-ball is the exception: rule 6.5 does not allow called safeties.
Jump shots and miscues
Definition 2.9 describes a legal jump shot as one where you raise the cue and drive the cue ball down into the cloth so it rebounds into the air and passes over an obstacle such as an object ball or part of a cushion. Whether a particular jump is legal depends on how it was played and on the shooter's intent.
Definition 2.11 treats a scoop shot, where the tip digs under the cue ball, as a miscue. An accidental miscue that happens to lift the cue ball, even over another ball, is treated as a legal jump. A deliberate miscue is unsportsmanlike conduct. The older WPA/BCA rules took a stricter line: deliberately hitting below center to lift the cue ball over a ball was a foul, and so was any miscue on a jump shot.
Not every WPA discipline allows jumping. In WPA Blackball (rule 8.13.3), jumping the cue ball over any ball is a foul. We could not find a specific rule on masse shots in the parts of the 2025 WPA rulebook we read, so we do not state one. Dr. Dave Alciatore has proposed banning jump cues in one-pocket and straight pool; that is his suggestion for a rule change, not a current rule. For how these shots are played, see jump and masse.
Pocketed, settling and spotted balls
- Pocketed. A ball hanging over a pocket's edge and held up by another ball counts as pocketed if it would fall once the supporting ball was removed (definition 2.2). A ball that bounces back out of a pocket is not pocketed. If the cue ball hits a ball already sitting in a pocket, the cue ball is treated as pocketed.
- Settling. A ball that stops on the lip of a pocket and stays still for five seconds after the shot ends is not counted as pocketed if it later drops on its own (rule 1.8). If a settling ball falls during or just before a shot and affects it, the balls are put back and the shot is replayed.
- Spotting. A spotted ball goes on the long string as close to the foot spot as possible, between the foot spot and the foot rail, without moving any other ball (rule 1.5). If a ball is in the way, the spotted ball is placed touching it, or with a small gap if the blocking ball is the cue ball. If the whole long string below the foot spot is blocked, the ball goes above the foot spot, as close to it as possible.
Stalemate
When the referee decides no progress is being made, rule 1.13 has the referee announce it, and each player then gets three more turns. If there is still no progress, the referee declares a stalemate. Both players can agree to accept the stalemate without taking the three turns. What happens next depends on the game:
| Game | After a stalemate |
|---|---|
| Eight-ball, nine-ball, ten-ball | The player who broke that rack breaks again. |
| Straight pool (14.1) | The players lag again for the break; the score carries over. |
| One-pocket, bank pool | The balls are re-racked and the players lag again, keeping any owed-ball markers. |
Unsportsmanlike conduct and conceding
Rule 3.16 defines unsportsmanlike conduct as deliberate behavior that disrupts the game or harms the sport's reputation. The examples it gives are distracting your opponent, moving balls other than with a shot, miscuing on purpose, carrying on after a foul is called or play is halted, practicing during a match, marking the table, delaying the game and misusing equipment. The usual penalty is the same as for a serious foul, but the referee can choose a warning, a standard-foul penalty, loss of the rack, set or match, or ejection instead. Under rule 1.12, a player who concedes loses the match.
Leagues often depart from these rules. The league and bar rules page compares the APA, CSI and VNEA versions with the WPA.