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Blackball (pool)
Encyclopedia
World Pool-Billiard Association
The World Pool-Billiard Association is the international governing body for pocket billiards . The group was formed in 1987, and was initially headed by a provisional board of directors consisting of representatives from Japan, the United States, Sweden, and Germany...
(WPA, the International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
-recognised governing body
Sport governing body
A sport governing body is a sports organization that has a regulatory or sanctioning function. Sport governing bodies come in various forms, and have a variety of regulatory functions. Examples of this can include disciplinary action for rule infractions and deciding on rule changes in the sport...
of pool) and its affiliate the European Blackball Association (EBA), known as "blackball rules", and the older code of the World Eightball Pool Federation (WEPF), often referred to as "world rules".
History
Eight-ball pool (and thus its standardised form blackball), like international-style eight-ball, is derived from an earlier game invented around 1900 and first popularized in 1925 under the name B.B.C. Co. Pool by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender CompanyBrunswick Corporation
The Brunswick Corporation , formerly known as the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, is a United States-based corporation that has been involved in manufacturing a wide variety of products since 1845. Brunswick's global headquarters is in the northern Chicago suburb of Lake Forest, Illinois...
. Like blackball and eight-ball pool today, this forerunner game was played with seven and seven , unnumbered (in contrast to the international-style numbered and , sometimes called kelly pool
Kelly pool
Kelly pool is a pocket billiards game played on a standard pool table using fifteen numbered markers called peas or pills, and a standard set of sixteen pool balls...
balls in the UK), a , and the . The game had relatively simple rules compared to the modern game.
Equipment
Ball sets typically range from 2 inches (50.8 mm) up to inch (56 mm), often with a slightly smaller cue ball, e.g. inches (4.76 cm) for a 2 inch set. The most common sized sets on the market are 2 inch and 2 inch (54 mm). Along with the single white cue ball, plain unnumbered (or sometimes ) and , seven of each color, are used in lieu of the numbered and common to international eight-ball and other pool games (which in the UK are usually called kelly poolKelly pool
Kelly pool is a pocket billiards game played on a standard pool table using fifteen numbered markers called peas or pills, and a standard set of sixteen pool balls...
balls). Many suppliers refer to the yellows-and-reds sets as "casino" balls, whether UK- or US-sized, because they were formerly used in US casino-hosted, televised, modified-rules eight-ball tournaments popular in the 1970s; the coloured rather than numbered sets were selected for their distinguishability on TV. The , however, still typically bears a number "8" (a holdover from kelly pool), though numberless variants are not unknown.
British pool tables come in 6 x 3 foot (1.8 x 0.9 m) or 7 x 3.5 ft (2.12 x 1.06 m) varieties, with 7 ft being the regulation size for league play. The table has pockets just larger than the balls and rounded, as in the game of snooker
Snooker
Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different :...
, whereas the international-style (or "American-style") table has pockets significantly wider, with pointed .
Tournament rules may require the presence of more than one type of (mechanical bridge), as in snooker.
Rules
There are two competing standards bodies that have issued international rules. The older, and currently dominant, of the two sets in British-style pool are the World Eight-ball Pool Federation (WEPF) rules (often called "World Rules"). The majority of WEPF members come from the UK and Ireland, and from current and former Commonwealth of NationsCommonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
countries, plus Belgium.
A competing but very similar set of rules has been promulgated by the World Pool-Billiard Association
World Pool-Billiard Association
The World Pool-Billiard Association is the international governing body for pocket billiards . The group was formed in 1987, and was initially headed by a provisional board of directors consisting of representatives from Japan, the United States, Sweden, and Germany...
(WPA), under the game name "blackball" to better distinguish it from the American-style game (for which WPA also promulgates rules),. It was intended that "blackball" would unify the various existing British-style rulesets (presumably also including the WEPF rules) although this has not yet happened. The self-described "governing body" for WPA blackball in Europe, with numerous national and local affiliate groups, is the European Blackball Association (EBA).
WEPF World Rules
The older World Eight-ball Pool FederationWorld Eight-ball Pool Federation
The World Eight-ball Pool Federation is an international pool governing body overseeing international tournaments and rankings...
rules pre-date the WPA blackball rules, and remain popular as amateur league and even professional tournament rules in the UK, Ireland, Australia, some other Commonwealth countries, and a few European nations. Locally the WEPf rules (or minor variants thereof) are sometimes referred to as "British standard pool", "Irish standard pool", etc.
The balls are racked with (the 8 ball) on the (or "black spot"), in contrast with US-style eight-ball, nine-ball and most other pool games, in which the apex ball is placed on the foot spot. A "fair break" is one in which an object ball is potted, or at least 2 object balls pass the imaginary line that goes across the middle pockets. If the black is potted, the game is restarted with a , broken by the original breaker. If the cue ball is potted on an otherwise fair break, it is a "non-standard" (foul) that simply ends the breaker's turn, with no further penalties. If it is a foul (non-fair) break, the incoming player gets as with other "standard fouls" (see below), and gets to break, after a re-rack, without the option to instead play the balls as they lie. Openness of the table (unlike in the American-style game) does not last long, in that if the breaker pots a ball on the break from one group, and elects to continue shooting that group, then that group are his/her balls-on, even if the post-break followup shot is missed, while if the group chosen did not have any balls potted on the break, the table remains open until a ball is legally potted (does not matter if legal or illegal shot by pocketing the cue ball), (while if no balls were potted on the break, the table is of course open). While the table is open, the shooter must nominate what group they are shooting for.
A legal (non-break) shot is one where the cue ball first hits a "" (one of the balls in the player's own group), and does not pot the cue ball, the black or any of the balls in the opponent's group, and either one of the shooter's balls-on is pocketed, or a (any) ball contacts a cushion after the cue ball contacts the (first) ball-on. I.e., it is the same as in American-style, but with the additional requirement that one not sink an opponent's ball (doing so is a fault), and lacking the requirement that ball and pocket have to be called (i.e. are perfectly valid, even on the black.) There are other forms of fault, generally the same as in other pool games, such as potting the cue ball (except on the break, as noted above), knocking balls off the table, moving balls accidentally, double-hits and pushes (though the standards are weaker than in American-style rules), unsportsmanlike conduct, etc. There are also other unique fouls such as the requirement (borrowed from snooker) to shoot away from any ball that the cue ball is to, without moving it (however if the frozen ball is the shooter's own, it counts as contacting a ball-on, and only a (any) ball must reach a rail for it to be a legal shot. As in informal American , but not WPA/BCA/IPT standardized American-style rules, players are sometimes required to take certain shots (besides the break shot) from or , i.e. from behind the , shooting forward across it. Also, all jump shots that result in missing an intervening ball are faults.
After a fault, the offending player will effectively miss a turn and give the opponent . These free shots must be taken from , unless the cue ball was potted, in which case the incoming player has anywhere. The second free shot can be taken from baulk even if a legal ball was potted on the first post-fault shot; this is known as the "" rule.
There are other unique rules, such as a relaxation of the legal shot requirements when the shooter is "", a prohibition against using either the or rest whilst the player is attempting to pot the black, and special handling of a that resulted from an opponent's foul, such that the incoming player can elect to shoot the black or an opponent's ball first in attempting to pot their own ball-on, and can even pot both the black and the opponent's ball if the incoming player is on the black.
It is a loss of (game) to fault in any way while actually potting (but not just shooting at) the black.
WPA Blackball World Standardised Rules
Blackball rules are very similar to the WEPF World Rules. One notable difference is that after a fault, the incoming player has a free shot (i.e., may take the cue ball in position or in-hand in baulk; the "wrong ball first" rule is suspended) and also has next visit (continues playing even if no ball or opponent's ball is potted on the free shot).World Championships
Both World Pool-Billiard AssociationWorld Pool-Billiard Association
The World Pool-Billiard Association is the international governing body for pocket billiards . The group was formed in 1987, and was initially headed by a provisional board of directors consisting of representatives from Japan, the United States, Sweden, and Germany...
(with PPPO and EBA) and World Eight-ball Pool Federation
World Eight-ball Pool Federation
The World Eight-ball Pool Federation is an international pool governing body overseeing international tournaments and rankings...
currently sanction the World Championships. As of 2010 WPA World Blackball Champion is Jayson Shaw from Scotland and WEPF Eight-ball Pool World Champion is Mick Hill
Mick Hill (pool player)
Mick Hill is an English pool player. In 2004 he was WEPF men's world champion of English 8-ball pool.Mick Hill started his pool life based from Dudley in the West Midlands...
from England.
For more information see: List of Blackball and "British-style" eight-ball pool champions
External links
- World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) — world governing body for numerous versions of pool, including "blackball rules"
- European Blackball Association (EBA) — Europe's WPA-affiliate organisation for blackball
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- Associació de Blackball Catalunya — Catalonian organisation for blackball
- World Eightball Pool Federation (WEPF) — international governing body for "world rules"
- Welsh Pool Association (WPA) — international governing body for pool in Wales.
- Blackball Rules — blackball rules indexed for viewing on mobile phones.
- Associació de Blackball Catalunya — Catalonian organisation for blackball
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