9 Ball Billiards

Nine-ball is a contemporary pocket billiards (pool) game, with historical beginnings rooted in the United States and traceable to the 1920s. The game may be played in social and recreational settings by any number of players (generally one-on-one) and subject to whatever rules are agreed upon beforehand, or in league and tournament settings in which the number of players and the rules are set by the sponsors. During much of its history, nine-ball has been known as a “money game” in both professional and recreational settings; but today, in major tournament settings, it is respected and remains the dominant game.

In recent years, nine-ball has become the game of choice in championship tournament matches in the United States, basically because a series of games (the “match”) proceeds quickly, lends itself well to the time constraints of television coverage, and tends to keep the audience engaged. The sports network ESPN has been, for several years, a major catalyst for the popularity of nine-ball and a major sponsor of championship play.

The game is played on a pocket billiards table with six pockets and with ten balls. The cue ball, which is usually a solid shade of white (but may be spotted in some tournaments), is struck to hit one or more of the other nine balls (often referred to as object balls), each of which is distinctly colored and numbered 1 through 9. The object of the game is to pocket the 9 ball in a legal manner, subject to the rules in effect at the time.

In nine-ball, on all shots, a player must cause the cue ball to contact the lowest numerical ball on the table first before the cue ball strikes any other ball and subsequently contact a rail with either the cue ball, the object ball, or any balls contacted by the two (except when a push-out has been invoked; see “The push-out”, below); otherwise a foul has been committed. This does not mean that object balls have to be pocketed in order; any ball may be pocketed at any time during the game, so long as the lowest numerical ball is contacted first. Because nine-ball is not a call shot game, the 9 ball itself can also be pocketed in this manner for a win (which necessarily means that legally pocketing the 9 on the break shot immediately wins the game).

Players alternate innings at the table, meaning play continues by one player until he or she misses, commits a foul, or pockets the 9 ball for the win. The penalty for a foul is that the player’s inning ends and the opponent comes to the table with ball in hand, able to place the cue ball anywhere on the table prior to shooting.

Nine-ball is a relatively fast-paced game and is rarely played by the rack. Instead, players normally play a match (or race) to a set number of games, often five, seven or nine. The first player to win that set number of games wins the match.