9-Ball Pool

Racking and breaking

• Diamond rack with the 1 at the apex and the 9 in the centre. The cue ball starts in hand behind the head string and must hit the 1 first.
• A legal break pots a ball or drives at least four balls to a rail. Anything else is a foul.
• The 9 potted on a legal break wins the rack. If the break was a foul, the 9 is spotted instead.
• The breaker keeps shooting if a ball goes down. Players alternate breaks, or the winner breaks, depending on the event.

Shots

• The cue ball must hit the lowest-numbered ball on the table first, then a ball must be potted or touch a rail.
• After a legal hit any ball can go down. The 9 wins the rack on any legal shot, including a combination or carom.
• If nothing is potted the turn passes, with no ball in hand.

Push-out

• Allowed only on the shot straight after the break, and it must be announced first.
• The cue ball need not hit anything. The opponent then shoots from there or passes the shot back.
• A 9 potted on a push-out is spotted.

Fouls

• Scratch, wrong ball first, no rail after contact, ball off the table, push or double hit, touching a ball, feet off the floor.
• The opponent gets ball in hand anywhere. Balls potted on a foul stay down, but the 9 is spotted.
• Three fouls in a row by one player lose the rack. A warning is due after the second.

House rules

• Bars often play slop (luck counts), winner breaks, ball in hand behind the line and no push-out, and may make you call the 9. The match options above cover these.

Full notes, rule sets (Matchroom, APA, BCA, VNEA, bar rules) and sources are in docs/9-ball.md in the site repository.