Kelly Pool
Draw secret numbers, sink balls and be the last player standing.
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Last man standing
Lose a ball every time one of yours goes down. Last player left wins.
Sink balls you win
Pot one of your own balls to win straight away.
How Kelly Pool works
The basics
- Each player draws secret numbered peas from a shake bottle. Here the tracker deals them on the phone. Keep your numbers to yourself.
- Play in rotation. The cue ball must first hit the lowest-numbered ball on the table, whoever it belongs to. You don't call shots.
- Pot a ball and you shoot again. Miss and the turn passes.
- The simple game: the first player to legally pot their own number wins.
- Balls nobody drew are dead balls. Potting one changes nothing.
The tracker follows this, except that it does not track the shooting order unless you turn on "Show whose turn it is".
When someone pots your ball
- Last man standing: each number is a life. A potted ball costs its owner a life, whoever pots it. The last player with a life wins. Tracker default
- Sink balls you win: pot your own number and you win. If someone else pots it, you lose that ball, or nothing happens if the table plays that way. Tracker
- Dead players: some tables let a killed player keep shooting but they can't win, and they must announce it before their next shot.
- Points: the BCA points game gives 1 point for potting someone else's number and 2 from everyone to the winner.
Fouls and penalties
- Common fouls: scratching, knocking the cue ball off the table, hitting the wrong ball first, or touching a ball.
- After a foul the next player may play the table as it lies. After a scratch they usually get the cue ball in hand behind the head string.
- A ball potted on a foul doesn't count. It is spotted on the foot spot, or as near as possible toward the foot rail, and its owner stays alive. Tracker: don't tap it, or use Undo
- Some tables fine scratches, a knocked bottle or a forgotten "I'm dead" into the pot.
The tracker doesn't record fouls or money.
Edge cases
- Two owners' balls in one shot: both are affected. In last man standing, tap both balls.
- Your ball potted after you're out: nothing changes. The ball is just removed.
- You pot your own ball on a foul: it doesn't count and it is spotted.
- Nobody wins (every ball potted): re-rack, redraw and replay. Many tables double the stake. Tracker: ends as no winner
- Cheating: don't peek at other players' numbers. The winner shows their pea to prove the win.
House rules and variants
- Several peas each: two to five numbers per player. Tracker: 1 to 5
- Cue-ball pea (16): the holder wins by hitting the lowest ball first and then scratching.
- 15 as the end ball: if nobody pots their number, potting the 15 wins.
- Call-shot or any ball: no lowest-ball rule. Players can go straight for their own number.
- Money: an ante into one pot, a payment per kill, or both. A game with no winner often plays for double.
The full list, with what each rule changes and the sources, is in the rules document.
Players in
Balls on the table
Last ball
Players
Balls
Everyone's numbers
| Player | Numbers | Result |
|---|