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Three Popular Variations of the Game of Pool

A proper rack, with the two corner balls of a different suit  and the 8 ball in the center.

Image via Wikipedia

There are a few different variations of pool, each with its own set of rules. It is really a matter of personal preference which version of pool to play. may be a good idea however for an avid pool player be familiar with at least popular variations of the game: Nine-Ball, Eight ball and Cut Throat.

Eight Ball

We will start by giving a summarization of the common Eightball game that most people are familiar with.

Know the Lingo

It is a good idea to be familiar with pool terminology. For example, most of us call the balls stripes and solid. If you go out and play with more accomplished players, you will find the correct terms would be high and low, not stripes and solids.

The rules will vary depending which skill level you are playing at. For the sake of simplicity, all poolballs are racked with the eight ball placed in the center. Just after the break, the ball that goes in firstly will be your ball.

Play is rotated whenever a shot is missed or a foul committed. The chief goal is to sink all your poolballs and the eightball before your opponent. Always be aware of the eightball is your last ball to go in!

As previously noted, there are lots of rules competitors play by, so be sure to specify them ahaed of proceeding into a game and ensure all contestants are understand them with clarity.

Nine Ball

Another variation is Nine-ball. The form this game takes, the balls used are 1 through 9 and are racked as a diamond by order of number, with the nine ball placed in the center. The motive is to sink the pool balls in order starting from the lowest number number to highest.

Any ball that goes in is counted as long as the pool ball with the lowest number on the pool table is the first hit. For example, if the number of lowest value ball to the pooltable is the four ball, ou may either sink that ball or use that ball for a combination shot to sink a different poolball. Just always be sure that the ball you the first to be hit is the lowest number to the pool table. If you fail to hit the number of lowest value ball first, it’s a foul and the different player will step in with their cue stick to begin his or her turn. The winner is the player who makes the nine on a legal shot.

Cut Throat

The thirdly common version is cut throat. This is among the three most popular competitive games in pool. But, it is better for social purposes than as a true test of skills. The competitors each will take five balls, 1-5, 6-10, and 11-15, and the last remaining player with a ball on the table wins, so the goal is to sink your competitors’ poolballs. There are a number variations of cut throat. The penalty for a foul is to bring a add competitors’ balls back to the pooltable. Sometimes this leisure sport is played with 3 different coloured sets of pool balls to make it easier to keep track of who has what.

There is Definitely More than One Way to Play a Game of Pool

There are all sorts of ways to play pool and billiards, each one of which has guidelines and rules. Figure out your playing style first, then choose your game. The more you familiarize yourself with theses different forms, the better a player you will become