The “official rules of pool” are the WPA World Standardized Rules, which are also recognized and published by the Billiard Congress of America (BCA) and used by many international tournaments and pool organizations. Here’s a concise rules summary of the WPA rules for 8-ball and 9-ball, and here are good demonstrations of all types of legal and illegal shots:

League system rules deviate from the “official” WPA rules slightly. Below is a concise summary of the main differences among the most popular league systems:

• APA 8-ball
  • Slop counts (i.e., you don’t need to call your shots).
  • You are allowed to call time-out during a game to get advice from a designated coach on your team.
  • If you legally pocket solids (or stripes) and no stripes (or solids) on the break, you must “take what you make.”
  • On the break, you must hit the head ball or a 2nd-row ball first.
  • A slow/soft break is not allowed.
  • Pocketing the 8 on the break is a win (unless you also scratch, in which case it is a loss).
  • Scratching on the 8-ball shot (even if missed) is loss of game.
  • When hitting an OB frozen to a cushion, the OB must be driven to a different cushion (or off a ball and back to the same cushion) if nothing else hits a cushion or is pocketed.
  • Jump cues are not allowed (except in the Masters Division).
  • Jumping OBs off the table is not a foul and the balls are spotted when done pocketing remaining balls or after a miss.
  • You must mark the pocket where you intend to make the 8.
  • Pattern racking is not illegal.
  • On the break shot, the head ball or the second row of balls must be struck first.
  • With an illegal break (including a complete miss of the rack of balls with a miscue), the breaker breaks again (unless there was a scratch, in which case the opponent breaks).
  • Only CB fouls are enforced. Touching or moving a ball by accident is not a foul, unless the moved ball could have affected a shot. Your opponent has the option to replace moved balls to where they were originally.
  • You are allowed to execute cue-lift shots that do not involve a forward motion of the cue and involve sliding motion between the cue tip and CB.
  • Placing chalk on rail or a chalk mark on a cushion as aiming target is allowed.
• CSI, BCAPL, USAPL 8-ball
  • If you scratch on the break, your opponent gets ball in hand anywhere on the table.
  • When hitting an OB frozen to a cushion, the OB must be driven to a different cushion (or off a ball and back to the same cushion) if nothing else hits a cushion or is pocketed.
  • Only CB fouls are enforced. Touching or moving a ball by accident is not a foul, unless the moved ball could have affected a shot, or if the ball moved is an impeding ball moves during a jump or massé shot. Your opponent has the option to replace moved balls to where they were originally.
  • If a player shoots the wrong group and no foul is called, and it is later noticed that someone is shooting at the wrong group, the game will be replayed with the same breaker. If the game has already ended, the game is not replayed and the result stands.
• VNEA 8-ball rules and definitions
  • Only CB fouls are enforced. Touching or moving a ball by accident is not a foul, unless the moved ball could have affected a shot. Your opponent has the option to replace moved balls to where they were originally.
  • When the table is open, you are allowed to hit the 8 first to pocket an OB.
  • When hitting an OB frozen to a cushion, the OB must be driven to a cushion on a different rail (or off a ball and back to a cushion on the same rail) if nothing else hits a cushion or is pocketed.
  • Any OBs jumped off the table are spotted. As with WPA rules, jumping any ball off the table is a foul. If you jump the 8 off the table during the break, it is loss of game.
  • Pattern racking is not prohibited.

See the bar rules page to see how they differ from standard rules.

Recommendations

Why can’t everybody use the same “official rules” of pool? Some of the APA and VNEA “special rules” are just plain ridiculous and should be eliminated. See:

For more info, see: “Please Fix League Rules” (BD, September, 2022). UPDATE: In August, 2023, the VNEA eliminated the 45˚ rule.

Another thing American pool leagues should consider is playing under standard “All Ball Fouls” instead of “CB Fouls Only” rules. For the reasons, see:

For more info, see: “All Ball Fouls” (BD, November, 2025). To make a change to “All Ball Fouls” go smoothly, it would help to institute a procedural policy that would help prevent disagreements, arguments, or bad feelings. Here is a possible framework:

1. If the opponent did not ask to have somebody observe a shot (or game) and did not ask to video record the shot (or game), and if the shooter did not see or feel the foul and does not agree they fouled, the shooter gets the benefit of the doubt (no foul). There is no reason to argue because this is the rule.
2. If a dishonest player develops a reputation of not admitting to any fouls, even those blatantly obvious, it is the opponent’s responsibility to ask for an observer more, especially if there is any suspected chance for a foul resulting from a double hit, wrong ball hit first, ball touch, etc.
3. If a dishonest player attempts to call “phantom fouls” that obviously did not occur, there is again no reason for an argument since the shooter gets the final say (if no observer was asked to watch). The dishonest players should also be reported to their team captain and league operator so an attempt can be made to change their unsportsmanlike behavior.

With a clear and circulated procedural policy, there is no reason for arguments or disagreements. People will quickly adjust to the new rules and policies and how they are applied, so there should be fewer chances for disagreements and bad feelings.

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