The game

The goal of 9-ball is to sink the 9-ball in one of the pockets after pocketing the other balls in shooting order.

Ball setup

The balls are set up in numerical order, with the 1-ball on the footspot and the 9-ball in the middle.

Who gets to break 

The player who won the toss gets to break. On the break, the cue ball must hit the 1-ball and at least one ball must go into a pocket. If this does not happen, it is the other player's turn.

Shooting order 

The shooting order is determined by which ball is pocketed first. The player whose turn it is must always try to pocket the lowest ball. If a player misses or commits a foul, their turn ends and the other player's turn begins.

Fouls

• Potting the white ball or any object ball off the table.
• Hitting the cue ball with something other than the tip.
• Hitting the cue ball twice.
• Pushing the cue ball instead of hitting it.
• Not hitting a rail after hitting an object ball (without a ball going into a pocket).
• Pocketing the 9-ball before all the other balls are pocketed.

On a foul, the other player gets a ball-in-hand behind the break line. Any balls that go off the table or are pocketed with a foul do not come back onto the table.​

Open table

There is no open table in 9-ball. This means that the player whose turn it is must always try to pocket the lowest ball, regardless of whether they pocketed a ball on the break or not.

End of the game

The game ends when a player sinks the 9-ball in one of the pockets after pocketing the other balls in shooting order. The player who sinks the 9-ball wins the game. If the 9-ball is pocketed with a foul, the player loses the game.