(Revision of rules – Guide Sheet – November 2022)
This document is for organisations/individuals to see in a little more detail why or what changes have occurred. No new rules have been added, just rules clarified in more detail and/or moved to a specific section. Changes are in Bold.
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Change: Touching ball is addressed in more detail in its own section. Added is also the need to nominate in the event of a touching ball open table.
6o Touching Balls
(1) A player must play away from ‘ALL’ touching balls at an angle greater than perpendicular (90 degrees) and fulfil the requirements of a ‘legal shot’. A player shall not be penalised If playing away from touching ball(s) causes any touching ball to rock or move slightly because it was ‘resting’ on the cue ball.
(2) If the table is ‘open’ and touching ball(s) have been confirmed, the player must, in the following order:
(a) Nominate a group (This is for clarity of the shot and not to decide a group for the remainder of the frame) See Rule 6a(1) on deciding groups.
(b) Perform all the requirements of a ‘legal shot’.
(3) If the groups have been decided and touching ball(s) has been confirmed, the player must perform all the requirements of a ‘legal shot’.
(4) If the cue ball is touching an ‘on’ ball, the player is deemed to have made ‘initial contact’ in order to fulfil the requirements of a ‘legal shot’.
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Change: Added because of touching ball need to nominate on open table.
6a Deciding Groups
(7) In the event of a touching ball, you MUST indicate to the referee and/or opponent the intended group. See rule 6o (2).
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Change: Legal shot moved from standard fouls into its own section and also added what constitutes a cushion for clarity purposes.
6p Legal Shot
DEFINITION – To play a ‘legal shot’ the player must cause the cue ball’s initial contact to be with a ball ‘on’ and THEN must either:
(a) Pot any ball or balls OR
(b) Cause the cue ball or any object ball to contact a cushion.
The ‘cushion’ is defined as the six rails and the six pockets of a pool table.
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Change: “frozen if announced…” to “frozen if confirmed…” As it now reads below…
6h Frozen Balls
(2) A ball is only deemed frozen if confirmed by the referee or player, prior to the shot being taken.
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Change: 5 rules have moved down the order to allow an additional rule to be added for the clarification on commencing a frame with regards to the position of the cue ball when breaking. All the rules follow a sequence of events one after another, hence, having to move some rules down the order to accommodate this one below.
Move
4e –> 4f
4f –> 4g
4g –> 4h
4h –> 4i
4i –> 4j
So that a new 4e is:
To commence a frame, the player who is breaking, shall position the cue ball anywhere in baulk but MUST NOT position the cue ball over the break line by more than 50% of its diameter.
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Change: “played from behind the break line” to “played from baulk…”
As it now reads below…
4j – If the cue ball, on a legal break:
(1) Goes “in-off”, a loss of turn occurs and the incoming player is awarded one visit with cue ball in hand, to be played from baulk, in any direction.
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Change: 6f (2) (a) Foul language threshold has been lowered 6f Loss of frame fouls
(2) Unsporting behaviour / bringing the game into disrepute.
Including but not exclusive to:
(a) A second offence for Foul language (A verbal warning is given for the first offence)
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Change: The word ‘Accidentally’ has been added to the start of (4) and (5)
6e Standard fouls
(4) Accidentally striking the cue ball with any part of the cue other than the tip in general play. Positioning the cue ball with the cue is allowed as long as the tip of the cue is not used.
(5) Accidentally striking any ball other than the cue ball with any part of the cue or cue tip.
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Change: The current rule on Simultaneous contact suggests it is only possible when deciding groups 6a (6) therefore has now moved to its own section. 6a (7) has now moved to 6a (6).
6q Simultaneous contact
Simultaneous contact of object balls is allowed as long as one of the object balls is ‘on’.
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Change: the heading of rule 6k and the text was not an accurate description of what is trying to be said and in some cases long-winded. Therefore 6k has a new heading and is split into two clear sub-sections.
6k Balls falling into a pocket…
(1) When played as part of a shot
(a) If any ball comes to rest over a pocket and drops in within 5 seconds, the ball is considered to be ‘pocketed’.
(b) If any ball comes to rest over a pocket and drops in more than 5 seconds, the ball is returned to the original position, and the incoming player
may begin their visit.
(2) Stationary ball(s)
(a) If any ball drops into a pocket before the cue ball has been struck, all ball(s) shall be replaced and play continues.
(b) If any ball drops into a pocket after the cue ball has been struck, all ball(s) will be replaced to their original positions, with no penalty.
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Change: The word ‘table’ has been replaced with the word ‘playing surface’. Table is a collection term used to identify the playing surface, cushions/rails, pockets, body and legs as a pool table. Other references where ‘playing surface’ is required as a better phrase than ‘table’ have been replaced also. See all below…
4c – It is an automatic loss of lag if a ball:
(1) Crosses into the opponent’s half of the playing surface OR
4j – If the cue ball on a legal break:
(2) Leaves the playing surface, a standard foul will be called against the breaker, with the incoming player receiving one visit, played from anywhere on the playing surface. (See Rule 6l (1))
6e Standard fouls
(15) A ball that remains off the playing surface.
(16) A player’s body, clothing, jewellery or accessory, or part of a cue (except for the tip in a legal shot), comes into contact with any ball. A tip falling off a cue or chalk dropped is the player’s responsibility. Should any of these contact a ball on the playing surface, it is deemed a foul. A player is responsible for their ‘own’ equipment brought to the table but not that which is ‘supplied’ by the competition itself. For example, If the end falls off a rest that has been ’supplied’ by the competition which contacts a ball, this is deemed not a foul.
(17) Jump shot: If the cue ball leaves the playing surface and does not strike an object ball that it would have struck had the cue ball not left the playing surface on an otherwise identical shot, therefore the cue ball is deemed to have jumped over that ball.
6l Balls off the playing surface
6m Returning object balls which leave the playing surface and remain off the table
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Change: “…announce a warning at 10 seconds…” has been removed. And the extension has been reduced down to 15 seconds from 45 seconds.
6j Shot clock
Each player is allotted 45 seconds for each shot. The tip of the cue must have made contact with the cue ball within this time or a standard foul shall be granted to the opponent. The 45-second shot clock will commence once all balls come to rest. The timekeeper will verbally count down from 5 seconds.
One extension per frame is permitted per player, whereby the referee will add 15 seconds to the remaining time at the request of the player.
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Change: The stalemate situation has changed to clarify who calls or makes a decision because it was not clear. If a referee were to call a stalemate before a player asks for it, that would be deemed coaching and the onus should always be on the player to ask.
6g Stalemate situation
If any situation arises whereby a ‘legal shot’ (see Rule 6e(12)) cannot be played, It is a player’s responsibility to ask for a stalemate. If the referee confirms a stalemate, the frame shall be restarted with a re-rack. The player who originally broke will
restart the re-racked frame.
International Rules v2a (Nov 2022) Updates Over v1a
https://8ballreferee.com.au/international-8-ball-rules/2023-05/International-8Ball-Rules-2-Nov2022-Updates-Over-v1a.pdf