9-ball pool rules

Setting up

• Rack the balls: place the 9 numbered balls in a diamond-shaped rack, with the 1-ball at the front and the 9-ball in the middle.
• Position: the front ball (the 1-ball) sits on the foot spot of the table.

The break

• One player breaks with the cue ball from behind the head string. For a legal break you hit the 1-ball first and at least four balls hit a cushion, or a ball is potted.
• If the breaker pots a ball, they keep playing. Otherwise it is the opponent's turn.

Shots and turns

• Always hit the lowest-numbered ball on the table first. If you do and you pot a ball, you keep playing.
• If you pot nothing or commit a foul, the turn passes.

Fouls

• Scratch: if the cue ball drops into a pocket, your opponent may place the cue ball anywhere on the table.
• Wrong ball: not hitting the lowest-numbered ball first is a foul.
• No cushion: if no ball hits a cushion after contact with the cue ball, it is a foul.

Winning

Whoever pots the 9-ball after the other balls have been hit in numerical order wins the game. You lose if you:

• pot the 9-ball before the other balls have been potted in order, unless it happens through a legal combination;
• commit a foul while potting the 9-ball.

Special situations

If a ball is knocked off the table, it goes back on the foot spot. Not the 9-ball: knocking that off the table means you lose the game.

See the 8-ball rules too