Eight-ball is a pocket billiards (pool) game popular in much of the world, and the subject of international amateur and professional competition. It is played with sixteen balls (a cue ball and fifteen object balls) on a pool table with six pockets.

History

The game of eight-ball is derived from an earlier game invented around 1900 (first recorded in 1908) and initially popularized under the name "B.B.C. Co. Pool" (a name that was still in use as late as 1925) by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company. This forerunner game was played with seven yellow and seven red balls, a black ball, and the cue ball. Today, numbered stripes and solids are preferred in most of the world, though the British-style variant uses the traditional colors. It was a simple game in the beginning compared to today.

International rules

American-style eight-ball rules are played around the world by professionals, and in many amateur leagues. The rules for eight-ball may be the most contested of any billiard game. There are several competing sets of "official" rules. The non-profit World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), with national affiliates such as the Billiard Congress of America (BCA), promulgates the World Standardised Rules^[5] for amateur and professional play. The for-profit International Pool Tour has also established an international set of rules^[6] for professional and semi-professional play, used in major tournaments broadcast on television. Meanwhile, many amateur leagues, such as the American Poolplayers Association (APA) / Canadian Poolplayers Association (CPA), and the Valley National Eight-ball Association (VNEA) / VNEA Europe, use their own rulesets as their standards (most of them at least loosely based on the WPA/BCA version), while millions of individuals play informally using colloquial rules which vary not only from area to area but even from venue to venue.

A summary of the international rules follows (see the WPA/BCA or IPT published rules, which conflict on minor points, for more details):