WPA 1.1
Know the rules
Every player is responsible for knowing the rules, regulations and schedule of the event — officials help, but the responsibility is yours.
General rules & fouls
These rules apply to every game unless that game's own rules say otherwise: how play starts, how equipment may be used, what counts as pocketed, and which actions are fouls.
The short version
- Win the lag and you choose who breaks.
- A foul is only enforced if it's called before the next shot starts — and if several fouls happen on one shot, only the most serious counts.
- Common fouls: scratching, hitting the wrong ball first, no rail after contact, no foot on the floor, touching a ball, double hits and shooting while balls still move.
Jump to rule
Playing the game
WPA 1.2
The lag
Both players shoot a ball from behind the head string to the foot cushion and back at about the same time. The ball that stops closest to the head cushion wins, and the winner chooses who breaks. A lag is bad (and can't win) if the ball crosses the long string into the other half, touches the foot cushion more than once, is pocketed or leaves the table, touches a side cushion, or ends up in the corner pocket past the head cushion's nose. The lag is replayed if both are bad, if the referee can't tell which is closer, or if one ball is struck after the other has already reached the foot cushion.
WPA 1.3
Who breaks next
In games scored rack by rack, such as 9-ball and 10-ball, the players take turns breaking.
WPA 1.4
Using equipment
You may switch cues during a match (for example break, jump and playing cues) and use cue extensions. Chalk is for your tip only — never as a marker for aiming. Up to two mechanical bridges are allowed; if you use two, the second rests on the head of the first. Gloves are allowed, and powder in reasonable amounts.
WPA 1.5
Spotting balls
A spotted ball goes on the long string as close as possible to the foot spot, between the foot spot and the foot rail. If something is in the way, it is placed touching the blocking ball — but never touching the cue ball. If the whole line below the foot spot is blocked, it goes above the foot spot, as close to it as possible.
WPA 1.6
Ball in hand
With ball in hand you may place the cue ball anywhere on the playing surface and keep adjusting it until you shoot. You may move it with your hand or any part of the cue, including the tip — just not with a forward stroke. Some situations (most breaks, for example) limit placement to behind the head string. If you have ball in hand behind the head string and every legal ball is also behind it, you may ask for the legal ball nearest the head string to be spotted. A ball sitting exactly on the head string is playable.
WPA 1.7
Calling shots
In call-shot games you name the ball and the pocket whenever they aren't obvious. Cushions, kisses and other balls don't need to be called, and only one ball may be called per shot. For bank and combination shots it's wise to call clearly. Instead of a ball you may call “safety”, and play passes to your opponent after the shot.
WPA 1.8
Balls that settle
If a ball seems to have stopped and then drops into a pocket on its own, it is put back where it was. If that happens during or just before a shot and affects it, the position is restored and the shot replayed — without penalty.
WPA 1.9
Restoring a position
When balls must be put back or cleaned, the referee restores them as accurately as possible, and the players accept the referee's placement.
WPA 1.10
Outside interference
If something from outside the game disturbs a shot and changes its outcome, the balls are restored and the shot is replayed. If it didn't affect the outcome, only the disturbed balls are restored and play goes on. If the position can't be restored, it's handled like a stalemate.
WPA 1.11
Questioning a call
You may ask the referee to reconsider a judgment call, but the referee's judgment is final. If you believe a rule is being applied wrongly, you can appeal to the event's appeals authority. Fouls have to be called promptly.
WPA 1.12
Conceding
Conceding loses the match. Unscrewing your cue while your opponent is shooting the deciding rack counts as conceding.
WPA 1.13
Stalemate
If neither player is making progress, the referee warns them and each gets three more turns. If there's still no progress, a stalemate is declared (players may also agree to it earlier). What happens next depends on the game.
Key definitions
WPA 2.2
Pocketed ball
A ball is pocketed when it ends up in the pocket or the ball return. A ball hanging on the edge, held up only by another ball, counts as pocketed. A ball that sits motionless on the edge for five seconds and then falls in by itself does not. A ball that bounces back out onto the table is not pocketed. If the cue ball touches a ball already in the pocket, the cue ball counts as pocketed even if it comes back out.
WPA 2.6
Driven off the table
A ball is off the table if it comes to rest anywhere other than the playing surface without being pocketed — including when it would have left the table but hit a lamp, chalk or a person and dropped back. A ball that rides on top of the rail and returns to the cloth or drops into a pocket is not off the table.
WPA 2.7
Driven to a rail
A ball reaches a rail when it touches a rail it wasn't touching before. A ball frozen to a rail only counts if it leaves the rail and comes back. Pocketed balls and balls driven off the table count as having reached a rail. Balls are assumed not to be frozen unless the referee or a player declares it.
WPA 2.8
Inning
Your turn at the table, from your first legal shot until you're no longer allowed to shoot.
WPA 2.9
Jump shot
Making the cue ball go over an obstacle. A legal jump is played by raising the cue and driving the cue ball down into the cloth so it bounces up — not by scooping under it.
WPA 2.11
Miscue
When the tip slides off the cue ball. A scoop shot is treated like a miscue. An accidental miscue that makes the cue ball hop over a ball is treated as a legal jump shot; an intentional miscue is unsportsmanlike conduct.
WPA 2.17
Scratch
Pocketing the cue ball.
WPA 2.19
Shot
A shot starts when the tip touches the cue ball with a forward stroke and ends when every ball has stopped moving and spinning.
Fouls
Only the most serious foul on a shot is enforced, and a foul that isn't called before the next shot begins is treated as if it didn't happen. Each game's own rules say which fouls apply and what the penalty is.
WPA 3.1
Scratch or cue ball off the table
Pocketing the cue ball or driving it off the table is a foul.
WPA 3.2
Wrong ball first
In games where you must hit a particular ball (or group) first, hitting anything else first is a foul. If a legal and an illegal ball are hit at practically the same moment and no one can tell which was first, the legal ball is assumed to be first.
WPA 3.3
No rail after contact
If nothing is pocketed, the cue ball must hit an object ball, and after that contact at least one ball — cue ball or any object ball — must reach a rail. Otherwise it's a foul.
WPA 3.4
No foot on the floor
At least one foot must touch the floor at the moment the tip hits the cue ball.
WPA 3.5
Ball off the table
Driving an object ball off the table is a foul. Whether it's spotted depends on the game.
WPA 3.6
Touched ball
Touching or moving any ball other than through normal play is a foul — with your hand, cue, clothing, hair, chalk or bridge. Accidental: standard foul. Deliberate: unsportsmanlike conduct. Moving the cue ball while you have ball in hand is allowed.
WPA 3.7
Double hit and frozen balls
Hitting the cue ball twice on one shot is a foul, as is keeping the tip on the cue ball when it reaches a nearby object ball (a barely grazed ball very close to the cue ball is given the benefit of the doubt). If the cue ball is touching a legal object ball, you may shoot into it; that ball counts as hit. Get the frozen ball declared before you shoot.
WPA 3.8
Push shot
Keeping the tip in contact with the cue ball longer than in a normal stroke is a foul.
WPA 3.9
Balls still moving
Starting a shot while any ball is still rolling or spinning is a foul.
WPA 3.10
Bad cue ball placement
When ball in hand is limited to behind the head string, shooting from on or below the line is a foul. Ask the referee if you're unsure.
WPA 3.11
Bad play from behind the head string
With ball in hand behind the head string, the cue ball must cross the head string or first hit a ball on or below it. Hitting a ball above the line first without crossing it is a foul.
WPA 3.12
Playing out of turn
Accidentally shooting out of turn is a standard foul; play normally continues from the resulting position. Doing it on purpose is unsportsmanlike conduct.
WPA 3.13
Three fouls in a row
Three fouls without a legal shot in between is a serious foul (in rack-scored games, within the same rack). The referee must warn you when you're on two fouls — without that warning, a third foul counts only as the second. Some games, including 8-ball, don't use this rule.
WPA 3.14
Slow play
A referee can ask a slow player to speed up and then put both players on a shot clock. Running out of time is a standard foul.
WPA 3.15
Rack template
If a removed ball-rack template lying on the rail is touched by a ball, it's a foul.
WPA 3.16
Unsportsmanlike conduct
Deliberate behaviour that disrupts the game or brings the sport into disrepute — such as distracting your opponent, moving balls other than by a shot, miscuing on purpose, playing on after a foul is called, practising during a match, marking the table, delaying the game or misusing equipment. The referee sets the penalty: from a warning up to losing the match or being disqualified.