How to play billiards: 8-ball, 9-ball, three-cushion
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This guide covers the three games of 3D billiards on Boombala: 8-ball and 9-ball on a pocket table, and three-cushion on a carom table without pockets. In all of them the balls move with real physics; here are the rules first, then the basics of controlling the cue ball.
8-ball
The table holds the cue ball and fifteen numbered balls: 1–7 are solids, 9–15 stripes and 8 is the black. They are racked in a triangle with the black in the middle and a solid and a stripe in the back corners.
- The break: taken from behind the head string. A ball must drop or four balls must reach a cushion, or the rack is set again for the opponent to break. A black potted on the break is spotted.
- Groups: after the break the table is open. The first ball you pot legally decides your group.
- Your turn: you keep shooting while you pot balls of your group.
- The black: once your group is cleared you play the black and call its pocket. Pot it there to win the rack.
- Losing the rack: potting the black before your group is cleared, in the wrong pocket, or together with the cue ball.
9-ball
Nine balls numbered 1 to 9 are racked in a diamond, the 1 at the front and the 9 in the middle.
- On every shot the cue ball must first hit the lowest numbered ball on the table. After that, any ball that drops counts.
- Potting the 9 legally wins the rack, by a combination too, even on the break.
- You keep shooting while you pot. A 9 potted on a foul is spotted.
- Three fouls in a row by the same player lose the rack.
Fouls and ball in hand
| Foul | What happens |
|---|---|
| Scratch | The cue ball drops into a pocket |
| Wrong ball | The cue ball first hits a ball the rules don't allow |
| Miss | The cue ball hits nothing |
| No rail | After contact nothing is potted and no ball reaches a cushion |
| Time | The shot clock runs out |
After a foul the opponent has ball in hand: they place the cue ball anywhere (behind the head string after a scratch on the break).
Three-cushion
Three-cushion is played on a 10 ft carom table with three balls: each player's own ball (the breaker plays white, the opponent yellow) and the shared red. Everything is about working out the banks.
- A point: your ball must hit both other balls and touch at least three cushions before it meets the second ball. The cushions can come before or after the first ball, and the same cushion may count twice.
- Innings: score and you shoot again; miss and the turn goes to your opponent. Each turn at the table is an inning.
- The break: red on the foot spot, the opponent's ball on the head spot, the breaker's beside it; the break must hit the red first.
- Average and run: the average is points per inning, the run the points made in a single inning. Both show in the score bar.
Controlling the cue ball: spin
- Follow (top): the cue ball carries on forward after hitting the object ball.
- Draw (bottom): the cue ball comes back. The lower and harder you hit, the further; over a long distance the draw wears off.
- Stop: hit through the centre hard enough that the cue ball is still sliding at contact and it stops dead.
- Side: opens or narrows the angle off a cushion and pushes the cue ball slightly off the cue's line (allow for it when aiming). It is the main tool of three-cushion.
- Cut and throw: on slow cut shots friction throws the object ball a few degrees along the cue ball's path; overcut thin cuts a little.
There are separate guides for the more advanced shots: the draw shot, the piqué shot and the massé shot. You can try all three in Boombala's practice mode with one click, using the preset buttons above the orbit ball.
A few tips
- Think about where the cue ball stops as much as about the pot: a good position for the next shot beats a spectacular one.
- With nothing on, play safe: hit a legal ball and leave your opponent nothing easy.
- At three-cushion, watch the diamonds: bank angles and paths around the table are counted from them.