Straight pool

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The initial rack

In the initial rack in straight pool, the fifteen object balls are racked in a triangular rack, with the center of the apex ball placed over the foot spot. Traditionally, the 1 ball is placed at the rack's right corner, and the 5 ball placed at the rack's left corner, although this is not an official rule. Other balls are placed at random and must touch their neighbors. However, it is considered courtesy by some to place a stripe ball at the rack's apex.

Unlike in most pool games, where pocketing a ball and spreading the balls is the aim on the break, the object in straight pool's standard initial break shot is to leave the opponent with a safety. This is because the call-pocket rule includes the break shot. masking tape dispenser

On the break, either a ball must be pocketed in a designated pocket or the cue ball and at least two additional balls must touch a rail. The failure to accomplish one of these two options results in a foul. Fouling on the initial break results in a special penalty of a loss of 2 points. In addition, the opponent has the choice either of accepting the table in position, or alternatively of having the balls re-racked and requiring the offending player to repeat the opening break. packing tape dispensers

All other fouls during the game result in a one point deduction, including fouling on an intragame rack. However, a third foul in a row at any time in a straight pool game results in a loss of 15 points (for purposes of this rule, a foul on the initial break, though it is a loss of two points, is not counted as two fouls). The 15 point deduction is in addition to the one point loss for each foul. Thus, the first two fouls are a loss of one point each, and the third foul in a row is a loss of 16 points; 1 point for the foul, and 15 points for it being the third contiguous foul. desktop tape dispenser

Intragame racking

Because straight pool is played to a specific number of points normally far in excess of the 15 points available in the initial rack, multiple intragame racks are necessary. Intragame racking employs a separate set of rules from those in place at the game's start.

To reach the point where an intragame rack becomes necessary, the balls are played until only the cue ball and one object ball remain on the table's surface. At that time, if neither the cue ball or the fifteenth object ball remains in the rack area (or is interfering with racking in the rack area) the fourteen pocketed object balls are racked with no apex ball, and the rack is placed so that if the apex ball were in the rack, its center would rest directly over the table's foot spot. Play then continues with the cue ball shot from where it rested and the fifteenth, non-racked, object ball from where it rested prior to racking.

The "14.1 continuous" appellation derives from this racking practice, i.e., that fourteen racked object balls and one remaining object ball left in position is presented to the players at the conclusion of each intragame rack. The shooter will then normally try to pocket the unracked fifteenth ball, and at the same time have the cue ball carom into the fourteen racked balls, spreading them so that subsequent shots are available, and a run may continue.

A number of rules have developed which detail what must be done when one or both of the cue ball and fifteenth object ball are either in the rack area at the time an intragame rack is necessary, or are in such proximity to the intragame racking area, that the physical rack cannot be used without moving the one or the other. The rules also vary depending on whether the cue ball or fifteenth object ball are resting on the table's head spot. Such rules are detailed on the following chart (note therein that the kitchen refers to the area behind the table's head string).

Straight Pool Intragame Racking Chart

15th ball lies

Cue ball lies

In the Rack

Not in the Rack and

not on the Head Spot

On The Head Spot

In The Rack

15th ball: foot spot

Cue Ball: in kitchen

15th ball: head spot

Cue Ball: in position

15th ball: center spot

Cue Ball: in position

Pocketed

15th ball: foot spot

Cue Ball: in kitchen

15th ball: foot spot

Cue Ball: in position

15th ball: foot spot

Cue Ball: in position

Behind Head String,

but not on Head Spot

15th ball: in position

Cue Ball: head spot

Not behind Head String,

and not in the Rack

15th ball: in position

Cue Ball: in kitchen

On Head Spot

15th ball: in position

Cue Ball: center spot

Mosconi's High Run

This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this section if you can. (October 2008)

Main Article: Willie Mosconi

One of the all-time greatest players, Willie Mosconi, had a record high run of 526 points. Here is what he said about the high run: "On March 19, in Springfield, Ohio, I ran 526 balls, a record that still stands. I was playing a two-hundred-point match against an amateur by the name of Earl Bruney in the East High Billiard Club. He made three balls off the break, then I ran two hundred and just kept going. The run took two hours and ten minutes, which means that over the span I averaged four balls a minute. I finally missed a difficult cut shot, but by that time I was weary; it was almost a relief to have it come to an end. There were about three hundred people in the audience, and one of them was an attorney who prepared an affidavit attesting to the validity of my claim to a new record. A few days later, the BCA gave its stamp of approval."

References

^ See for example the last decade's worth of issues of Billiards Digest, Pool & Billiard Magazine and InsidePOOL.

^ Willie Mosconi Biography on Billiards Forum

"World Standardized Rules: 14.1 Continuous", World Pool Billiard Association, 2007. Accessed May 16, 2008.

See also

Willie Mosconi - Holder of the BCA straight pool high run world record, for running 526 balls in a row

World Straight Pool Championship

External links

WPA World Standardized Rules for straight pool

Billiard Parlors directory of pool halls in the U.S. and Canada

"What Killed Straight Pool?", R.A. Dyer, Billiards Digest magazine (online edition), August 2005; accessed February 15, 2007

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