How do you play this billiards game?
Press near your ball, pull back and release to strike it with the cue. The farther you pull, the harder the shot, and the ball travels away from your finger. You can play four ball carom or 8 ball pool on a top down table, against the computer on easy, normal or hard, or with a friend on the same screen.
The dotted line shows where your ball makes first contact, and a short line shows where the object ball will go. Balls you are not allowed to hit are marked in red. On hard, the guide lines get shorter.
What are the rules of four ball?
Four ball (sagu) is the carom game most people play in Korea. Each player has a cue ball, white or yellow, and scores a point by hitting both red balls with it in one shot. Score and you shoot again. The first to the target (5, 10 or 15 points) wins.
| Shot | Result |
|---|---|
| Hit both reds | 1 point, shoot again |
| Hit only one red | No point, turn passes |
| Hit nothing | No point, turn passes |
| Hit the other player's cue ball | Minus 1 point (never below 0), turn passes |
The number of cushions and the order of contact do not matter. House rules vary from hall to hall, such as a penalty for missing everything or finishing the last point with three cushions. This game sticks to the common basic rules. The table has no pockets and is twice as long as it is wide.
What are the rules of 8 ball pool?
Pocket all seven of your balls, solids (1 to 7) or stripes (9 to 15), then sink the 8 ball to win. The rules follow the WPA 8 ball rules with a few simplifications.
- Break: place the cue ball behind the head string and break the rack. If a ball drops, you keep shooting.
- Choosing groups: the first ball you pocket legally after the break decides whether you are solids or stripes.
- Turns: pocket one of your balls to shoot again. Miss, or pocket only your opponent's balls, and the turn passes.
- Fouls: scratching the cue ball, hitting no ball, hitting a ball outside your group first, or no ball pocketed and no ball reaching a cushion after contact. After a foul, your opponent gets ball in hand anywhere on the table.
- The 8 ball: once your group is cleared, hit the 8 first and pocket it to win. Pocket it early, or scratch while sinking it, and you lose.
Unlike tournament play, you do not need to call the pocket, and an 8 ball made on the break is put back on the spot.
What does spin do?
Spin is where the cue tip hits the cue ball. Hit it high for follow, low for draw, and left or right for side spin.
- Follow (top): the cue ball keeps rolling forward after contact.
- Draw (bottom): the cue ball comes back toward you after contact.
- Side spin: changes the angle off the cushion, which is key for lining up both reds in four ball.
Tips
- Do not smash every shot. Medium speed is easier to read, and in four ball it keeps the balls together for the next point.
- Plan the path to the second red. Choose the thickness and spin so the cue ball heads for the other red after the first.
- Think one shot ahead. In pool, use follow and draw to leave the cue ball in a good spot.
- Play safe when the pot is hard. Blocking your opponent's path with other balls is a strong move too.
The computer rolls many candidate shots through the same physics before it picks one. Easy looks at fewer shots and aims loosely, hard is very accurate. Your record against the computer is saved in this browser.