Pool (8-ball) online

How do you play 8-ball pool?

In 8-ball pool, two players hit the white cue ball to pocket seven solids or seven stripes. The first ball pocketed with no foul sets each player's group. You win by clearing your group and then pocketing the 8-ball; pocketing the 8 too early loses the game. Here you play with a friend or against the computer.

How to play

1. The table has the white cue ball, seven solids (1 to 7), seven stripes (9 to 15) and the black 8-ball. You only ever hit the cue ball.
2. To aim, put your finger on the cue ball and pull back: the shot goes the opposite way, and the farther you pull, the harder it hits. Let go to shoot.
3. If you prefer, turn the aim with the arrow buttons, set the power on the slider and tap Take the shot. On a keyboard, the arrow keys turn the aim and the space bar shoots.
4. Blue breaks. The table starts open: nobody has a group yet.
5. The first solid or stripe pocketed on a shot with no foul sets the groups. The shooter gets that ball's group and the opponent gets the other one. This applies on the break too.
6. Pocketed a ball of your group with no foul? Shoot again. If none of your balls went in, the turn passes.
7. It is a foul when the cue ball is pocketed, when the cue ball touches no ball at all, when it touches an opponent's ball first, or when it touches the 8-ball first too early. On an open table, only the 8-ball may not be touched first.
8. After a foul, the opponent shoots with the cue ball back on its starting spot. Balls pocketed on the foul shot stay off the table.
9. When no ball of your group is left, the 8-ball becomes your ball. Pocket the 8 on a shot with no foul and you win the game.
10. You lose the game if you pocket the 8-ball before clearing your group, or if you pocket the 8 on a foul shot, such as the 8 together with the cue ball. Your last group ball and the 8 on the same shot also count as the 8 too early.
11. The break is the only exception: if the 8-ball goes in, it comes back to the table and play goes on.

Controls

• Keyboard: the left and right arrows turn the aim (hold Shift to fine-tune). The up and down arrows change the power. The space bar takes the shot.
• Touch: put your finger on the table, pull back and let go to shoot. A single tap points the aim at that spot.
• Mouse: click, pull back and let go, or use the aim buttons, the power slider and the Take the shot button.
• Game controller: left stick or D-pad to turn the aim, L1 and R1 (LB and RB) to fine-tune. Hold the right trigger or the A or ✕ button: the power rises and falls. Let go to shoot. The B or ○ button cancels.

What this version simplifies

• You do not call the pocket: any pocket counts, for the 8-ball too.
• After a foul, the cue ball always goes back to its starting spot. There is no ball in hand anywhere on the table.
• No ball has to reach a cushion after the balls touch.
• An opponent's ball pocketed on a shot with no foul stays off the table and counts for them.

Tips to play better

• The dashed line shows the cue ball's path up to the first touch. The short line shows where the touched ball tends to go.
• Hitting hard does not always help: at medium power the ball drops into the pocket more easily and the cue ball is less likely to follow it in.
• Use the fine-tune arrows for cut shots. A tiny change in aim sends the ball somewhere very different.
• Before you shoot, think about where the cue ball will stop. Leaving an easy next ball beats making a hard one.
• No good shot? Touch one of your balls softly and leave the cue ball in a bad place for your opponent.
• Keep an eye on the 8-ball: avoid shots where the cue ball or another ball could push it into a pocket.

Frequently asked questions