Virtual International Players Ladder

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8 ball on the break rule


Because there are many different pool and billiards organizations, there are many different rules for 8 ball. The Virtual International Players Ladder has its own set of rules governing fair play.

As some of you may know, I played on "real" pool leagues for a number of years. The rules for these leagues were governed by the American Poolplayers Association (APA). Most of the rules of Virtual Pool follow the APA rules. So, I chose to add the APA's rule governing the 8 ball on the break.

The official APA (and Virtual International Players Ladder) rule is:

Pocketing the 8-ball on the break is a win, unless the player scratches, in which case he loses.

Most versions of Virtual Pool automatically detect the win, but don't automatically detect the loss. So, it is important that you know and understand this rule.

Personally, I think this is a good rule. If there is a rule that allows a win on the break, there should also be a rule that allows a loss on the break. Also, there are ways of breaking a rack which imparts more energy on the 8 ball and thus increasing the odds of pocketing the 8 ball. If you are using this type of break, you are also gambling that you will not scratch.

The bottom line is... If all players are playing by the same rules, everything should be equal.

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Page last modified: Fri, Jan 1, 2016 at 12:07:01