10-Ball Pool Rules
10-ball is 9-ball with the luck taken out. There's one more ball, and every shot is called, so a lucky shot doesn't count. It's the pros' test of skill. Here's how it's played under the official World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) rules. Then play it free online at CueVerse.
1. The rack
Balls 1 through 10 are racked in a triangle of four rows:
- The 1-ball sits at the front, on the foot spot.
- The 10-ball goes in the middle of the third row.
- The other balls fill in at random.
2. The break
Break from behind the head string, and hit the 1-ball first. Then either pot a ball or drive at least four balls to a rail. If you don't, it's a foul and your opponent gets ball in hand.
Nothing is called on the break. Anything that drops on a legal break stays down and you keep shooting. The one exception is the 10: it's put back on the foot spot, so it never wins on the break.
3. Call every shot
After the break, name one ball and one pocket before every shot. Only that ball, in that pocket, counts. How it gets there doesn't matter: banks, kisses and combinations are all fine. There's no "safety" call in 10-ball.
You can call any ball on the table, not just the lowest. You still have to hit the lowest ball first, so a higher ball goes in off it: hit the 1 into the 5 and call the 5.
On CueVerse, click the ball you're calling, then its pocket. On a phone, the Call button picks the ball and you tap the pocket. If you don't pick a ball, you're calling the lowest one. A red arrow marks your pocket and the called ball flashes, so your opponent sees the call too.
4. Hit the lowest ball first
As in 9-ball, the cue ball must strike the lowest-numbered ball on the table first. That's about what you hit, not what you call. After that contact, a ball must be potted or some ball must reach a rail. A ball already touching a rail only counts if it leaves the rail and comes back.
5. No luck: your opponent chooses
Sometimes you pot a ball without making your called shot: the wrong ball, or the right ball in the wrong pocket. If you didn't foul, the balls stay down (the 10 comes back up) and your turn ends. Then your opponent chooses: shoot from where the balls lie, or make you shoot again.
If you simply miss and nothing drops, play passes as usual.
6. Push out
The shot right after the break may be a push out. You don't have to hit the lowest ball or a rail, though a scratch is still a foul. It's a way to move the cue ball somewhere you'd both think twice about. After a legal push out, your opponent chooses who shoots next. On CueVerse, use the Push Out button before you shoot.
7. Fouls
The fouls are:
- Scratching (potting the cue ball).
- Not hitting the lowest ball first, or not hitting anything at all.
- Nothing potted and no ball reaching a rail after contact.
- A break that pots nothing and drives fewer than four balls to a rail.
- Letting your shot clock run out.
After a foul your opponent gets ball in hand anywhere on the table. Potted balls stay down, except the 10, which is spotted.
8. Three fouls in a row
Foul on three shots in a row without a legal shot in between and you lose the rack. You're warned when you're on two.
9. Winning
Call the 10 and pot it in that pocket when it's the only ball left, and the rack is yours. A 10 that drops any other way is spotted and play goes on. That includes an early combination, even one you called. In 10-ball you finish the rack.
Practice on CueVerse
Use the 10-Ball Training table to practise the break and your patterns. There are no turns and no fouls, and you can re-rack whenever you like. Then call your shots for real in a lobby game, 1 v 1 or 2 v 2.