Straight Pool Rules (14.1 Continuous)
Straight pool is the classic test of potting. Every ball counts, any ball can be your next shot, and a great player can run fifty, a hundred, even hundreds of balls in a row without missing. Here's how it works, then play it free on CueVerse.
Video: How to play Straight Pool (1:11)
1. Call every shot
Before each shot you name the ball and the pocket. Any ball on the table may be called, there are no groups and no order. Make the called ball in the called pocket and the shot is good; every other ball that drops on that shot counts too.
2. One point per ball
Each ball pocketed on a good shot scores one point, and you keep shooting. Your turn, called a run, lasts until you miss, foul, or choose to play safe.
3. The re-rack
When only one object ball is left, the other fourteen are racked again with the front spot of the triangle left empty, and you play on. The ball left on the table, the break ball, is usually your next shot: pot it, and send the cue ball into the new rack to spread it.
If the break ball or the cue ball is in the way of the rack, there are set rules for moving it: the break ball goes to the head spot, the cue ball goes in hand behind the head string, or all fifteen balls are racked.
4. Fouls and scoring in competition
In a two-player match (WPA rules), each foul costs one point, and three fouls in a row cost fifteen more. The opening break must either pot a called ball or drive two object balls and the cue ball to a cushion. Matches are played to an agreed score, often 100 or 150 points.
Straight Pool on CueVerse
On CueVerse, straight pool is a solo high run: how many balls can you pot in a row?
- Set up the break: place the cue ball and the break ball anywhere you like, then make your first called shot.
- Call by clicking: click a pocket to call the ball you're aiming at, or click another ball first to call that one.
- One miss ends the run: a missed call, a scratch, or a shot that hits nothing.
- The re-rack is automatic: when one ball is left, the other fourteen come back, following the rules above.
- Pause a run and carry on later, for up to a week. There's no shot clock.
- The High Run board lists the best runs this week and of all time, and the whole lobby hears when someone takes the top spot. Your best run is saved with a replay anyone can watch.