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🎱 One Pocket Rules
The Goal
One Pocket is a game for two players. Each player is assigned one of the two corner pockets at the foot end of the table. The first player to legally pocket 8 balls in their own pocket wins the game. The other four pockets are "neutral" — balls pocketed there are spotted back on the table, not scored.
Pocket Selection & The Break
- • All 15 balls are racked in a standard triangle with the apex ball on the foot spot.
- • Players lag for break. The breaker selects one of the two foot-end corner pockets; the opponent gets the other.
- • The cue ball starts in hand behind the head string. The cue ball may be stroked directly into any ball in the rack, or cushion(s) first.
- • After contacting the rack, the cue ball or at least one object ball must reach a rail, or a ball must be pocketed — otherwise it is a one-ball foul penalty.
- • If a ball drops in the breaker's pocket on a legal break, it counts and their inning continues.
Continuing Play
- • A player's inning continues only while they pocket balls in their own pocket on a legal stroke with no foul.
- • It is NOT a foul to pocket a ball in a neutral pocket or the opponent's pocket, but doing so does not continue your inning — unless on the same stroke you also legally score in your own pocket.
- • Balls pocketed in the opponent's pocket are counted for the opponent (unless a scratch or jumped cue ball also occurred on that same stroke).
- • Balls landing in neutral pockets are spotted at the end of the inning.
- • There is no "call a safety" rule — if you legally score, you must shoot again.
Legal Shot Requirements
- • The cue ball must contact an object ball, and either the cue ball or at least one object ball must then reach a cushion — or a ball must be pocketed.
- • Playing safe to the same rail is allowed as many times as you like, as long as either the cue ball or an object ball is driven to a cushion after contact.
- • Jump shots are permitted using your standard cue with legal jumping technique. Specialized jump cues are not allowed.
Fouls & Penalties
- • Standard foul penalty: End of inning + spot one ball from your scored balls (if you have no balls to spot, you "owe" one ball, tracked with a coin marker on the rail).
- • All balls you pocketed in your pocket on a foul stroke are spotted back. Balls pocketed in the opponent's pocket on a scratch or jumped cue ball are also spotted. Balls in the opponent's pocket on other fouls stay down and count for the opponent.
- • After a pocket scratch or jumped cue ball: Incoming player gets cue ball in hand behind the head string. After any other foul, the cue ball is played where it lies.
- • Ball in hand is always behind the head string — not anywhere on the table.
- • Three consecutive fouls = loss of game. The opponent or referee must warn a player on two fouls before their next shot.
Common Fouls
- • Cue ball scratch (pocketed or off the table)
- • Touching the cue ball (any non-stroke contact)
- • Disturbing two or more object balls accidentally
- • Push shot or double-hit
- • Driving any ball off the table
- • Shooting while balls are still moving
- • Bad cue ball placement in ball-in-hand situations
Spotting Balls
- • Balls are spotted on the foot spot (or directly below it in the nearest open space, or above if the bottom rail blocks).
- • Spotted balls are frozen to other balls on that line without disturbing them.
- • Spotting happens at the end of the shooter's inning — not mid-inning, unless the table is completely cleared and the shooter hasn't won yet (in that case all spotted balls go back immediately).
Handicap Games
- • The winning score for either player can be adjusted (e.g., one player needs 7 balls, the other needs 8).
- • If the combined targets exceed 16, the player going to the longer count must spot their first scored balls at the end of their first scoring inning to bring the combined total back to 16.
Scorekeeper Usage
- • Ball Pocketed (+1): Tap when the active player sinks a ball in their pocket. They stay at the table.
- • Minus 1 (−1): Correct an over-counted ball during the current run.
- • Neutral Pocket: Ball went into a neutral pocket — ends inning, ball will be spotted.
- • Opp's Pocket: Ball went into opponent's pocket — credit opponent, end inning.
- • Miss / Pass: End of inning, no foul.
- • Foul / Scratch: End of inning + −1 penalty ball owed.