Rules
There are two competing standards bodies that have issued international rules. The older, and currently dominant, of the two sets in British-style pool are the World Eight-ball Pool Federation (WEPF) rules (often called "World Rules"). The majority of WEPF members come from the UK and Ireland, and from current and former Commonwealth of Nations countries, plus Belgium.
A competing but very similar set of rules has been promulgated by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), under the game name "blackball" to better distinguish it from the American-style game (for which WPA also promulgates rules),. It was intended that "blackball" would unify the various existing British-style rulesets (presumably also including the WEPF rules) although this has not yet happened. The self-described "governing body" for WPA blackball in Europe, with numerous national and local affiliate groups, is the European Blackball Association (EBA).
In countries where play-to-pay pool tables with automatic ball-return devices are common, only the cue ball is returned to the players after potting. This means that if the black is potted from the break the game cannot continue without paying for a second game. It is not uncommon in the UK for 1 pound sterling (approximately 1.30 euros) to be the price of a game. Players may agree to play on without a black rather than lose the cost of a game for a single shot.
Read more about this topic: Blackball (pool)
Famous quotes containing the word rules:
“Each person calls barbarism whatever is not his or her own practice.... We may call Cannibals barbarians, in respect to the rules of reason, but not in respect to ourselves, who surpass them in every kind of barbarity.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
“Rules and particular inferences alike are justified by being brought into agreement with each other. A rule is amended if it yields an inference we are unwilling to accept; an inference is rejected if it violates a rule we are unwilling to amend. The process of justification is the delicate one of making mutual adjustments between rules and accepted inferences; and in the agreement achieved lies the only justification needed for either.”
—Nelson Goodman (b. 1906)
“Let’s start with the three fundamental Rules of Robotics.... We have: one, a robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Two, a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. And three, a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.”
—Isaac Asimov (1920–1992)