Scratch
Another peculiarity of this game is the consequence of scratch, or knocking the cue ball into a pocket. In most circumstances, a player's opponents are "rewarded" by taking one of their balls each out of the pockets, and spotting them back onto the table. If (on the same turn) a scratch occurs after first pocketing an opponent's ball, it remains that only one ball per opponent may be returned to the table. The purpose is not to nullify the effects of the scratch, but to punish the offender and reward the other players. Therefore, any ball pocketed prior to the scratch (on the same turn) remains in the pockets; otherwise the potentially unaffected third player could be placed at a disadvantage . After the scratch, any of the opponent's balls can be selected to be placed back on the table. In some regional variants, and in particular, when played in bars with coin-operated tables where balls cannot be removed at will, true "fairness," is an impossibility. Additional unbiased rules prove essential to maintaining a fair game. In this circumstance, the player who scratches selects one of his or her own balls to be pocketed immediately. No balls are to be returned to the table. Other variants allow the next player ball-in-hand. Again, in the event that a scratch first pockets an opponent's ball in a coin operated game, no remaining balls may be substituted/ traded, however, the affected player is permitted to select the ball which is to be removed. This not only nullifies the offense, but helps to ensure that no two players can secretly team up to eliminate another. In the extreme peculiarity that the final shot leaves only the cue ball on the table (i.e. a player has pocketed his opponent's ball and inadvertently his own ball in a single shot) 1 ball of each set will be placed at the break mark and the shooting player continues. If a player places one of their own balls into a pocket it is considered a scratch and the next player plays. However after a player knocks in their own ball, no balls are returned to the table.
Read more about this topic: Cutthroat (pool)
Famous quotes containing the word scratch:
“Man has lost the basic skill of the ape, the ability to scratch its back. Which gave it extraordinary independence, and the liberty to associate for reasons other than the need for mutual back-scratching.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)
“Many divorces are not really the result of irreparable injury but involve, instead, a desire on the part of the man or woman to shatter the setup, start out from scratch alone, and make life work for them all over again. They want the risk of disaster, want to touch bottom, see where bottom is, and, coming up, to breathe the air with relief and relish again.”
—Edward Hoagland (b. 1932)
“And now I even have to scratch my back myself.”
—Lorenz Hart (1895–1943)