Rack (billiards) - Racking in Specific Billiards Games - Eight-ball

Eight-ball

In eight-ball, fifteen object balls are used. Under the Billiard Congress of America's World Standardized Rules: 8-Ball it is prescribed that:

• The 8 ball must be in the center of the rack (the second ball in the three balls wide row).
• The first ball must be placed at the apex position (front of the rack and so the center of that ball is directly over the table's foot spot).
• The two corner balls must be a stripe and a solid.
• All balls other than the 8 ball are placed at random, but in conformance with the preceding corner ball rule.
• The balls should be pressed tightly together without gaps, as this allows the best break possible.

In amateur eight-ball play, in contradistinction to the official rules, a racking variant that is often followed is:

• The outer edges of the triangle must be in the pattern of solid, stripe, solid, stripe, etc. (resulting in the two corner balls being either both stripes or both solids).
• Sometimes, the balls must be placed in numeric order from the top of the triangle down and from left to right, i.e., the 1 on the foot spot, followed by the 2 then 3 in the second row, and so on. This always results in the corner balls of the rack being both stripes (the 11 and 15, respectively).