RULE CHANGE! RULE CHANGE! RULE CHANGE!   Changes in the Rules do not occur often, but they do occur, and we have a new Rule affecting both 8-Ball and 9-Ball Rules effective July 1, 2023. Snooker and Carom, two old dogs who play each other often, are in an 8-Ball game.  Snooker is at the table shooting. Snooker’s cue ball is frozen to one of his object balls. Snooker gets down on his shot and takes a normal and legally stroked shot without elevating his cue to a 45 degree angle. Carom is astonished that Snooker would have a lapse of memory as to the requirements of the VNEA when shooting the cue ball when it is frozen to an object ball. Carom calls a foul. Snooker does not acknowledge that a foul has occurred, and you as the referee are called to the table.  You make the call!!!! Carom is adamant that Snooker has fouled since he failed to elevate his cue stick to a 45 degree angle. Snooker now has his brand new (2023-2024) Rule Book out and is quoting the seventh p...

  We continues with the antics of Snooker and Carom, two old dogs at the pool game, who play a lot with each other and against each other, but simply can never agree on the Rules. SITUATION: Three object balls are sitting very close to each other, approximately 1" apart, with the first ball about 1" from the rail, all in a row coming from the rail toward the middle of the table. The cue ball is very close to the middle ball (which happens to be the 6-ball). Snooker is shooting over the 6-ball trying to make another ball at the opposite end of the table. After striking the cue ball, Snooker’s cue stick accidentally drags over the top of the 6-ball moving the 6-ball approximately 6 inches down the table and toward the rail. The shot is missed, but in the process, the travel of the cue ball makes contact with three rails and rolls directly over the spot where the 6-ball had been and stops exactly where the 6-ball was originally. There is no doubt that except for the 6-ball b...

       IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU! The excitement of Wednesday night league play is upon us. Snooker and Carom are in the final game of the match. The out come of this game will determine which team wins the 4th round and which team wins total points. The game is in this situation when the “incident” happens. There are four balls on the table: the Cue ball, the Eight ball, the One ball, and the Three ball. The shooter at the table is shooting the solids when the “incident” occurs. A bar fight breaks out in close proximity to the pool table where the final game is being played. It carries over onto the table itself, moves down to the next table and lasts for a period of time. The fighters are eventually separated with one at one end of the set of tables and the other at the end of the table where the game is being played. Words are still being exchanged when one of the fighters starts picking up the balls on the table where the final game of the match is being played and th...

  RULE CHANGE! RULE CHANGE! RULE CHANGE!   Changes in the Rules do not occur often, but they do occur. Such is the case with the 9-Ball Rules effective July 1, 2022.  Snooker and Carom, two old dogs who play each other often, are in a 9-Ball game. Snooker is at the table shooting. There are only two object balls left: the 8-Ball and the 9-Ball. As Snooker shoots at the 8-Ball, he pockets the 8- Ball, he pockets the 9-Ball, and he scratches on the shot. After he finishes his shot, there are not any balls left on the table. Carom comes to the table, retrieves the 9-Ball, spots the 9-Ball, retrieves the cue ball, and is about to shoot the 9-Ball into a pocket when Snooker jumps to his paws and says that the 8-Ball must also be spotted. Carom says no, that only the 9-Ball should be spotted. Since they cannot agree on what balls should be spotted under these circumstances, you are the referee called to the table. You make the call!!!!  Snooker has his (pre 2022- 2023) Ru...

Snooker and Carom are in tournament play again. Snooker is at the table and is shooting at one of his object balls. In that process, after Snooker has made contact with the cue ball, Snooker raises his cue stick and it strikes the light fixture above the table. At that point, the table number designation sign which is affixed by tape to the chain holding the table light fixture comes loose and falls onto the table striking the cue ball and pinning the cue ball against the side rail. Carom, seeing an opportunity to call a foul, leaps to her paws and declares a Foul. Snooker fails to acknowledge the Foul saying that it was simply an equipment failure. You are the referee called to the table. You make the call!!!! Carom argues that it must be a foul for two reasons. First, under the Accidentally Moving a Ball Rule, whenever the Shooter accidentally moves the cue ball, it is a foul, and Secondly, under the Player Responsibility Fouls Rule found in the general definitions, it must be a foul...

       Snooker is playing 8-Ball, shooting an object ball in his usual manner, poorly, and the object ball bounces up on the rail, but returns to the bed of the table because the object ball came in contact with a piece of chalk. Carom calls a foul. Snooker responds that the ball returned to the bed of the table and it is not a foul. You make the call!!!!   Poor Snooker, he is wrong in this case. The appropriate rule is not found in the 8-ball rules. One must look in the General Definitions of Pocket Billiards, in this case - Number 11: “Balls may bounce on the cushion tops and rails of the table in play without being jumped balls if they return to the bed of the table under their own power and without touching anything not a part of the table. The table shall consist of the permanent part of the table proper. ( Balls that strike or touch anything not a part of the table , such as the light fixture, call pocket disc, chalk on the rails and chalk on the wood cus...