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Step 1
Place the rack on the table and put all of the balls in it. The order is unimportant. Put all of the balls, except the cue ball, in the rack. In 8-ball, you will use all 15 balls, while in 9-ball you will only use balls 1 through 9.
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Step 2
Rack for a game of 8-ball. With all 15 balls in the rack, find the 8-ball and place it in the middle of the third row. The rest of the balls do not have to assume a specific order, although many people like to alternate solids and stripes. However, you must have a stripe on one corner at the base of the rack and a solid at the other.
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Step 3
Set up for a game of 9-ball with a 9-ball rack. Use a diamond rack if you have it, but you can rack for 9-ball with a trianglular rack as well. Place the 1 Ball at the front of the diamond and put the 9 Ball in the middle. Some people will place the balls in numerical order, so that the first ball is the 1, the two balls on the next row are the 2 and 3 and so on. Just remember that the 9-ball must be in the center.
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Step 4
Slide the rack with the balls so that the front ball of the rack is on top of the dot on the table. This should line up with the second dot on the side of the table.
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Step 5
Tighten the balls by applying pressure with your fingers. You want the balls to be frozen, which means they are all touching without any gaps.
