The Object of 9 Ball Pool

Series Summary

9 Ball, a form of pool or pocket billiards, originated in the United States in the 1920's and has been enjoyed since that time. Today nine ball is more popular than ever with ESPN coverage and sponsorship which maintains an extremely large viewing audience for the game.

The game is played with ten balls: the cue ball, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and nine ball. The balls are racked in a diamond shape with the one ball at the diamond tip closest to the cue ball and the nine ball in the center of the diamond. On every shot the cue ball must strike the lowest number ball first before striking any other ball. The game is won by whoever knocks the nine ball in the pocket.

In this free online video series learn 9 Ball from professional pool player Richard Garcia. He has played for over 25 years and has finished in the top ten percentile in both BCA national and VNEA international tournaments. Learn how to play nine ball from a pro as he teaches about breaking, fouls, legal shots, game endings, double hit fouls, jump shots, breaking tips, the push out, push out strategy, and winning situations.

Video Transcript

"Hi, In this clip I'm going to show you the object of the game for nine ball. Today, we're going to learn the game of nine ball. Nine ball is a very fast paced game. You usually play where, because it is so fast, to win the game you actually go and, who can reach the number of seven or eleven. Usually it's seven or eleven first. There's each games and then there's reaching seven games to win the match. The game is played with the one through the nine and the cue ball is needed. When shooting the cue ball, the lowest number on the table must be, that ball must contacted first by the cue ball. That ball doesn't have to necessarily go in. You could actually hit into whatever the lowest ball is into another ball and as long it pockets, it's a legal shot. You don't have to call shots or pockets. You don't have to call your balls in nine ball. You just always have to remember to hit the lowest number first and it's a legal shot. You continue to play when you make balls and when you either miss or foul, your opponent plays next. Usually if there's a foul, he gets ball in hand, which I'll explain later is where has the ball anywhere on the table. If you just miss, your opponent plays the cue ball from where it is and you keep playing until someone successfully sinks the nine ball. When someone sinks the nine ball the game is over. So come back and I'm gonna show ya the rack for nine ball."