Pool format
Last pocket eight-ball: rules and how to play
Eight-ball, except the 8 must go in the same pocket as your last object ball. Simple change, completely different game.
| Players | 2 |
|---|---|
| Length | 12–20 minutes a game |
| Equipment | Standard rack |
| Difficulty | Intermediate |
The object of the game
Pocket your group, then the 8 in the pocket where your final group ball dropped.
Setting up
- Rack and break exactly as for eight-ball.
The rules
The 8 follows your last ball
Whichever pocket took your seventh ball is the only pocket the 8 may go in. You do not choose — the table chooses for you.
Plan three shots ahead or lose
The entire skill shifts to picking which ball to leave last and where to put it, which is why strong players like this version so much.
How a night of this actually runs
It takes 2 and runs about 12–20 minutes a game, which is the number that decides whether it suits your room more than any rule in it does. You need standard rack, and it sits at a intermediate level — so think about whether the weakest player in the room will still be enjoying it an hour in.
Compared with three strikes, the format this site is built around: that one takes any number of players, keeps everybody in the room for roughly two hours, and needs nothing but a rack and a way to count lives. Most of the games on this site are better as the game inside a night than as the shape of the night itself.
Is it any good in a bar?
A great way to slow down a player who beats everyone at ordinary eight-ball without resorting to a formal handicap. Harder than it sounds and no more complicated to explain.